What to Do If You've Been Sued by Unifund

Chloe Meltzer | March 06, 2023

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 Unifund in court ^^

Summary: is a third-party debt collection agency that specializes in purchasing old, charged-off debts and collecting on them. If you are sued for a debt, you have to respond before the deadline or you will lose automatically. SoloSuit can help you prepare your Answer in minutes and win in court.

No one likes being called by debt collectors, but being sued by them is even worse. When Unifund starts calling, you probably owe a debt that they’ve purchased from your original creditor. If you don’t pay it off, Unifund might take you to court for it.

Many consumers have been sued by Unifund in recent years. In 2018 they brought more than 1500 cases to the New York Civil Courts alone. Following this, in January 2019 they brought almost 400 lawsuits to trial. Knowing how to respond to a Unifund lawsuit will help you protect your rights.

In this article, we’ll discuss who Unifund is, how to respond to a debt collection lawsuit, and how to avoid a default judgment.

If you are being sued by Unifund, know that you have options. You simply need to learn what your best defense is.

Make the right defense the right way with SoloSuit.

Who is Unifund?

Unifund, also known as Unifund CCR and Unifund CCR Partners, is a third-party debt collection agency that specializes in purchasing old, charged-off debts and collecting on them.

So, if you start getting calls, letters, or other communications from Unifund, you probably have never heard of the company before. They probably purchased your old debt for a percentage of the original amount and are now trying to get you to pay it off in full.

Unifund CCR LLC might claim that you owe them money, even if you have never borrowed anything from them. For example, if you have fallen behind on your credit card payments in the past, your debt may be purchased by Unifund. They will then own your debt and will look to collect the remainder of the balance.

If you need to contact Unifund, here’s their contact information:

Unifund
10625 Techwoods Circle
Cincinnati, OH 45242
info@unifund.com
https://www.unifund.com/contact/
Unifund CCR Partners: 1-888-384-4452
Unifund CCR LLC: 1-888-384-8171

Unifund is known for using any means to collect debts, even going so far as to violate the FDCPA in some cases. For this reason, Unifund doesn’t have the greatest reputation (but what debt collection agency does?).

Unifund has received many complaints and bad reviews

If you’re feeling pushed around by Unifund, you’re not alone.

As of 2022, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau reported almost 80 complaints against Unifund CCR. The company only has a 1.5 star rating on Google reviews. Many of these complaints and reviews mention questionable debt collection tactics that break the rules listed in the FDCPA.

Let’s take a look at a real example from the CFPB complaint database:

“Unifund CCR has illegally attempted to collect a credit card debt that was never verified nor presented with a contract. I have asked Unifund on several occasions to verify debt that was never done. Now, they filed a lawsuit seeking judgment without verification or proper notice under state ad federal laws.”

Failing to verify a debt is actually against the law, according to the FDCPA. Learning about debt collection laws can help you protect yourself from abusive and unfair debt collection methods used by collection agencies like Unifund.

The FDCPA can protect you from Unifund’s questionable debt collection tactics

As a consumer, you have rights. The FDCPA has standards that govern the conduct of collection agencies like Unifund CCR. Collection agencies are forbidden from:

Contacting you before 8:00 a.m. or after 9:00 p.m.
Calling you more than seven times in a seven-day period.
Contacting you after receiving a cease-and-desist notice.
Contacting your family, friends, or coworkers regarding your debt.
Threatening arrest if you don’t pay off the debt.
Using abusive, vulgar, or profane language to intimidate you into paying.
Pretending to be a government agency.
Refusing to provide validation for your debt.

If Unifund ever violates any of these rules, report them immediately. You can report them using the FTC online platfor, or by calling them at 877-382-4357. Additionally, you can report them to the CFPB, using their website, or by calling 855-411-2372.

Send a Debt Validation Letter to Unifund

When Unifund contacts you for the first time about debt, you should investigate the debt by sending a Debt Validation Letter to Unifund. In return, they'll send a document that records information such as the balance of your debt and information about the original creditor.

Remember: failing to validate your debt is a violation of the guidelines listed above, which means they can't keep calling you without providing this information.

Learn more about how to request a debt validation in the video below:

If Unifund files a lawsuit against you before you can re quest a debt validation, you still have time to defend yourself and get them off your back. Just be sure to respond to the debt collection lawsuit as quickly as possible. Here’s how.

Respond to a Unifund lawsuit

If you've been sued by Unifund, you can represent yourself in court and win. The first step to winning the case is to file a written Answer with the court. You have up to 35 days to respond, depending on where you live, after receiving the Unifund CCR LLC Summons.

If you do not respond to a Unifund lawsuit in time, a default judgment will be entered against you. This gives Unifund the right to garnish your wages or put liens on your property in order to get the money back. Luckily, SoloSuit can help you draft an Answer within minutes.

Use these six tips to draft an Answer that will increase your chances of winning the case:

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.
Deny, deny, deny. Most attorneys recommend that you deny as many claims as possible, forcing Unifund to do more work to prove their side of the case.
Include affirmative defenses. These are any legal reasons that Unifund 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.
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.
Include a certificate of service. It's important to serve your Answer to Unifund. At the end of your Answer document, include a certificate of service when you verify the address you used to serve Unifund the Answer.
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:

How to avoid a Unifund CCR LLC garnishment

The most important way to avoid wage garnishment is to fight back against the Unifund lawsuit when you are notified that you’re being sued. You can fight back by responding immediately.

When you respond to the debt lawsuit and deny all the claims against you, there is a good chance that Unifund will drop the case. Not only does this prevent potential wage garnishment, but it also prevents any judgments being entered against you.

Settle your debt with Unifund

Most collection agencies buy debt for just 4% of the original amount, then hope to collect the full amount or at least more than they paid for it. Knowing that these folks aim to double or triple their money will give you a good starting point. Call the collection agency and explain why you're not able to pay off your full debt, then make an offer to settle.

Begin with a low proposal then make a counter-offer from there as needed. Play it cool—the waterworks probably aren't going to do you any good here.

If you end up making a deal that works for your budget, great! But don't be afraid to walk away if you can't come to an agreement that suits your financial situation. Make sure to get all settlement agreements in writing.

If you reach a debt settlement agreement with Unifund in the middle of the lawsuit, they will probably dismiss the case voluntarily. However, sometimes debt collectors agree to settle but keep taking legal action behind your back. For this reason, you should always file your Answer before worrying about settling. Filing your Answer will protect you from a default judgment and give you the time you need to reach a settlement.

SoloSuit can help you settle your debt with Unifund.

Settle with SoloSettle

Make an Offer

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