Cambece Law Firm

Cambece Law Firm collections

Question:

My husband of 11 days has been making monthly payments to the Cambece Law Firm for several years now out of our joint checking account to pay off an old car debt. Several times a year they call wanting to up the monthly payment. Again today they called wanting more money monthly but, we really cannot afford it.

They take their monthly payment automatically out of our account so it has never been late or missed, they are claiming the car company wants this "settled". Are we required to keep paying more when they ask or are we ok as long as those monthly payments are being made, can we tell them we just don't have more money? The balance is about $1300 down from about $5000

Answer:

Cambece Law Firm ranks high on anyone's list of the worst collection agencies. They can do any one of many bad things to people trying to do the right thing and are not to be trusted for anything. They can and often do file lawsuits against people who have been paying regularly once they get their balances paid down to a small amount. They do that to keep the people on the hook and paying more and more.

A favorite trick played by some debt collectors is to get the account paid down to some predetermined level then sell the debt to some other debt collector who then tacks on their collection fees putting the consumer much deeper in the hole than they should be. Filing lawsuits on consumers once the account is down to a relatively small amount is another dirty trick sometimes played on unsuspecting consumers.

Constant demands for larger payments is often just an excuse to build up to a lawsuit. After a few demands for larger payments they can "justify"
filing a lawsuit and then the amount owed grows exponentially.

Another nasty trick is often played on consumers because the consumer is never given any receipts for their money. As time goes on there is little chance that the consumer can prove that they paid the debt and it is sold to some zombie debt collector who starts hounding the consumer all over again for the same debt.

I'm not suggesting that such is what they have planned for you but knowing that such things do happen lets you be more prepared for what might happen.

So how does one prepare for the possibility that an outfit like Cambece will pull some bad trick on you such as letting you pay down to some figure such as maybe $600 or so and then file a lawsuit on you?

The way to prepare for such eventualities is to first of all be certain that all phone calls are recorded and that you have the full name of any person from the agency recorded on every call. Ask them when was the last time they called and what was agreed to on the last call. Then move on by asking what is the purpose of today's call.

Keep a careful written record of all calls including the date, time and a short synopsis of what was said on the call.

Make all payments by certified bank cashier's check and never using check by phone direct from your account. Send all payments by certified mail return receipt requested and keep a careful record of those. Make a photo copy of the check before you send it. You should do this even with original creditors such as your car loan. They aren't going to give you any receipts either.

With such outfits as Cambece you need to include a report about any and all violations they might commit. Write them down in your phone record diary. But above all don't ever trust them to do anything right. Deal with them much as you would a rattlesnake because they are fully capable of biting you at any time.

Their claims that the car company wants the matter settled is probably phony too. Sounds like this developed from a vehicle purchase that ended up as a repo and Cambece bought the debt from the finance company. That is their normal way of getting accounts to collect. They probably paid about eight to ten percent of what you owed for the debt and now will extract every last penny possible from you by any means they can.

I certainly hope they don't sue you because if they do you won't be prepared to do battle with them and win. You would be almost guaranteed to lose in local court. Your fine record of past payments won't mean a thing. Even if the judge wanted to listen to your pleas about how you never missed a payment it won't mean a thing if you can't prove it and most likely not even if you could.

Their violations of federal law is the only way to beat them in court and you have to take them to federal court to do that. So while paying them what you owe is a commendable thing you need to prepare yourself for the almost inevitable. With prices escalating as rapidly as they are making those payments is going to become nearly impossible very soon. Miss one and you will find a sheriff at your door with a summons very quickly.

Then you will have to learn how to defend yourself without a lawyer because you won't have the money to pay one to help you even if you could find one willing to do so.

I wish you the best of luck.

Bill Bauer
405-684-9297
405-227-9423

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