How to Beat Selip & Stylianou LLP

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.

When you beat Selip & Stylianou LLP ^^

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

Selip & Stylianou LLP is one of the primary consumer collection law firms in the state of New York. Formerly known as Cohen & Slamowitz, LLP, it is a third-party debt collection law firm located that serves creditors in New York state and New Jersey. It is often employed by banks such as Citibank, Capital One, TD Bank, and Discover.

You may have received a call, a collection letter, or a lawsuit in the mail from Selip & Stylianou LLP. This is usually because they are attempting to collect on a debt that is owed on an account you have not paid in at least six months. When approached by a debt collection agency or a lawyer representing an original creditor, you need to ensure that you know your rights. If you do not respond in the correct manner, you may be subject to wage garnishment or frozen bank accounts.

Here's everything you need to know about Selip & Stylianou LLP, your rights, and how to win in court.

Selip & Stylianou LLP has bad reviews and receives many complaints

If you're feeling frustrated with Selip & Stylianou LLP, you're not alone. This collection agency has received many complaints on the Better Business Bureau (BBB) website and with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). It received a customer rating of 1 out of 5 stars on BBB, and it only has an average of 3 out of 5 stars on Google reviews out of 43 reviews.

As of 2022, Selip & Stylianou LLP has received 9 complaints in a three-year period on its BBB profile. Much worse, the CFPB has reported 191 complaints against Selip & Stylianou LLP in the last ten years. These complaints show that Selip & Stylianou LLP is willing to do anything to collect the money they are seeking. The firm may even go as far as violating the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

Let's take a look at a real example.

Example: One consumer, we'll call him Ben, received a notice from Selip & Stylianou LLP that they had been granted a judgment in court against him. At this point, Ben hadn't even heard of Selip & Stylianou LLP nor did he know about being sued. He immediately called Selip & Stylianou LLP who told him that all the documentation of his communications with the law firm were listed on their website. Ben went to the website where he opened the supposed communications between himself and the debt collection law firm. Upon reading the communications, Ben felt sure that Selip & Stylianou LLP was being fraudulent. The address listed on the account was invalid because Ben hadn't lived there for more than 12 years. The letters also stated that Ben was served the court papers by a specific person who supposedly handed him the documents. The person described Ben as “approximately tall, then short, unknown age, with arm tattoos.” Ben does not have arm tattoos, and it is clear from the description that he was never served anything.

If you are a victim of aggressive or abusive debt collection tactics, you may be eligible for compensation. Knowing your rights can help you protect yourself.

Know your rights under the FDCPA

You have rights under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) that protect you from abusive debt collection tactics, such as:

Harassment of any kind.
Making early-morning or late-night calls (before 8 a.m. and after 9 p.m.).
Telling anyone other than you, your spouse, or your lawyer about the debt.
Calling you at work after you have said it is not allowed.
Trying to speak to you once you have hired an attorney.
Contacting you after you have sent a cease and desist letter.
Using threatening, vulgar, or abusive language to get you to pay.
Lying about who they are.
Threatening to take legal action they cannot, or do not plan to, take.

If a debt collector is harassing you, then you may want to consider filing a lawsuit or counterclaim (if you're already being sued). You may be eligible for up to $1,000 per FDCPA violation.

What Happens When You Are Sued for Debt

If you have had an account sent to collections, it can stay on your credit report for up to seven years. This can continue to hurt your credit score for the duration, even after you pay it. It is actually possible to remove a collection from your credit report before that time period. However, you may want to work on fighting the lawsuit before it becomes an even bigger issue.

For example, if you are sued for debt by Selip & Stylianou LLP and you do not respond, you may have your wages garnished. This is only allowed in certain states, and if you are in a state that does not allow wage garnishment, then it is illegal for them to garnish your wages. This is something to note because if they threaten to garnish your wages without being able to do so, you may be able to countersue.

Respond to a debt collection lawsuit against Selip & Stylianou LLP

How you respond to the debt collection Summons and Complaint filed against you impacts the final ruling on the case. If you ignore the court Summons, the court will pass a default judgment against you. As a result, the plaintiff or their attorney will ask the court to issue a wage garnishment order that allows them to collect part of your wages to recover their debt.

You need to take note of the time limit you have to respond to the court Summons. This time limit varies from one state to another and may be found on the paperwork you receive along with the court Summons and Complaint.

After confirming the deadline, follow these three steps:

Respond to each complaint in separate paragraphs.
Assert your affirmative defenses.
File your Answer with the court, and send a copy to Selip & Stylianou LLP.

Now, let's break down each of these steps a little further. Don't like reading? Check out this video to learn more about these three steps to responding a debt lawsuit.

1. Respond to each complaint in separate paragraphs

The complaint contains all the legal claims by the plaintiff in paragraph form. You must read each claim and decide how you respond to it. Typically, there are three ways to respond to these claims.

You may admit a claim if you agree.
You may deny the claim if you disagree.
You many deny the claim due to lack of knowledge if you aren't sure.

In most cases, attorneys suggest that you deny as many claims as possible. Denying is kind of like stating, “Prove it.” It forces Selip & Stylianou LLP to provide the proper documentation and paperwork to prove their case. If they don't have the necessary proof, the case will probably be dismissed.

You can use SoloSuit to draft an Answer in 15 minutes.

2. Assert your affirmative defenses

Affirmative defenses are the reasons why you believe the plaintiff has no case against you. It's the best chance you have to challenge Selip & Stylianou LLP and beat them later in court.

Examples of affirmative defenses include:

The statute of limitations on the debt has already expired.
The creditor canceled the debt agreement.
You filed for bankruptcy, thus, dismissing the debt.
You already cleared the debt.
The debt account doesn't belong to you.
You didn't receive a notice for debt validation from the plaintiff.

Remember to collect evidence of these affirmative defenses to support your claims. Since asserting affirmative defenses is a one-time chance, you need to explore all available defenses to improve your chances of winning the case. Once you file your initial Answer, you won't be able to bring up any defenses later on in the case.

SoloSuit can help you make the right defense the right way.

3. File Your Answer

After completing your Answer with your responses and affirmative defenses, the next step is filing your Answer. You have to make two copies of the Answer document. Mail one of the copies to the court and the other to the plaintiff or their attorney. Ensure that you use Certified Mail services to obtain proof of mailing and delivery.

SoloSuit can file your Answer for you in all 50 states.

Contact Selip & Stylianou LLP

If you're trying to reach Selip & Stylianou LLP to request a debt validation, or for any other reason, you can use the following contact information:

Address:
P.O. Box 9004
Woodbury, NY 11797-9004

Phone number (NY office):
516-364-6006 or 866-848-8975

Phone number (NJ office):
201-368-2850 or 866-848-8975

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