How to Beat Monterey Financial

Sarah Edwards | October 19, 2022

Legal Expert
Sarah Edwards, BS

Sarah Edwards is a professional researcher and writer specializing in legal content. An Emerson College alumna, she holds a Bachelor of Science in Communication from the prestigious Boston institution.

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.

When you beat Monterey Financial ^^

Summary: Is Monterey Financial suing you for a debt? SoloSuit can help you know your rights, take a stand, and win in court.

If you're on the receiving end of a debt collection letter from Monterey Financial, it can put a significant damper on your day.

You could be going about your regular business only to open a letter that says you owe money for a long-ago debt you're not aware of. If the amount is extravagant, you may wonder how you can afford to pay it. You may even wonder if you owe it, or if the letter was a mistake.

Following the letter, you'll likely begin to receive calls from Monterey Financial. In some cases, they may be annoying and repetitive. You may wonder what your best course of action is—should you set up a payment plan to pay off the debt? Should you ask what the debt is for?

In this guide, we'll discuss the best ways to handle communications from Monterey Financial.

What is Monterey Financial?

Monterey Financial is a full-service debt receivable company based in Oceanside, California. They purchase a wide array of aged debts from consumer companies, including document storage, vacation timeshares, elective medical procedures, and vocational school tuition.

If you receive a debt collection notice from Monterey Financial, understand that they are a legitimate company and not a scam.

As of 2022, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau reported 902 complaints against Monterey Financial Services, LLC. Currently, Monterey Financial's BBB rating is unavailable, as the site is updating the profile. But it's clear that many consumers are unhappy with Monterey Financial's debt collection practices and treatment.

Let's take a look at a real example of a complaint from the CFPB.

“In XX/XX/2022, my husband and I noticed that we had a collections added to our credit reports. The collection statement stated that we were 3 months past due for a debt we did not have any knowledge of. We sent letters to the debtor as well as the credit bureaus to validate this debt XX/XX/2022. On, XX/XX/2022 we received a validation response from the debtors that used past tense terms in their response. The validation response stated that we already had our chance to dispute the debt. I decided to call the account manager for verification of the notice they said they sent. When I spoke with the manager he stated that he notified me via phone call on XX/XX/2022 of the debt, that he explained the entire debt to me and that I responded by saying " I don't believe you ' and hung up on him. This accusation is completely false. We never received any notice or phone calls from this company at all. Not written nor on the phone. He told me to ask for verification of notice through writing, which I plan on doing. We are also still incurring interest on this debt while we are in the middle of a dispute.”

If you find you're being harassed by Monterey Financial for an overdue debt, make sure their activities comply with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA).

What actions violate the FDCPA?

The FDCPA was created to protect consumers from aggressive and abusive tactics used by debt collection agencies. There are specific actions that all debt collectors must comply with when attempting to collect a debt.

For example, debt collectors must provide a statement in their first communication allowing individuals to dispute the validity of the debt within 30 days. If the consumer decides to challenge the validity, they must write back to the debt collection agency requesting documentation that the debt is indeed valid and it does belong to them.

Debt collectors are prevented from certain actions that are considered harassment when attempting to collect payment on a debt. These include:

Threatening to harm a consumer if they don't pay their debt.
Using obscene or profane language in any communication.
Repeatedly calling someone throughout the day in a way that could be considered annoying.
Causing the phone to ring continuously until the consumer answers it.
Falsely implying that they are an attorney or a representative of the law.
Threatening to destroy the person's personal reputation if they don't pay.

There are numerous other actions that are prohibited by the FDCPA. If you feel that Monterey Financial is using illegal tactics while trying to collect an old debt from you, you may file a complaint with the BBB or the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

What if I am sued by Monterey Financial?

If you receive notification that you are being sued in an attempt to collect a debt by Monterey Financial, you'll need to take action immediately. Typically, you'll have a limited amount of time to do so. It's usually 14-35 days or less.

First, you'll want to respond to their complaint by filing an answer in your local court. The answer should contain the following information:

A response to each of the claims against you
Validation that the debt belongs to you
Verification that Monterey Financial has the authority to file a lawsuit against you
A request for documentation for their claims

In many cases, debt collection agencies purchase old debts for small amounts of money from a variety of different creditors. In some cases, they may not receive the appropriate documentation required to validate their claims. Once you file your answer, they will need to respond to you with all of the information you've asked for.

Sometimes, this may be enough for the debt collector to drop the lawsuit against you, especially if they don't have the required information to collect on the debt. It may become too expensive for them to follow up on and they'll simply cut their losses.

Use SoloSuit to respond to a debt lawsuit in all 50 states.

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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