How to Beat Pressler Felt & Warshaw LLP

Dena Standley | January 12, 2024

Legal Expert, Paralegal
Dena Standley, BA

Dena Standley is a seasoned paralegal with more than 20 years of experience in legal research and writing, having received a certification as a Legal Assistant/Paralegal from Southern Technical College.

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.

Summary: If Pressler Felt & Warshaw LLP has contacted you about a debt, make them validate it with a Debt Validation Letter. If you’ve been sued, use SoloSuit to respond to the lawsuit and increase your chances of winning the case. You may also consider a settlement to resolve the debt permanently.

Pressler, Felt & Warshaw LLP, formerly known as Pressler & Pressler, is a debt collection law firm that represents debt buyers and other debt collection companies. For example, they often represent companies like J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. and Midland Funding, LLC.

Here's how it typically works: creditors sell old debts to debt buyer who subsequently collect from you. The creditor wins because they get money they may not have otherwise received, and the debt collector makes a huge profit because they purchase the debt at a discount and then pursue you for the entire amount. Then, if the collector isn't successful in getting you to pay, they hire a law firm like Pressler Felt & Warshaw to file a suit against you.

Sued for debt? Settle it before your court date.

Settle with SoloSettle

Make an Offer

It's a numbers game for the collectors. They file the claim with an attorney, knowing that the debtors will not respond in most cases, and then they win by default without going to court. In a systematic debt collection world, you can take a stand for yourself and beat Pressler and Pressler in court.

Here's how.

Contact Pressler Felt and Warshaw LLP

If you are trying to reach Pressler, Felt & Warshaw LLP, you can use the following contact information:

Address: 7 Entin Rd, Parsippany, NJ 07054-9944
Telephone: (888) 312-8600
Email: contact@pfwattorneys.com

Know your rights when dealing with Pressler Felt & Warshaw

In the United States, there are strict limitations on what debt collectors can and cannot do. Since Pressler, Felt & Warshaw LLP represent debt collectors, these limitations don't necessarily apply to them in the same way. However, when dealing with debt collectors before Pressler & Pressler gets involve, you are protected by federal law. For example, The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act:

Prohibits the use of abusive or deceptive debt collection tactics. The FDCPA gives you many rights to ensure that collection agencies do not exploit you.
Give you the legal right to request debt validation on an alleged debt. Send a Debt Validation Letter to the collection agency. They have 30 days under the law to prove that the debt is yours and that the total amount is correct.
Prohibits debt collectors from threatening or harassing you, calling you constantly, swearing at you, or posting a list of debtors in public.

If a debt collector has used any of these tactics to get you to pay off a debt, you may be entitled to compensation of up to $1,000 per FDCPA violation. Report FDCPA violations to the CFPB, FTC, and your state's attorney general. If you've already been sued for a debt, you might even consider filing a counterclaim.

Respond to a debt lawsuit involving Pressler, Felt & Warshaw

The first step to winning a debt lawsuit is to respond in court. You should respond by filing a written Answer with the court. If Pressler, Felt & Warshaw is representing a debt collector who is suing you for a debt, follow these three steps to respond to the lawsuit.

Answer each claim listed in the Complaint. Your Answer document should focus primarily on responding to the specific claims, or allegations, listed in the Complaint document that notified you of the case. In response to each allegation, you can admit, deny, or deny due to lack of knowledge. Most attorneys recommend denying as many claims as possible, because this will force PFW to do more work to prove their side of the case. If they don't have the proper documentation for proof, their case won't stand.

Assert your affirmative defenses. An affirmative defense is any legal reason that PFW should not win the case. For example, the statute of limitations is a common affirmative defense to include in an Answer. There are dozens of other defenses you can use to strengthen your side of the case.

File the Answer with the court, and send a copy to Pressler, Felt & Warshaw. This is the last and most important step. Keep in mind that you have 14-35 days to file your Answer, depending on which state you live in. Make sure to send a copy of the Answer to PFW via certified mail with a return receipt requested.

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

File a Motion to Compel Arbitration

A Motion to Compel Arbitration is a powerful document that can often result in a favorable outcome for those being pursued or harassed by Pressler and Pressler. The Motion to Compel Arbitration is a document you can file when you are sued for debt. This is a great fit if your credit card or loan deal contains an arbitration clause.

Using the arbitration clause in your credit card agreement forces the collector to resolve the issue outside of court through a process called arbitration.. The collector will find it more difficult and costly to pursue you this way. Many debt collectors will give up upon receiving our Motion to Compel Arbitration.

If you're planning a Motion to Compel Arbitration, you should probably file an Answer first.

This strategy works and prevents them from collecting and you from paying!

To learn more about how to file a Motion to Compel Arbitration, check out this video:

Pressler, Felt & Warshaw must establish their legal standing to sue

If you sue in New Jersey, you must have a personal right. You must be the party that has been "wronged" and is seeking justice. In the legal world, they call it "standing." When a debt collector purchases debt from a creditor, they purchase the right to sue. However, they must still provide sufficient proof to the court. Often, debt collectors don't posses proper proof to win a case.

They rarely buy a single debt; instead, they buy in bulk. So, they might show that they bought Chase Bank credit card accounts, but not necessarily yours! They're dead in the sea if they can't prove standing!

Make Pressler, Felt & Warshaw prove their case in court

The second issue arises because Pressler and Pressler stand in the legal shoes of the creditor, but they are not the creditor. They may have the legal right to sue for collection, but they may not establish their case if you force them to court.

If you file an Answer denying that you owe them anything (or at least the amount they claim is due), their case may crumble. Remember, it's a numbers game for them, and if you make it too difficult for them, they might move on to easier prey.

An attorney at Pressler & Pressler reviews complaints in as little as four seconds before submitting them—between 300 and 400 a day and occasionally up to 1,000. In 2016, the CFPB ordered Pressler & Pressler and its principals to pay a $1 million civil monetary penalty related to its filing methods.

Pressler & Pressler LLP has received many complaints

If you're feeling frustrated with Pressler & Pressler, aka Pressler, Felt & Warshaw LLP, you're not alone.

As of 2024, Pressler Felt and Warsaw LLP has received nearly 100 complaints on its BBB profile in a three-year time period. Even worse, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) received more than 300 complaints against PFW in the last ten years. Almost every complaint mentions billing and collections issues, as well as various FDCPA violations.

The Better Business Bureau has issued a special notice to consumers, informing them that the BBB has been contacted about Pressler, Felt & Warshaw's repeated filing of lawsuits seeking judgments for unproven debts. At least 12 civil cases naming Pressler as a defendant are listed on Justia, which means the law firm has used enough questionable collection tactics that it’s been taken to court about it many times.

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

“I received mail from Pressler Felt and Warshaw regarding a debt. The first piece of mail I received from them regarding this debt was for a wage garnishment. They did not contact me prior to this to even attempt to work out payments. Instead they went straight for a garnishment. I would have appreciated prior contact so I could work out a payment plan that would work better for my financial situation.”

Pressler, Felt & Warshaw, LLP reviews

Pressler, Felt & Warshaw, LLP reviews on Google earn it an average rating of 3.5 out of 5 stars, and this score is based on hundreds of consumer reviews. Similarly, the law firm’s BBB rating is 2.13 out of 5 stars.

Check out some real Pressler, Felt & Warshaw, LLP reviews below:

You can represent yourself—and win!

What should you do if Pressler, Felt & Warshaw is suing you for a debt?

With SoloSuit's, you can represent yourself and save the time, money and stress of finding a lawyer.

Submit an Answer disputing PFW's claim and right to sue. They may either back down entirely or agree to a settlement offer. It is worthwhile in either case. Take a stand for yourself and win your case today.

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

Get Started

We have answers.
Join our community of over 40,000 people.

You can ask your questions on the SoloSuit forum and the community will help you out. Whether you need help now or are just looking for support, we're here for you.

Ask a Question

>>Read the FastCompany article: Debt Lawsuits Are Complicated: This Website Makes Them Simpler To Navigate