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How to Beat Unifin

Sarah Edwards | October 26, 2023

Edited by Hannah Locklear

Fact-checked by Patrick Austin, J.D.

Summary: Unifin is a debt collection agency that collects on student loan debt, medical debt, and other types of debt. If you’ve been sued by Unifin, SoloSuit can help ask them to validate the debt and respond to the lawsuit, increasing your chances of winning in court by 7x.

Debt collection notices are probably the worst piece of mail that you can receive in your mailbox. They can be stress inducing and worrisome. Following the written notice, you'll probably begin receiving phone calls from the debt collectors in an attempt to collect money. If you're juggling a lot, such as work, family, or other responsibilities, responding to a debt collector can be the last thing you want to deal with.

However, it's often best to find out exactly what the debt collector is seeking from you and why. In some cases, the debt collection notice may have been sent to you in error, or it may be for the wrong amount. So let's discuss how to handle a debt collection notice from Unifin.

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Is Unifin a legitimate debt collector?

Unifin is a verified debt collection agency that typically tries to collect unpaid debts related to student loans, health care providers, utilities, telecommunications, and government agencies. According to the BBB, Unifin has has hundreds of complaints filed against them over the past three years. Even worse, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau reported dozens of complaints against Unifin in the last ten years.

The complaints against Unifin mainly involve consumers who have indicated the debt that they are being asked to repay doesn't belong to them. The complaints also demonstrate that Unifin regularly reports fraudulent debts to the credit reporting agencies, as most of these consumers are victims of identity theft.

Let's take a look at a real complaint against Unifin.

“I just received a letter last week from this debt collector on a debt I know I paid off from 2016. It has been 6 years! My credit reports all say this credit card is paid off and the amount due is $0 and it's not in collections. I also bought my first house last year and during the process, they never said this was in collections at all! I called to dispute it today and talked to a VERY rude person in customer service that pretty much said there is no point in disputing and I have to pay it. How is this possible if even my credit reports say nothing about me owing???”

It's best to look out for abusive or harassing activities from Unifin, as they have been known to occur. Know your rights under the federal law so you can protect yourself.

What are my rights as a consumer under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA)?

The FDCPA protects consumers from abusive and harassing debt collection activities. Whenever you receive a notification that a debt collector is attempting to collect money from you, your best course of action is to immediately force them to validate the debt that you may owe them. To do so, you can dispute in writing that you owe the debt. This will force the collector to mail you a verification of the debt and the name and address of the original creditor. It will also stop all communication from Unifin until they do so.

If you receive a validation of the debt, communication efforts to collect it will probably step up. However, keep in mind that debt collectors are not allowed to harass or abuse you. This means that they cannot engage in certain activities, including any of the following:

  • Threatening to use violence or other means to harm the person or their reputation.
  • Using obscene language.
  • Repeatedly calling you throughout the day or evening.
  • Making any telephone calls without properly identifying themselves.
  • Falsely indicating the nature of the debt.
  • Implying that they are pursuing legal action without actually doing so.

Any of these methods to collect a debt are banned by the FDCPA. If you experience them, you can notify the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the BBB. In extreme cases, you may be able to file a lawsuit against the company to collect civil damages.

Send a Debt Validation Letter to Unifin

Before you agree to make any payments to Unifin, you should try requesting a debt validation by sending a Debt Validation Letter. This letter forces Unifin to prove the following before they continue pursuing the debt:

  • The amount of the debt.
  • The name of the creditor.
  • The collector will assume the debt is valid unless the consumer sends them a Debt Validation Letter within 30 days.
  • If you send the collector a Debt Validation Letter they will need to mail you validation of the debt.
  • If you send them a Debt Validation Letter they will need to mail you the name and address of the original creditor.

While this may sound like basic information, in many cases, debt collectors don't actually have the documentation to verify your debt. They may have thousands of consumers they are currently pursuing, and documentation may have been lost in the shuffle.

In other cases, they simply purchase a large number of aged accounts but don't actually obtain all of the paperwork needed to substantiate the amounts owed. In these cases, it's a numbers game—they're just hoping to get enough consumers to pay on aged debt without a lot of pushback.

Check out this video to learn more about Debt Validation Letters:

What if I'm being sued by Unifin for a debt?

If you've received a Complaint by Unifin that they are pursuing a legal claim against you, then it is important to understand that you can (and should) respond to the Complaint by filing a written Answer. Make sure to file your Answer before the court deadline, which is typically between 14 and 35 days depending on which state you live in.

Save yourself the time and stress of finding a lawyer to help you Answer. You can represent yourself with SoloSuit's help. In your Answer, you should follow these six tips:

  1. The Answer isn't the place to tell your side of the story in detail. Instead of using an elaborate story to respond to the lawsuit, your Answer should focus on responding to the claims listed in the Complaint document. Keep it simple. You can admit, deny, or deny due to lack of knowledge.
  2. Deny, deny, deny. Most attorneys recommend that you deny as many claims as possible, forcing Unifin to do more work to prove their side of the case.
  3. Include affirmative defenses. These are any legal reasons that Unifin should not win the case. A common affirmative defense used in debt lawsuits is the statute of limitations, which is the time period that a debt collector has to sue someone for a debt. If the debt is past the statute of limitations, then the lawsuit is void.
  4. Use standard formatting or “style”. At the head of the Answer document, be sure to include a caption where you list the court information, party information, and case number.
  5. Include a certificate of service. It's important to serve your Answer to Unifin. At the end of your Answer document, include a certificate of service when you verify the address you used to serve Unifin the Answer.
  6. Sign it. Most courts reject any legal documents without signatures, which is why this last step is so crucial.

SoloSuit can help you draft and file an Answer in all 50 states.

Learn more about these six tips in this video:

If you don't respond to the complaint from Unifin and don't pay the money, a default judgment may be entered against you in court. This judgment can allow Unifin to pursue the amount of the judgment due by garnishing your wages, freezing your bank account, or putting a lien on your personal property. You don't want that—especially if you're not even sure that the debt is yours!

How can SoloSuit help me with a Unifin lawsuit?

If Unifin is suing you for an unpaid debt, you can use SoloSuit to represent yourself in court and win! Create an Answer to the debt lawsuit Complaint (also known as a Petition in some states). The whole process only takes 15 minutes, and SoloSuit has a great track record with many of its users getting their cases dismissed entirely.

SoloSuit also offers other personalized documents and resources that can help you beat debt collectors. Use the document calculator below to discover which service is most appropriate for you and your case.

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What is SoloSuit?

SoloSuit can help you respond to debt collectors at any stage of the debt collections process.

Our software can help you draft legal documents to respond to debt collectors when they come knocking. These documents, including a Debt Validation Letter, Debt Answer, and more, can help you stand up for your rights and get collectors off your back.

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.

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

>>Read the NPR story on SoloSuit. (We can help you in all 50 states.)

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