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How to Beat Phillips & Cohen Associates

Chloe Meltzer | October 19, 2022

Chloe-Meltzer
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

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 Phillips & Cohen Associates ^^

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

Phillips & Cohen Associates is a debt collection agency located in Wilmington, Delaware. They specialize in deceased account services, as well as credit card charge-offs, and consumer retail debt. If you are being contacted by Phillips & Cohen Associates, or you see it listed on your credit report, you may have had a debt sent to collections. You may also have been sent a Summons and Complaint in the mail, meaning you've been sued for the debt.

Having an account sent to Phillips and Cohen Associates through collections can hurt your credit score and remain on your credit report for up to seven years. Even if you pay the debt, it will remain on your account. However, if you do not pay the debt, it will lower your credit score. If you find that the debt you are being sued for is not yours, you should take action immediately and ask for verification of the debt.

Here's everything you need to know about Phillips and Cohen Associates and how to beat them in court.

Phillips and Cohen Associates has bad reviews and many complaints

Most collection agencies have many complaints filed against them with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) as well as the Better Business Bureau (BBB). This is often because, similar to Phillips and Cohen Associates, they are in violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA).

As of 2022, Phillips & Cohen Associates has received 36 complaints in a three-year period on its BBB profile. Even worse, the CFPB has reported 181 complaints against Phillips & Cohen. These complaints usually involve mention of some sort of FDCPA violation.

Let's take a look at a real example.

Example: “Received a letter from Phillips & Cohen Assoc. LTD with the BBB stamp on the letter. The letter indicates that My Name (myself) has died. I can promise that I am alive and kicking! I do not owe any outstanding debts and do not know what this letter is about in regard to getting in contact with my Estate Executor or Administrator or other person handling my estate. The letter does not state who the creditor is and what amount they are looking to collect. My daughter is my POA and handles everything for me. She has taken care of everything since my wife/her mother passed away. I do not feel comfortable about this letter and will not divulge any information… I believe this is a scam and will not be part of it. These companies need to be put in their place for these money seeking endeavors.”

Knowing your rights can help you protect yourself from unfair debt collection practices, like many of these complaints demonstrate.

Know your rights under the FDCPAYour Rights and Violations of the FDCPA

It is important to be aware that you have many consumer rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). These are strict regulations about what a debt collector is allowed to do in reference to contacting you. Specifically, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act prevents the use of abusive or deceptive tactics used to collect a debt. The FDCPA provides you with rights that will ensure you will not be harassed or taken advantage of by a debt collector.

Violations of the FDCPA

  • Reporting inaccurate or incomplete information on your credit report.
  • Not validating the debt if requested.
  • Not proving to you, within 30 days, that the account is your responsibility and the number is accurate.
  • Threatening or harassing you, calling you repeatedly, swearing at you, or publicly publishing your debts.
  • Lying about who they are and what they are trying to do.
  • Not notifying you that they are a collection agency both orally and in writing.
  • Threatening to have you arrested.
  • Calling you before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m.
  • Discussing your debt with anyone except you, your spouse, and your lawyer.

If you are a victim of any of these debt collection practices, you may be eligible for up to $1,000 per FDCPA violation.

Send a Debt Validation Letter to Phillips & Cohen Associates

Sending a Debt Validation Letter asking the Phillips & Cohen to provide evidence of your debt is one of the quickest and easiest ways of getting rid of a debt item in your credit history. A third-party collector like Phillips & Cohen Associates must provide evidence of an outstanding debt once they receive your debt verification letter. Otherwise, they have to delete it from your records if they cannot prove the debt.

Note that debt collectors, like Phillips & Cohen, often buy debts from original creditors at a discounted price. When this happens, debt collectors often lose the proper chain of title and ability to prove that they own your debt. This is why requesting a debt validation is so powerful. It can also serve as a good defense in a debt lawsuit if Phillips & Cohen Associates sues you.

It's not uncommon for debt collection agencies to lack sufficient evidence showing whether you owe the amount. If Phillips & Cohen Associates cannot verify your debt, you are home free.

Respond to a debt lawsuit against Phillips and Cohen Associates

If you've been sued for a debt by Phillips and Cohen Associates, the first step to winning your case is to respond to the lawsuit with a written Answer. Here's how.

  1. Respond to each claim listed in the Complaint document. You can admit, deny, or deny due to a lack of knowledge. Most attorneys suggest that you deny as many allegations as possible. This makes Phillips & Cohen's work harder because they have to gather all the necessary documentation to prove the debt is actually yours.
  2. Assert your affirmative defenses. These are legal reasons that Phillips and Cohen doesn't have a case against you. A common affirmative defense to raise in a debt collection lawsuit is the statute of limitations. If the debt is past the statute of limitations, then Phillips & Cohen has run out of time to sue you for the debt. If this is true, the case will be dismissed.
  3. File the Answer with the court, and send a copy to Phillips & Cohens Associates. Make sure to file before the deadline, which is 14-35 days, depending on which state you live. Make a copy to send to Phillips & Cohen via USPS-certified mail. You should also request a return receipt so you can prove that you properly sent the Answer to the opposing party.

You can learn more about these three steps in this video:

Negotiate a debt settlement with Phillips & Cohen

If you do owe the debt, there's a potential that Phillips and Cohen Associates will accept less than the total amount you owe (a technique known as debt settlement) to reduce their losses. The rationale for this is simple: Phillips & Cohen Associates often purchases debts for pennies on the dollar, so they will still profit if you only pay off a portion of the original amount.

Debt collectors plan to collect only a percentage of the face amount of any specific loan, knowing that some consumers would never pay back their debts in total. Chances are you can reach a settlement for anywhere from 1%-60% of the original amount. This will save you money and the stress of paying the debt in full. Leverage your negotiating power to pay less. Start the negotiation process by sending a Debt Lawsuit Settlement Letter.

But before you bargain, scrutinize your financial situation and determine a reasonable offer amount. If you like, you can negotiate with a debt settlement agency, but be aware of scammers and avoid companies that charge you a lot of money upfront. You can also call Phillips and Cohen Associates and speak with a representative. However, before making any payments, make sure that the agreement is written.

Remember that debt settlement still hurts your credit score, and it can stay on your record for up to seven years; just like most other negative marks, lenders are likely to view a resolved debt positively instead of debt in collection.

Learn more about the debt settlement process in this video:

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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