Keith D. Weiner & Associates

Independent Sources

Shown for context — not merged with USAComplaints' own numbers.

Contacts

• Official website: https://weinerlaw.com/
• Main office (number that appears on calls): 216-771-6500
• Toll-free: 866-368-6500
• Fax: 216-771-6540
• Online payments (mypayrazr.com, via the firm's Pay link): https://weinerlaw.com/make-a-payment/

Locations

If Keith D. Weiner & Associates called, sent a letter, sued you, or garnished you

Keith D. Weiner & Associates Co., L.P.A. (“KWA”) is a Cleveland, Ohio law firm that collects consumer, commercial, and government debt for its clients — it does not lend money itself. If 216-771-6500 or the toll-free 866-368-6500 called you, or a letter arrived from the firm's Superior Avenue address, it is probably about a debt the firm's client says you owe — verify by calling the firm back on the number published at weinerlaw.com, since caller ID alone can be faked.

If you got a letter about a personal, family or household debt, the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (15 U.S.C. §1692g) generally gives you 30 days from receiving the validation notice to dispute the debt in writing and ask for verification (whether the FDCPA covers a particular government or business debt can depend on the type of debt); put your dispute in writing and keep proof you sent it.

If you were served with a lawsuit or summons, the case has already been filed in court. The deadline to file a written answer is printed on the summons itself and, under Ohio Civ.R. 12(A), is generally 28 days after service in an Ohio case — but check your own summons and court rules rather than relying on that figure, since the firm also sues outside Ohio. KWA's own FAQ page says plainly that it “cannot give you legal advice” and directs consumers with questions about deadlines or hearing dates to the court where the suit was filed. Missing an answer deadline can produce a default judgment, and for a private creditor's debt it is generally a judgment — not the letter or the call itself — that allows a wage garnishment or bank-account levy to follow (State of Ohio debts can also be collected by other means, such as intercepting a state tax refund).

If wages are already being garnished, federal law (15 U.S.C. §1673) generally caps garnishment at the lesser of 25% of disposable earnings or the amount by which weekly disposable earnings exceed 30 times the federal minimum wage — but that federal cap does not apply to any debt due for any State or Federal tax (15 U.S.C. §1673(b)(1)(C)), so an Ohio tax debt can follow different limits; state exemptions can be broader, so ask the court that issued the order about claiming them.

To dispute the debt with the firm, KWA’s dispute page lets you use an online form, call 866-368-6500, send the tear-off form from its first letter (consumer accounts), or write to the address on your letter, and to ask for the name and address of the original creditor and “documentation showing there is a valid basis” for the debt. The page says that if you write on or before the due date on your demand letter, KWA “must stop collection on any amount you dispute” until it sends you that information; after that date collection continues while it responds.

To complain about how you were treated: the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Ohio Attorney General's consumer protection section, and the Better Business Bureau all take debt-collection complaints. For a concern about a specific attorney's conduct, the Office of Disciplinary Counsel of the Supreme Court of Ohio handles attorney-conduct grievances separately from a billing dispute.

Why a private law firm is collecting a State of Ohio debt

KWA's founder, Keith D. Weiner, has been appointed Special Counsel to the Ohio Attorney General, and the firm represents the State of Ohio Collections Enforcement section of the Ohio AG's office in court — that is why a private law firm, rather than a state office, may be the one calling or writing about a state debt. Reported appearances for the State include a Kent State University student-account refund dispute and an Ohio Department of Taxation garnishment case, both discussed below.

If your debt is owed to the State of Ohio — commonly unpaid state taxes, a state university account, or another state agency debt — KWA's own site tells consumers they may pay the Ohio Attorney General directly by credit card through a “Pay Ohio Attorney General” link on its payment page, though fees may apply. For an Ohio tax account, a TBOR-1 form is the form KWA uses to let someone other than the taxpayer — other than a spouse — discuss the account.

Because “a state debt” can mean several different things, ask KWA which state agency the underlying debt actually comes from (the Department of Taxation, a state university, or another agency) before you assume you know what it is for or pay anyone.

How a state debt reaches a private law firm: the Ohio Attorney General’s own payment site explains that “state agencies, public universities, local governments and university hospitals turn over their outstanding debts to the Attorney General’s office for collection,” and that its collections section “uses internal staff, third-party collection agencies, and private attorneys” to collect them. You can deal with the Attorney General’s office directly: call (888) 301-8885 during business hours or pay online at the Ohio Attorney General payment portal. If you believe the debt itself is wrong, also contact the agency or school it came from — the Attorney General collects the debt but the originating agency holds the underlying records.

Company background

Keith D. Weiner & Associates Co., L.P.A. is a Cleveland, Ohio creditors'-rights law firm that says it was established in 1985 (the BBB file lists a 1987 business-start date) and describes itself as a full-service debt collection law firm handling consumer, commercial, and governmental claims, both unsecured and secured; in 2025 the firm marked its 40th anniversary. Headquarters: 1100 Superior Avenue East, Suite 1100, Cleveland, OH 44114; phone (216) 771-6500, toll-free (866) 368-6500, fax (216) 771-6540; hours 8:15 AM–5:15 PM Eastern, Monday–Friday. The firm's own site lists additional offices in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Louisville, Kentucky; Morgantown, West Virginia; and Indianapolis, Indiana.

Founder Keith D. Weiner has led the firm since 1985; his firm biography lists a 1982 J.D. from Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, admission to the Ohio bar the same year, membership in the Ohio State Bar Association, the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association, and the National Association of Retail Collection Attorneys, and an appointment as Special Counsel to the State of Ohio Attorney General. The Better Business Bureau's file also names Michael S. Lewis, listed there as the firm's Compliance Attorney.

KWA describes its industries served as auto loans and leases, state and municipal income tax debt, credit cards, student loans, equipment rentals/leases/repairs, retail consumer loans, commercial loans, landlord/tenant matters, and second-mortgage collections, along with skip-tracing, demand letters, collection lawsuits, post-judgment executions, replevin, mechanics' liens, bankruptcy, eviction, and foreclosure work. Ohio court records show the firm representing the State of Ohio Collections Enforcement/Ohio Attorney General's office, Ford Motor Credit Company LLC (d/b/a Lincoln Automotive Financial Services), and Telhio Credit Union as clients in specific cases.

How the firm handles a file

The firm's own FAQ opens with its debt-collector disclosure (the “mini-Miranda”): “This is a law firm attempting to collect a debt for our client. Any information obtained will be used for that purpose.” By phone, a representative will ask for your date of birth and the last four digits of your Social Security number to verify your identity before discussing an account. KWA states it records its calls and its general FAQ says it cannot respond to ordinary emails (emails are reviewed, but a phone number or mailing address is needed for a reply) — although its separate dispute form lets you choose a response by regular mail or by e-mail. Other than to a spouse, the firm says it will not discuss a debt with a third party without authorization, using a Third Party Authorization form or, for an Ohio tax account, the TBOR-1 form.

Payment plans are not automatic: KWA's FAQ says its representatives “may be authorized to accept a payment plan proposal,” and that collection activity may continue if a proposed plan is not accepted. The firm accepts cash, checks, and certified funds — it does not accept credit card payments (the one exception being State of Ohio debts, payable by card directly to the state). Online and phone payments run through mypayrazr.com, powered by REPAY; only one online payment can be scheduled at a time, up to 10 days in advance, with recurring payments handled by phone.

If you were garnished and a payment did not go through, KWA's site says the most common reason a garnishment-notice payment is returned is that it was submitted without proof of income, such as pay stubs. On credit reporting, the firm states plainly: “KWA does not report to credit bureaus.”

To raise a complaint directly with the firm, KWA's site directs consumers to write to its Compliance Department at 1100 Superior Ave East, Suite 1100, Cleveland, OH 44114, including your name, phone number, address, KWA account number, and details of the complaint.

Complaint record: USAComplaints, then CFPB and BBB, reported separately

USAComplaints has no complaints of its own about this firm yet. That is not evidence one way or the other about KWA's practices — it simply means no reader has filed a report here naming this firm so far.

Separately, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's public complaint database lists 72 complaints against Keith D. Weiner & Associates Co., L.P.A. between July 25, 2013 and August 28, 2026 — 8 in the last 12 months and 27 in the last three years. Most (62) are categorized as debt collection, with smaller numbers under student loan (3), consumer loan (2), credit reporting (3), mortgage (1), and vehicle loan (1). The most common issues logged are false statements or representation (13), attempts to collect a debt not owed (12), continued attempts to collect a debt not owed (8), threatened negative or legal action (8), and written notification about a debt (8). Most complaints came from Ohio (48), followed by Kentucky (6), Wisconsin (4), Georgia (3), and West Virginia (2). The firm's responses are recorded as closed with explanation on 67 complaints and closed with non-monetary relief on 1; 4 are logged as an untimely response.

Separately again, the Better Business Bureau's Cleveland file gives the firm a B- rating and lists it as not BBB accredited, citing “failure to respond to 1 complaint(s) filed against business” as a reason for the rating. BBB shows 3 complaints in the last three years (1 closed in the last 12 months) and an average of 1 out of 5 from 4 customer reviews. The most recent complaint visible on BBB's file, filed December 1, 2023 and marked “Answered,” describes a consumer under garnishment disputing whether a $634.21 state-tax refund intercept had been credited against a $4,664 balance.

None of these three figures — USAComplaints' 0, the CFPB's 72, or the BBB's 3 — describe the same population of consumers or the same time period, and none are added together here.

Litigation record

In Barany-Snyder v. Weiner, 539 F.3d 327 (6th Cir. Aug. 22, 2008), a putative FDCPA class action over a state-court collection suit KWA and its principals had filed, the district court granted judgment on the pleadings for the firm and its attorneys, and the Sixth Circuit affirmed.

Two more recent Ohio appellate cases involve the firm representing government or institutional clients. In Kent State University c/o State of Ohio Collections Enforcement v. Manley, 2023-Ohio-4650 (8th Dist., Cuyahoga County, Dec. 21, 2023), KWA represented the university and the state in a collection matter against a pro se former student; the court of appeals found merit in the student's appeal and reversed and remanded, finding genuine issues of material fact over whether the student timely received a credit refund and whether the university timely certified the debt to the Ohio Attorney General. In Ohio Department of Taxation v. Barney, 2023-Ohio-4282 (10th Dist., Nov. 21, 2023), KWA represented the state in a tax-garnishment matter, and the court of appeals affirmed the trial court's disbursal of garnished funds because the debtor had not proven the funds were exempt.

Two 2025-2026 appeals brought against KWA's clients were dismissed on procedural grounds rather than decided on the merits: Ford Motor Credit Co. v. Sobecki, 2025-Ohio-4994 (11th Dist., Lake County, Nov. 3, 2025), was dismissed as an untimely appeal, and Telhio Credit Union v. Byrd, 2026-Ohio-2273 (10th Dist., Jun. 16, 2026), was dismissed for lack of appellate jurisdiction.

Beyond these, court records show roughly a dozen federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act suits naming the firm since 1996, most closing within a few months of filing. Two recent examples: Watkins v. KWA (S.D. Ind. 1:25-cv-01540), filed August 1, 2025, ended in a voluntary dismissal on September 16, 2025, closed September 18, 2025; and Waters v. KWA (N.D. Ohio 1:22-cv-00263), filed February 16, 2022, was dismissed with prejudice by agreement on May 9, 2022 following a settlement notice. A separate 2009 lawsuit by a former KWA employee under the Fair Labor Standards Act ended after the parties reported a resolution in January 2011.

Is Keith D. Weiner & Associates Legitimate?

Keith D. Weiner & Associates Co., L.P.A. is a real, operating Ohio law firm, not a fabricated identity: it has practiced under this name since 1985, its founder's biography says he has been appointed Special Counsel for the Ohio Attorney General, it appears as counsel of record in reported Ohio appellate opinions, and it carries a Better Business Bureau file. 216-771-6500 and 866-368-6500 are the numbers the firm publishes — but caller ID can be faked, so hang up and call back on the number shown at weinerlaw.com before giving personal information or paying.

That a contact is genuine does not mean a specific balance is correct or that a specific collection tactic was proper — verify the account and file number by calling the number listed on weinerlaw.com yourself, rather than a number given to you in an unexpected call, text, or email, before you pay anyone or share personal information.

Court & Public Records

Company Relationships

• Collects debts for: State of Ohio / Ohio Attorney General (Collections Enforcement)

Frequently Asked Questions