George Simons | October 19, 2022
Summary: Are you being sued by Regional Finance for an old debt? Learn how to make a defense and win against Regional Finance in court.
If you are being harassed and threatened by a debt collector affiliated with Regional Finance, you may be feeling overwhelmed, intimidated, and unsure about your future. This is perfectly understandable since being hounded by a debt collector is generally considered to be an awful and unpleasant experience. If the stress of being hounded by a debt collector was not bad enough, there is a fairly high likelihood you will wind up getting served with a debt collection lawsuit. If, or when, this happens, do not despair. You have legal rights and can take specific actions to beat Regional Finance in court.
Regional Finance is a personal loan corporation based in South Carolina. They market themselves as a company that assists consumers with poor credit scores to procure personal loans and other forms of finances. Regional Finance is also notorious for sending out mass mailers to homes containing “pre-approved” loans (that typically are accompanied by a high-interest rate).
The company has over 300 offices throughout eight specific states - New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, and South Carolina. As a result, Regional Finance typically only accepts loan applications from residents based in one of these states.
Regional Finance has developed a reputation for being extremely aggressive when attempting to collect outstanding debts. Numerous consumer complaints have been filed with the Better Business Bureau, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and other agencies alleging collectors with Regional Finance violated various provisions of the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act. For example, multiple consumers reported that collectors affiliated with Regional Finance engaged in inappropriate and unethical communications and attempted to collect on debts that were not actually owed.
Respond to debt collection lawsuits fast with SoloSuit.
If you are served with a Complaint filed by Regional Finance, it is extremely important to respond to the lawsuit in a timely manner. Do not ignore the lawsuit. One of the most common mistakes people make when they are sued by a creditor or debt collection agency is failing to respond to the lawsuit. Please understand that you gain nothing by doing nothing.
Whether you owe the debt or believe you were sued by mistake, you need to take action and file a formal response to the lawsuit. In legal terms, your response to the Complaint is known as an Answer.
The reason filing an Answer is so important is because failing to do so is admitting defeat and letting Regional Finance file a motion to obtain a default judgment against you. Once a default judgment is entered by the Court, you are effectively at the mercy of Regional Finance. They would then be empowered to garnish your wages, take money from your bank account, collect attorney's fees and court costs, and seize your personal property.
Another important reason to file a formal Answer to the debt collection lawsuit is that many debt collection companies like Regional Finance assume you will not file an Answer. This is because the vast majority of people who are subjected to a collection lawsuit will fail to file a response. As a result, when you take the time to file an Answer, it catches many debt collectors off guard and could create an opportunity to try and reach a settlement or out-of-court resolution with the debt collector.
Protect your assets with SoloSuit.
The debt claimed in the lawsuit filed by Regional Finance may have been packaged, sold, and resold by multiple companies. As a result, a strategy for challenging the collection lawsuit is simply requesting that the debt collection company provide evidence that you owe the alleged debt.
For example, you should demand that the collection company provide a copy of the signed agreement and balance on the purportedly delinquent account from zero to present. In many instances, the debt collection company only has sparse documentation and may not even have sufficient evidence to respond.
As mentioned earlier, many debt collection companies (including Regional Finance) assume people will not file a formal Answer to the debt collection lawsuit and they will obtain a default judgment. As a result, there are many instances when the debt collector fails to take the time to confirm that they have the legal ability to sue you for the debt. Keep in mind, if the applicable statute of limitations has expired, the debt collector is prohibited from suing you. In most states, a debt collector only has a finite amount of time to sue you for an alleged delinquent debt.
If it turns out that the statute of limitations has lapsed, you can raise this issue as an affirmative defense that could enable you to file a motion to dismiss the debt collection lawsuit entirely.
In addition to raising different affirmative defenses in response to the debt collection lawsuit filed by Regional Finance, you should explore the viability of going on offense by filing a counterclaim against this debt collection company. A counterclaim could be pursued if there is evidence that a collection agent affiliated with Regional FInance violated a provision, or provisions, of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA).
Respond to debt collectors with SoloSuit and win in court.
Here is what you need to do if you receive a debt collection notice or debt collection lawsuit filed by Regional Finance:
SoloSuit makes it easy to respond to a debt collection lawsuit.
How it works: SoloSuit is a step-by-step web-app that asks you all the necessary questions to complete your answer. Upon completion, you can either print the completed forms and mail in the hard copies to the courts or you can pay SoloSuit to file it for you and to have an attorney review the document.
"First time getting sued by a debt collector and I was searching all over YouTube and ran across SoloSuit, so I decided to buy their services with their attorney reviewed documentation which cost extra but it was well worth it! SoloSuit sent the documentation to the parties and to the court which saved me time from having to go to court and in a few weeks the case got dismissed!" – James
>>Read the NPR story on SoloSuit: A Student Solution To Give Utah Debtors A Fighting Chance
Here's a list of guides for other states.
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