Have you received a collection letter or phone call from Atlantic Credit & Finance, Inc.? Or worse, a lawsuit summons? Just who are they? What do they want?
Atlantic Credit & Finance is a junk debt buyer. Or, as many in their industry prefer to say, a “purchaser of distressed receivables.” They’re based in Virginia, and as of August 2015, their corporate address is listed at: 3353 Orange Avenue, Roanoke, VA 24012. But they collect from and sue consumers all across the United States.
What does that mean? And what does it have to do with you? Well, a lot of credit card companies and other lenders have thousands of credit accounts that remain unpaid. Rather than collect them directly, many of them simply write off those accounts and forget about them. To try and salvage some value for those accounts, they sell them to debt buyers for pennies on the dollar.
What the debt buyers typically purchase is a bunch of spreadsheets with personal information and alleged account numbers and balances. A lot of these are real accounts based on real debts. But a lot of them don’t bother to check the accuracy of the accounts, and few of them do a good job of tracking their custody of account documents like contracts, billing statements, or transfer agreements.
So if you’re being sued, dunned, or otherwise harassed by Atlantic Credit & Finance, they probably believe that you owe them money. But this may not be true. Even if you owed some credit card company money years back and didn’t pay them in full, that doesn’t mean you owe Atlantic Credit & Finance anything.
Here’s why: Imagine if you borrowed $100 from your friend, John. You admit that you owe John $100, but you can’t pay him right now because work is slow and you have 3 kids.
One day, as you are walking into work, a guy named Bubba comes up to you and says “Give me $100.” What would you say?
“Hell no, I’m not giving you $100.”
“You owe John $100 and I paid John $5 for your debt. So give me $100.”
“I want some proof.”
Well, that’s the problem. Anyone claiming to sue on behalf of another must prove not just that the money was owed, but that they have the right to the money.
So if you get sued by Atlantic Credit & Finance, Inc. or one of their corporate affiliates like:
- Atlantic Credit & Finance Special Finance Unit, LLC
- Atlantic Credit & Finance Special Finance Unit III, LLC
Then you need to call a lawyer. Because a consumer debt defense attorney can fight these lawsuits and win, saving you thousands. If you live in Alabama and are facing a lawsuit or abusive collection tactics by Atlantic Credit & Finance, then call us at 251.272.9148 Today.
Peace.
"Licensed in Alabama and Texas. We are a debt relief agency. We help people file for bankruptcy relief under the Bankruptcy Code. No representation is made that the quality of the legal services to be performed is greater than the quality of legal services performed by other lawyers. The use of this website DOES NOT establish an attorney-client relationship between Judson E. Crump, PC and you."