Law Offices Howard Lee Schiff

I have HAD IT with these people! I was unfairly and deceptively scared into signing a judgment with these ###, I was not informed that I had the right to dispute the debt (which I believe they are required to do by law) was told that I did not want to waste the courts time and could go to jail which is illegal and I did not know this. I met them in the hallway BEFORE the courtroom, they acted like my best friend and I was basically scared into signing it and I personally NEVER stepped foot in a court room. I wish I knew then what I know now.
I have filed complaints with the Massachusetts Division of Banks, The Massachusetts Attorney General, I have written to the Governor of Massachusetts also my State Rep and the FTC. These people need to be stopped doing what they are doing, basically skating the line of the law because while they are attorneys, in reality they are debt collectors but are not subject to licensing as so because of their attorney status . I am currently looking into filing a class action lawsuit against them for deceptive practices but need more people that have been deceived like I have been. please email me at johnworc70@yahoo.com

All the shyster crooks at Howard Lee Schiff should be sitting in jail for harassment. I hope they will spend all the money on cancer treatment what they ripped off from people. These vultures are the worst.

My name is Melvin Dotson from Chicopee MA and I was a victim of Howard Lee Schiff's tactics back in 2006. Previously there was a closed credit card with Citibank that had an original balance of 3600.00. An installment was set up with NCO financial at first but this firm sued me for a larger amount nearly $5,000.00 with no interest listed separately. When disputed I was sent interrogations to detail transactions which I could not answer. The court ruled in favor of the law firm and accrued interest and fees. Two years later my job was contacted and I was sent information about garnishment of wages. Being up against the wall, I was coerced into a plan and the judge rounded the amount to $7,000.00 to include future interest increasing a total from $6,300.00. I am sharing my experience so others will not go through what I did. Lastly the firm used the name of Howard Lee Schiff on their documents after 2007 and had the nerve to offer settlements force percentage of the balance. Please share with the CT Attorney general's Office since they are headquartered there. I did not benefit from any class action suits filed in the past but feel I should have. Thank you for your time.

Melvin Dotson, consumer ref 32578 Citibank ref 5392

They just contacted me after 10 and a half years to tell me I still had outstanding debt on a collection that I though was paid off in 2005. They never contacted me about it until now, when it has accumulated $350 in interest! Apparently all I owed was $150 and I thought I had paid it off in 2005. They said they are not required to contact me about outstanding debt or making payments, that I am supposed to know about it and pay it off! They had obtained a judgment for court fees of $75 plus 8% interest on the unpaid balance, which has accrued for the past 10 years. A truly underhanded group. And because they obtained a court judgment on the debt collection, it will never be considered paid off as there is no statute of limitations. If I don't pay now, it will continue to accrue interest and be charged to my estate when I die! I don't understand how the Consumer Protection Agency allows this.

I had my wages garnished a few years ago to pay this debt. I recently got a letter asking me to pay off the debt. I am so glad that it went through my job. There is a paper trail. It is just so annoying to get a letter from them when my debt has been paid. Does no one check or file paperwork there? It has been two years. I just sent them an email telling them that my credit reports show that the debt is paid. I even showed screen grabs of it. I know I don't have to really worry but I like them to fix their mistake and leave me alone. I have received two letters and they don't respond to the first email. I might just send a letter too.

I had a Citibank Radio Shack card that my ex was to be paying, then stopped. I never received any phone calls or letters (I believe he was hiding those from me) I got a summons, I tried to work with Howard Schiff and they told me that they would see me in court. I got a judgement against me for $5380. I started by making payments of $25. per week and then as I got promoted I moved it up to $45. I have been putting extra money on the account and have a spreadsheet with the balance owed with the extra payments. I called to make an extra payment and the lady told me that my balance was $3560, when on my spread sheet it showed 2960. I asked her why the difference as on my credit report it showed $3060 (which I understand that there would be a difference between the difference I show and my credit report due to the timing) The lady said that they dont report to the credit bureau, and I stated that they do, I asked if there was interest accumulating she said no. She said that was the balance and there was nothing I could do but to continue to pay, I then went to the Maine Bureau of Consumer Credit and lodge a complaint against them. They are working on my case at this time. I should also state that on the credit bureau it stated the beginning balance of the judgement is 5380. I owe and I will pay, but I will only pay what was on the judgement.

JUST WENT TO COURT WITH THIS FIRM, THEY DID NOT APPLY MY PAYMENTS CORRECTLY THEN TRYED TO SAY I DIDN'T MAKE THE PAYMENTS, THEY CALLED ME NUMEROUS TIMES AFTER I FILED A CD LETTER TWO OTHER LAWYERS WERE INVOLVED ON THIS DEBT, NOT SURE IF THIS DEBT WAS EVER VERIFIED LEGALLY BUT I GUESS THAT DOESN'T MATTER BECAUSE THEY GOT THIER JUDGEMENT, THEY FILED TWO WRITS OF EXECUTION AGAISNT ME, I MOVED TO DISSOLVE THE WRIT AND WAS TOLD IN COURT BY THE JUDGE " I DON'T KNOW WHERE YOU GOT THAT FROM ?" BASICALLY EVERYTHING I STATED IN COURT GOT IGNORED .THE LAWYER FOR THIS FIRM STATED TO ME THAT THEY ARE NOT THIRD PARTY DEBT BUYERS THAT THEY ARE REPRESENTING CITIBANK, IM SURE THERE IS SOME FRAUD WITH IN THIER PAPERWORK, GUESS I NEED A LAWYER AFTER ALL :(

Wow same here Xmas week paid online the agreement of 50 month
They ach out of my account 1173.00 I had bank reverse it shut account down
This was my boyfriends debt I just paid it out of account

My relationship with these bottom feeders started in September 2010, 2 weeks shy of the statute of limitations. I went to court, but met with their shyster lawyer prior to seeing the judge, I laid out my ability to pay which was nothing. He asked me to sign a continuance statement which I read, I also questioned the amount on the debit. It was for $9, 800.00 and I had paid it down to $3, 000.00 with the original creditor, who had charged off the debt for their corporate tax. I was told it was interest and fees for the time it hadn't been paid on. I responded that if a debt is charged off, it is no longer and active debt so therefore how could it be accruing interest and fees? He just stated that it did.

I have been back to court with them numerous times, I finally agreed to pay $20.00 amonth with the stipulation that all interest ceases and the amount be reduced to what was originally owed. The judge agreed, however when I received the judgement back from the court, it was for the amount of $9, 985.00! I contacted the court and was told that additional information was provided to substantiate HLS claim of the higher amount. I questioned why I was not informed and allowed to counter this. I was given no answer. Also the interest keeps accruing which is not what I signed in court. I also questioned how I can be charged continuing interest when it was not agreed to by me and signed in court. I was told that the judge can make those changes.

I really wish I'd had an attorney as I have been paying on this debt now for 6 yrs and it hasn't gone down at all as the monthly interest is more than my payment.

After reading a lot of this complains, Shiff, is just what I was thinking of them, they are a bunch of economy N*Z* thugs.They are doing deals with the credit cards company, s paying them maybe half of the amount(that should be yours)and they charging you the full amount+court cost.After you get the first scary letter from them, you will get another to sign DONT SIGN IT.Stay calm tell them monkey business felons to go F*** them self, and deal with original credit card company, they will give you a good deal, don't be afraid to talk to them they are good people.Remember Shiff can, t kill you over the phone.:)

Got a letter from them saying I owned the credit card company $ 2.622.68.+$80.00 in court cost. OK, so I started paying them $500.00 and it was going fine.In January was the last payment of $513.00 and because of unexpected draw on my account it failed.I told them I would pay them that amount in February and that seems to be OK. Paid In February and it was returned because of insufficient funds the 24th on the 27th it was sent again and this time it went true.So I got a letter from them dated 4th of March saying.I must speak with you.I called them yesterday and they told me they have not got the money.So now I going down to the Bank got a printout that said they got the money.And the Senior Branch Manager gave me his card and phone # and told me that if I got more problem with them they could call her.Back home I called them again and they refused to call the bank.So now I go back to the bank again called Schiff again and got a pretty rude women on the line(a new person every time) I handed the phone over to the Manager and she put them pretty good in the right place.But they refused to take the tracking # for the payment.So now I look at business as finish.

This collection syndicate may be filing documents in incorrect or multiple jurisdictions in order to use the courts to obtain easy defaults. This also generates vast amounts of money for the state. Virtual debtors prisons are created through defaulting people, if the scam is run correctly by Schiiff (the actual Howard Schiff has been dead since 2007).

Improper Party
Mr. Schiff’s enterprise reportedly accepts farmed-out “portfolios” from an out of state 3rd party syndicate known as TSYS. That company reportedly funnels zombie debts, unverified debts, debts based on false/no affidavits, and other debts to willing lawyers through use of the NAN (National Attorney Network) computer software program. The NAN software (or access to the data) is provided by the true clients—TSYS.

Methodology
A recent online article noted the following regarding the methods used by the below-named company and the affiliated farm-out lawyers (through use of IOLTA’s):

“Capital One is famous for having TSYS of Georgia do their collecting for them. TSYS has a subsidiary company known as NAN (National Attorney Network) TSYS sends the debt to the NAN office which is at the same address as TSYS.” NAN seeks out willing lawyers in the victim’s jurisdiction, and provides information to the attorney. The lawyer provides a buffer to the third party and helps to prevent the problems that arise when the third party sends out letters that appear to be from an attorney—although the simulated summons serves the same purpose at present.

The victim “is then sued under CAP1 as plaintiff, when TSYS is the actual plaintiff. TSYS is not alone in utilizing this method.
Reasons
Third parties may be using the courts in this way for a few reasons:
• The method has been a convoluted success.

• In the past, collectors would simply send out letters with simulated attorney letterheads in order to dupe victims into thinking they were being sued or losing their jobs. The letters were used as a scare tactic to obtain as much cash and information from the victim as possible, regardless of verification laws.
• Although lawsuits have somewhat thwarted collection syndicates from utilizing the “letter method, ” they have modified their approach to include lawyers and the accompanying IOLTA’s---at least enough to perhaps buffer the enterprise from threats of potential suits.

The Operation
Some collection syndicates now insulate their activities by using the NAN program to farm-out debts and use attorneys, IOLTA’s, and the courts.

A supposed summons letter is sent to the victim with what appears to be an “original” creditor listed as plaintiff. In actuality, the “debt” may have been sold, bundled and hedged many times over. Neither a date, nor a time is printed on the summons—so it is not a summons at all. It has the same purpose as the non-attorney letter as discussed earlier. Also, the summons letter may, or may not, reach the victim. The goal of the syndicate is to obtain a “legal default.”

The motion for default and accompanying execution is affected from the court in due course. To further confuse the victim, the collection syndicate may send out collection letters or other correspondence before default. The victim may either respond (or not) to those inquiries in lieu of legal appearances—where the location and times are already ambiguous.

Collection then continues from multiple angles with little or no recourse for the victim, as the court has placed its stamp of approval on the default motion by the syndicate.

As stated earlier, TSYS/CAP1/Schiff are not alone in using this new methodology. TERI (Education Loan Services) uses the same scheme. TERI went bankrupt in 2008 and is presently owned by elements of Goldman Sachs and First Marblehead. TERI is listed as plaintiff in their suits (an improper party) and even goes so far as to claim status under the federal loan program—although they are private. TERI attempts to collect on zombie debts, unverified debts, and bundled-hedged debts sold many times over. Although the office of the New York Attorneys General has investigated many private loan schemes, several entities still thrive in other states.