My Battle with P. Scott Lowery in Court - and Resulting Success!

After 2 years of phone harassment, P. Scott Lowery "law firm", a junk debt buyer, sued me. Here's how I fought them and their claim, ultimately winning the case. If you're sued by P. Scott Lowery, follow my lead!

Before I tell you the story of how I fought P. Scott Lowery in court, and won, by myself without the help of any attorney, let me tell you why I got into this mess in the first place.

In 2003 I had a Bank of America checking account. This account was then tied to a Bank of America credit card, which was intended to be used as a line of credit for the purpose of overdraft charges. I used both accounts under the normal course of business for almost 4 years, keeping in good standing on both accounts. But, in 2006 Bank of America overcharged me for banking fees, in violation of their terms. I contacted them, argued with them, took the matter as high as I possibly could, but ultimately got nowhere.

My agreement with the bank, as was noted on the back of every billing statement, said that if I disputed or had an issue with any charges, that I did not have to make any payments until the dispute was resolved. With this in mind, I continued to contact Bank of America. Then, over the course of about 5 months, the bank charged me fees on top of fees, repeated fees on the same item, late fees on my disputed items, or charged an over-the-limit fee because their previous fees caused the total balance to go over their limit. These issues made me furious! And, needless to say, I told their representatives, in not so nice terms, that I refused to be treated this way, nor would I pay anything till they got these issues resolved.

My rights were never honored by Bank of America, and, after 3 months of my bull-headed refusal to pay, they sold off my account to a junk debt buyer. On my credit report, it shows that the account was written off. It was shortly after this sale that I started receiving phone calls from P. Scott Lowery "law firm", a junk debt buyer who buys old debts for pennies on the dollar and then tries to get 2 - 3x the original amount owed. Thanks, Bank of America!

The representatives from P. Scott Lowery law firm are trained to use high pressure tactics to elicit a sense of urgency in debtors. Over the course of two years, they called me at least once a week, sometimes more. One time I received five calls from them in the same day!

Well, I must admit, when I first started communicating with them, I was ignorant about my fair debt collection act rights. I was naive to assume that bill collectors are reasonable people, who will listen to you and care about your situation. So, I told them my whole situation, financial difficulties, physical issues, and offered what little amount of money I could honestly afford. None of this mattered.

At one point, my income was $400 a month, without any help from DHS or other assistance. I was paying all of my own bills and raising 2 kids by myself with this amount of income. I told the P. Scott Lowery representative that I really couldn't pay them more than 5 dollars a month, considering these difficulties. The man on the other end told me, quote, "If all you are going to offer is your measily 5 dollars, then you might as well go hand your money to the mail man, because you're wasting our time."

The representatives at P. Scott Lowery would call me, repeatedly, telling me that I was a loser that didn't want to pay her bills, that I was a liar (in regards to my financial situation), that I robbed Bank of America, yelled at me, belittled me, and threatened to sue me over and over again. Their representatives also told me that they would make sure that I lost my job, if I ever got up off my lazy butt to get one, because they would call my boss and tell them that a garnishment would soon be coming thru, and no boss likes to deal with court ordered garnishment issues. Another representative told me that anything my dead grandmother would leave for me as an inheritance would be taken from me, because they didn't care how special anything might be, I owed them and that was all that mattered. A lady representative told me that I knew that I owed them the money, that I was just trying to talk circles around her and procrastinate, and I had been "caught" in the act - my little "game" could no longer continue. And these are only a few of the numerous cut-down type of statements that were made to me over the phone, by so-called "professional" P. Scott Lowery representatives.

P. Scott Lowery sent me numerous letters, to which I replied, each and every one, usually on the same day. Interestingly enough, despite all of my replies, none of the letters were ever received by their office. Then, in June of 2007 I got a letter from them saying that I had neglected to communicate, and they would proceed with a lawsuit unless I replied within 10 days. What? I didn't understand! I HAD communicated with them, repeatedly. What was the issue? I wrote a reply to them, on the back of this original letter, and returned it to them in their own reply envelope. Ironically, this letter was received by them, and to date, it is the only letter that they claim to have received. Hmmmm.

After receiving this letter, I got online and researched P. Scott Lowery. Boy, were my eyes opened!! Not only does P. Scott Lowery operate on the fringe of the law, but they take advantage of people who, like me, are not aware of their rights or lack the means to fight them in court. "Oh no," I thought to myself, "I'm not letting these losers get one over on me!" From that day forward, I made it my mission to get educated about junk debt buyers, my rights, legal proceedures, and court battles.

I learned that, as a consumer, I have the right to ask the debtor to provide proof that they, and not the original creditor, is the party that I need to pay. This is called a "validation of debt" letter. By law, the debt collector must provide you with this proof once you request it. You can also request that they stop calling you, and engage in communication by letter instead. That same day I wrote a long letter to P. Scott Lowery, signed, typed, dated, and sent by certified mail with return receipt, telling them that I wanted validation of debt. I asked them to please stop contacting me until and unless validation of the debt is received. They received the letter, as evidenced by the green post card that was returned to me. But, ironically, the letter was never recorded in their computer systems, and nobody seems to know where it went. Hmmm....

I also learned that, according to FDPCA, anytime a debt collector violates my rights, that same debt collector owed me as much as $1,000. The catch, however, is that I had to prove that they violated my rights, and I also had to sue them for those violations within one year of the violation.

From June till early December I received no phone calls and no letters from P. Scott Lowery. I thought to myself, hey, maybe they can't provide me with proof and have stopped the collection efforts. After all, if they had called me, it would have been a violation of FDPCA, since no validation of debt had been received. Did my letter stop the collection efforts? No! In December, phone call after phone call started coming in. This time, however, I wasn't taking the harassment and harsh speech laying down. No sir! This time, I was prepared!

I learned that, in Oklahoma, I was permitted to record all conversations provided that one person of the party was in agreement of the recording. That one party, of course, was me. So, using an old digital camera with video capabilities and the speaker phone feature on the house phone, I did in fact record every conversation between myself and all P. Scott Lowery representatives. From December 2008 to April 2009 my rights were violated a total of 57 times. That's right. 57 TIMES! Which means, in legal terms, that they owe me $57,000 if I could afford to take them to court. I recorded them using slanderous language, threatening me, flat out lying to me, cutting me down, calling me a debt beat, misrepresenting themselves, and blaming "people like me" or the recession, among other statements. I even spoke to the lead general manager of the location, which is in Tulsa by the way, and he was even snottier than all the rest. And yes, I did record all of his statements to me.

Despite all of the harassment and emotionally charged statements, I didn't back down, I didn't get angry, I didn't cuss, and I didn't cut them down in return. I continued to ask P. Scott Lowery representatives for factual information, such as "What date did you receive the last letter from me?" or "What do you show is the last payment date on the original account?" The representatives got flustered every time they talked to me. Why, I'm not certain. My only guess is because my questions were not easy to answer based on the scripts that they are provided.

Finally, in September 2010 I was served with a court summons. P. Scott Lowery was now trying to sue me for more than $3,000 on a $500 debt. Yes, really. They claim that they have that right, because interest and fees continue to accrue even after the account is sold. This is false, by the way!

I was given 20 days to reply to this summons. I wrote a hand-written statement, saying that I disputed the debt, and I wanted all further communications to occur in writing or in court. Would you believe it, even after I made this statement and turned it into the court. P. Scott Lowery STILL called me? I mean, come on now, what part of "communicate in writing or in court" did they not understand?

I would like to also mention here that they sued me in the wrong county! So, even if they had tried to push this issue, I could have always turned around and used the "lack of venue" argument. When you are sued, the suing party has to sue you in the county where you live or where the original transaction took place. Neither was the case in this instance.

I went to the first court hearing, which was called a "time line hearing". The court clerk said that I didn't have to come to court on that date, because there was no official hearing then, only a check up on the case to see if everything is proceeding in a timely manner. But then again, I had heard that people should go to every single hearing if they are sued, no matter what. So, I went. Interestingly enough, the lawyer for P. Scott Lowery, named David Graham Parker, did not show up. The judge was very interested in the case, however, and set a date for a real court hearing for one month into the future. When I told him that P. Scott Lowery violated my FDCPA rights 57 times and I could prove it, he said, quote "I want to hear this! Anytime they violate FDCPA that is a federal offense. You be sure that you are prepared when you come back to court. I will be ready to hear your case."

In January, 2011 a freak winter snow and ice storm hit Oklahoma the night before the hearing. I called the court house the day before, twice, but the clerk could only suggest that I come to court anyway. I was afraid of driving on the ice, and knowing what the weather man was predicitng for our area, I knew that they only way I would make it to court was if I stayed in town overnight. The court house, by the way, was 25 miles away from my house.

I traveled to the county seat before the storm hit. I could not afford to stay in a hotel room, so I went to a 24/7 public internet venue and stayed awake all night long. During this time I transcribed all of the recorded conversations, printed out legal documents including a motion for admissions, interogatories, and supplications. The next morning I called the court house again, to see if the other party had asked for a postponement. They had not. So, reluctantly, I got into my truck, and slip / slid my way across town to the court house.

Very few people were at the court house on that morning, and rightly so! A good foot of snow had fallen on the town, and a good inch of ice was below that. People were sliding all over the place, wrecked cars littered the roadways, and businesses remained closed. Yet, I was there, ready to plead my case against P. Scott Lowery.

Now here is the infuriating part - as if the whole ordeal wasn't bad enough. Court was scheduled to commence at 10am, sharp. I was physically present at 9:30am. David Graham Parker, the attorney for P. Scott Lowery, was not., nor was any phone call received. But then, at the very last minute, and I do mean at 10am straight up on the clock, a representative from P. Scott Lowery called in to say that they could not make it. WHAT!!! Are you serious? Here I was, dog tired, starving and thirsty, but physically present for my court case, and these losers who didn't have the right to sue me in the first place had the audacity to call in at 10am on the dot? And what's more, they got away with it? Ugh!!!

The original judge, the one who was so eager to hear how P. Scott Lowery violated my rights under FDCPA, was not present that day. An alternative judge was hearing his cases. She told me that there was nothing that she could do to P. Scott Lowery or to David Graham Parker for not showing up, but she could ask them to pay for my mileage, at 53 cents per mile, since I was present and they were not. This would amount to about twenty dollars. Wow. Amazing. Astronomical. My case should have been judged in my favor, by default! Instead, the case was rescheduled for two weeks - Feb 3, 2011.

I submitted my motion for admissions, interoggatories, and supplications in the court house a few days later, and mailed an original copy to P. Scott Lowery. This motion was obtained thru the help of an online OKlahoma attorney who specializes in fighting junk debt buyers, like P. Scott Lowery. Interstingly, it only took two days for me to receive a reply, consisting of nothing more than a general letter saying that they didn't have to verify the debt because, according to a 4th district supreme court hearing in 1999, verification is nothing more than a statement from the creditor that the bill is due. None of the other questions in the motion were answered or even acknowledged, including providing proof that they were the rightful owner of the debt.

I later got online and researched the issue of verification. As it turns out, consumers have the right to VALIDATION as well as VERIFICATION, and the two are very different in nature. Many junk debt buyers try to get by with providing a consumer with verification only, when in reality they are entitled to validation as well. The supreme court case ruling is true when it comes to verification, but validation involves proving that the debt amount and owner of the debt is true, based on items such as an original contract, bill of sale, transactions and payments history, and other items. I was glad to learn this, and planned to use it to my advantage in the next court hearing.

On Feb 1, 2011, Oklahoma had another snow and ice storm, this time in record breaking amounts. It is now being called the "Blizzard of 2011." I called the court house again, this time informing them that I could not possibly come into town, again, and stay awake, again. This time, I would have had to stay awake for 3 whole days in order to make it to court. And, once again the court clerk told me that I could not request to postpone the case. I then called P. Scott Lowery and asked for David Graham Parker himself. I couldn't believe that I actually reached him! He then told me that the client (which was CACH - a company affiliated with P. Scott Lowery) had dismissed the case as of that morning.

So, my court case with P. Scott Lowery was won by dismissal. Research court cases on the internet, and you'll see that anytime a person fights a case against them it is dismissed.

If you are sued by P. Scott Lowery or their affiliate CACH, or if you're sued by a junk debt buyer of any sort, don't despair. Just fight them, you'll do fine. Record all of your conversations (check the law where you live if you have to have permission from the other party. If nothing else, tell them up front that all calls are recorded, then let them decide if they want to continue). Keep every letter you get from them. Copy and keep any letters you send them. If they sue you, go to every single hearing, even the time line hearings, even if it means taking off of work or inconvenience, even if you have to hitch hike to get there. Remember, if you fail to show up, they win by default! Submit a motion for admissions, interrogatories, and supplications along with your response to the court summons at the court house, then also send a copy by certified mail to the debt collector. And above all else, educate yourself about P. Scott Lowery, their shady debt collection tactics, and your rights under the law!

I beat P. Scott Lowery in court without an attorney, and you can too! Don't get scared, don't give up, you can do it!

If you would like a step-by-step guide for how you can fight P. Scott Lowery in court, and win, without an attorney, you will find a wealth of practical, useful information by reading my informative article on the topic. Written based on personal experience and successful outcomes, the article will tell you what you should and shouldn't do when dealing with P. Scott Lowery, or any junk jebt buyer for that matter. To see the article for yourself, click this link:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/6197074/how_to_fight_p_scott_lowery_in_court.html?cat=3

tags: P. Scott Lowery, David Graham Parker, attorney P. Scott Lowery, junk debt buyer, sued by debt collector CACH