Ms.
Nielsen:
By this
letter I am acknowledging receipt of a Feb. 25 letter from you which attempts
to extract monies from me in the amount of $12,532.86, that you have apparently
been contracted by the Georgia Department of Revenue (hereinafter referred to
as GADOR) to obtain via intimidation, coercion and threat. This letter also
documents phone calls on March 9-11 between you and me regarding the above
letter.
This is
not a refusal to pay, however I do not wish to waive or fail to exercise any
rights and protections I may have under the laws of this country.
While
checking my mail on the evening of March 9, I found a hastily scribbled note
taped to my mailbox which you apparently left there sometime during the day. It
read: “16 Courtleigh Drive David or Cathy [sic] please call 209-xxx-xxxx. This
is important” Two voicemails were left at that number and then you called us
back.
You
ominously said that after March 11, “collection action would move forward” (or
words to that effect) if I had not made arrangements to pay. I stated that 30
days from my receipt of your letter had not elapsed by March 11 and that I was
disputing the debt, as is my right under the Federal Fair Debt Collection
Practices Act (hereinafter referred to as FDCPA).
I
attempted to clarify when the 30-day period for my lawful response began, since
I have to date received two almost identical letters from DCS, except one dated
Feb. 16 has the name “Hal Cox” printed on it and another dated Feb. 25 has your
name printed on it.
You
made various assertions and claims that are not in evidence, among them that I
had not met “my obligations” and that a tax lien was due and owing. I stated no
such lien exists, only the notices recorded in violation of law by the county
clerk. I replied that I cannot be deprived of property without due process of
law and that I have never received due process, further that the GADOR has to
date denied all administrative remedies that I have attempted to exercise.
You
expressed disbelief that I had actually answered any letters from DCS. You
insinuated I was lying when I said I had responded in writing. I have retained
a postmarked receipt of my March 8 reply and will rely on that until I have
received the signed green card back from your agency.
You said
I had “already received due process.” I stated due process means a hearing
before a judge in a court of competent jurisdiction and I have never had any
such thing. I also stated that the fifa’s you referred to were defective, that
there was no judge’s order attached to them. Further, there is no writ of
execution or abstract of judgment filled in on the backs of the fifa’s simply
because no such hearing has ever taken place. The notices you refer to are
simply demands for money to which no judicial process has ever attached. They
are prima facie fraudulent, deceptive and defective.
You
said, to wit, that if I asked for validation, “all we will send you is a copy
of the fifa’a I said the FDCPA says verification means a judge’s order or a
sworn statement from an officer of the firm alleging the debt.
You
said I could “settle this voluntarily today or involuntarily” after March 11;
however you did not explain how your verbal threats, intimidation and
harassment over the phone trying to coerce money out of us could constitute
anything remotely considered “voluntary” on our part.
I
reminded you that both letters from DCS, Inc., have on their reverse an
“Important notice of rights” which says in part:
“Unless you notify this
office within 30 days after receiving this notice that you dispute the validity
of this debt or any portion thereof, this office will assume this debt is
valid. If you notify this office in writing within 30 days from receiving this
notice, this office will: obtain verification of the debt or obtain a copy of a
judgment and mail you a copy of such judgment or verification.”