How to Beat Malen & Associates

Chloe Meltzer | October 19, 2022

Legal Expert
Chloe Meltzer, MA

Chloe Meltzer is an experienced content writer specializing in legal content creation. She holds a degree in English Literature from Arizona State University, complemented by a Master’s in Marketing from California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo.

Edited by Hannah Locklear

Editor at SoloSuit
Hannah Locklear, BA

Hannah Locklear is SoloSuit’s Marketing and Impact Manager. With an educational background in Linguistics, Spanish, and International Development from Brigham Young University, Hannah has also worked as a legal support specialist for several years.

You when you beat Malen & Associates ^^

Summary: Is Malen & Associates suing you for a debt? SoloSuit can help you take a stand and win in court.

Being sued for debt is never fun. Whether you have been called 1000 times and you are ignoring those calls, or you never received the complaint and summons in the mail, you need to know your rights. The first thing to know is that ignoring the lawsuit is the worst thing you can do. If you do not fight back in court you will automatically lose the case. You have a better chance of paying less in a settlement, or not at all if you properly approach the lawsuit.

What is Malen & Associates?

Malen & Associates is a debt collection law firm located in Westbury, New York. With 30 years in the business, they focus on cases of collections, bankruptcy, foreclosure, and real estate closings. Having many names over the years, you may have been previously sued by Dennis S. Malen, P.C. or Dennis S. Malen & Associates, P.C. Representing original creditors, debt buyers, and other debt-collection companies, they commonly pursue debtors of Portfolio Recovery Associates, Bank of America, Velocity Investments LLC, and CACH, LLC.

Here are some common complaints filed against Malen & Associates

If you're feeling frustrated with Malen & Associates, you're not alone.

Malen & Associates has been brought to court in a countersuit for their actions against debtors. For example, an inflated proof of claim filed in debtors' bankruptcy proceedings constituted a violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Another case involved misrepresentation of the amount of the plaintiff's debt. This is why you need to know your rights under the FDCPA, in case they are violated.

As of 2022, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has reported 44 complaints against Malen & Associates.

Know your rights under the FDCPA

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) is a set of laws passed in 1977 to protect consumers from third-party debt collectors. The laws were passed because it was found that debt collectors were consistently harassing and threatening people who were in debt. The FDCPA has strict limits on what collection agencies are able to do in their approach to consumers while looking to collect on a debt. The FDCPA prohibits the following:

Swearing or calling names.
Calling and hanging up on purpose.
Calling you at work knowing that this is not allowed.
Not disclosing that they are a debt collector attempting to collect a debt.
Calling before 8:00 a.m. and after 9:00 p.m.
Claiming that you can be arrested when you cannot be.
Claiming they will garnish your wages or have your assets seized if they do not have a default judgment.

Get every communication with Malen and Associates in writing

Many debt collection agencies misrepresent information as a tactic to push the debtors into honoring their debts. Some claims are often made through a phone call.

As a result, it is difficult for a debtor or court to hold debt collectors accountable for undocumented claims. You must request the collection company to make every claim in writing. FDCPA requires that official communication from the debt collectors be done through the U.S mail system.

You have a right to ask Malen & Associates to mail you an official communication. If they ignore this request, you may be able to defend yourself in court, citing their lack of response.

Make the right defense the right way with SoloSuit.

Ask Malen & Associates to provide proof of debt

Malen and Associates buys charged-off debts that may have lost track of the details of the debt, especially if the debt has moved from one collector to another. You may challenge Malen & Associates to disclose more information, such as the original creditor, the amount owed, the procedure for disputing the debt, and proof that the debt has not been cleared.

If they do not provide those details within 30 days, you can dispute the debt claims. Malen & Associates cannot pursue your case and use any debt collection tactics against you until they provide the requested information.

If they ignore your request and go ahead with filing a lawsuit, you can file a small claim action against them in a state court. You will need to provide the following evidence for your case:

A mailed letter to Malen and Associates requesting the information.
Proof that the letter was delivered to Malen and Associates and received.
Failure by Malen & Associates to provide the information within the stipulated 30 days.

Respond to a debt lawsuit against Malen & Associates

If Malen and Associates is suing you for a debt, you should have received some legal documents in the mail called the court Summons and Complaint. The Summons notifies you of the lawsuit, and the Complaint lists the specific claims that Malen and Associates is making against you. The first step to winning your case is to respond to the Summons and Complaint by filing a written Answer. Here's how.

Follow these three steps to respond to a debt lawsuit against Malen and Associates:

Answer each claim listed in the Complaint document: The first and most important section of your Answer should focus on responding to the claims listed in the Complaint document. You can admit, deny, or deny due to lack of knowledge. Most attorneys recommend denying as many claims as possible.
Assert your affirmative defenses: An affirmative defense is any legal reason that Malen & Associates' case in inavlid. A common affirmative defense to mention in a debt lawsuit case is the statute of limitations on debt. If the statute of limitations on a debt has passed, the Malen and Associates cannot sue you for the debt. There are several other affirmative defenses you can bring up to strengthen your side of the case.
File the Answer with the court, and send a copy to Malen and Associates: After you've drafted your Answer, you should file it within the court's deadline. The deadline to respond to a debt lawsuit is anywhere from 14-35 days, depending on which state you live in. Make a copy of the Answer and send it, via USPS certified mail, to the attorneys representing Malen & Associates.

Use SoloSuit to represent yourself and draft an Answer in minutes.

To learn more about these three steps, check out this video:

What to do if you are sued by Malen & Associates

We've covered a lot here, but here's a quick overview of what to do if you get sued by Malen & Associates and how you can beat them in court:

Know your rights under the FDCPA when Malen & Associates contacts you.
Take careful notes when you receive phone calls before 8:00 am or after 9:00 pm. Debt collectors are prohibited from calling you before or after regular business hours. They also cannot call you at work or use foul language.
Be sure to file an Answer to the debt collection lawsuit within the proper time frame.
In the Answer, you should consider raising at least one affirmative defense, such as the company violated the FDCPA. Also, demand that ERSolutions prove that you owe the amount they say. They also need to prove you are the person who owes the debt.
Consider filing a counterclaim if you think they violated the FDCPA.

These are effective methods for how to beat Malen and Associates in court.

Good luck!

What is SoloSuit?

SoloSuit makes it easy to fight debt collectors.

You can use SoloSuit to respond to a debt lawsuit, to send letters to collectors, and even to settle a debt.

SoloSuit's Answer service is a step-by-step web-app that asks you all the necessary questions to complete your Answer. Upon completion, we'll have an attorney review your document and we'll file it for you.

Respond with SoloSuit

"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

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