Frederick J. Hanna And Associates, P.C. Attorneys At Law In Marietta, GA Harassement of my Bank of America Account Marietta Georgia

The Georgia Supreme Court says Hanna is a "law firm," so you have to submit a bar complaint vs. them (and not a consumer complaint with the state OCA or federal FCC -- but fine if you do that too anyway).  You may submit a bar complaint vs. Fred Hanna (the owner of the "firm") and any atty. that may have contacted you that also violated bar rules for atty.s:

(Call and ask for a bar complaint, and if they have them online):

State Bar of Georgia
www.gabar.org
104 Marietta St. NW, Suite 100
Atlanta, Georgia 30303
(404) 527-8700
(800) 334-6865
FAX: (404) 527-8717

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See below for info. on where to look for sample do-not-call letters vs. Hanna, and how to fight Hanna lawsuits and WIN (feel free to post on here too for more info.):

Info. for fighting Hanna lawsuits:

http://www.beatdebtcollectors.com/

Hanna consumer complaints and blogs:

http://nextlevelunlimited.net/blog/fredrick-j-hanna-collection-debt-or-hanna-barbera-crook-or-cartoon/

http://www.ripoffreport.com/Search/Frederick-J_-Hanna.aspx

Submit a Georgia bar complaint vs. Fred Hanna and other Hanna attorneys:

http://gabar.org/contact_the_bar/

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Sample do-not-call/ validation letter vs. Hanna:

Date:  January 30, 2011

Frederick J. Hanna & Associates, P.C.
1427 Roswell Rd.
Marietta, GA  30062

Account number(s):  (See Enclosed)       
                       
RE:  Request for Validation of Debt, 15 U.S.C. § 1692g

Dear Sir or Madam:

This is my formal notice that I am disputing this debt, and requesting immediate validation under Section 809 of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1692g, of the debt from your office.  I am requesting that your office immediately send me a copy of the following documents: (a) the name, address, and phone number of an employee of the original creditor that can validate the debt, (b) proof of who is the current legal owner of the debt, and that you represent the original creditor or debt buyer, and (c) the original signed note, contract, credit agreement, or instrument creating the debt.

I am disputing this debt for the following reasons:  this debt has not been validated.  I do not know whether your debt collection company is the legal owner of this debt or not, or if the amounts charged are valid.

This is also my formal notice under 15 U.S.C. § 1692c, to you to cease all further communications with me, my family members, and my associates and all third parties, unless I give you express permission to do so.  You have my express permission to mail me the requested validation documents to the address listed below, but I do not give you permission to contact me over the phone, or in any other way except as specifically addressed in this letter.
                    
This letter is not meant in any way to be an acknowledgment that I owe this money.


Sincerely,


John Doe
P.O. Box 0000
Atlanta, GA  30300

From what I could tell Reliance Inc is NOT a Debt Management Company they are a Debt Settlement Company. These are two very different things. A Debt Settlement Company can do a lot more damage to you in the long run than Debt Management ever would have.

Some quick facts on Debt Settlement.
1. There is NO requirement that says a creditor must "settle" a debt. In fact once a company finds out you are with a Settlement Company a lot of times their next action is to file a suit.

2. If you are sued the Debt Settlement Company will probably tell you that they do not provide legal counsel. In other words you are on your own.

3. When you go to court the judge will probably give you a 30 minute lecture on debt before ruling in the creditors favor. Remember this settlement company told you to intentionally stop paying your creditors.

The advise above is pretty good advise on how to handle the Collection Agency if they take the next step. However, once you sent that letter you have been "marked"(very appropriate term). With a fairly recent account the chances that they will be able to provide all of the proof required that you owe the debt is going to be very good if not excellent. In other words if they sue you can expect a judgment entered against you.

As to your letter to this collection agency. I hope that this is not advise you are getting from the company you retained.

1. The FDCPA is more commonly known by the actual codes in 15 USC 1692-1692p. While it was modified in Public Law 104-208, using this makes it sound like you really don't know what you are talking about. I also have no idea where you got the idea that you can state that their services are no longer "allowed".

2. You can request for them to Cease Communications, but they do not have to stop all attempts to collect the debt. In other words they could still file suit against you.

3. This is just outright confusing. In 2 lines you are saying that they can no longer attempt to collect the debt. In the next line you say you are going to use recordings when they call?

4. If the information is valid they have every right to put the information on your report. So if in fact you didn't pay your bills, and they sent the account to collections. This company can put a collection account on your report.

5. If the Original Creditor has Charged-Off and sold the account they legally don't own the account and you can not deal with them anymore.

If the account was closed because you failed to pay then it was closed by "Credit Grantor", and nothing you request is going to change it to "Closed by Consumer".

Good Luck but the first thing you should do is if you are in a Debt Settlement Program is get out of it. Instead look for a legitimate Debt Management Program. Unlike Debt Settlement Companys, Debt Management Companies work WITH your creditors.

Debt Settlement Companies are AS BIG A SCAM AS JUNK DEBT BUYING LAW FIRMS LIKE FRED HANNA. Debt Settlement Companies have NO POWER to prevent a creditor from suing. They aren't attorneys first of all. Secondly, they probably have pocketed up front fees from you already and you have less money to your name because of them. Plus, the antagonistic threats in your letter which hold no merit due to debt settlement companies being USELESS to halt lawsuits, you are probably now "marked for special attention."
Just like any collection agency and junk debt buyer, Fred Hanna is still governed by the FDCPA as a collections law firm. Consumers must do the following when getting an initial dunning letter from a firm like Fred Hanna.
1) Send a validation request letter certified mail return receipt requested. This must be sent out and received within 30 days of the date on their first dunning letter to you. Preferably don't wait past day 20 to mail it out.Save the green card returned to you as proof they received and signed off on it. In all validation and dispute requests, always say "alleged" in reference to creditor claim in question. Deny everything. Burden of proof is on them.
2) Stay off the phone. Go to the FDCPA website and learn the sections and save it to your favorites. Commissioned bill collectors will skirt and break voicemail laws more than ever now with the economy being in the crapper. Any implied threat they cannot carry out is an FDCPA violation and you can countersue.
3) If they successfully validate and you are served eventually by a process server, do the following.
a) Deny everything in your answers to their summons. Again, burden of proof is on them, not you.
b) File a sworn denial statement that you type and sign only when the courthouse clerk notorizes it when you hand the clerk your answer.Give a copy of your statements to the clerk and send a copy to Hanna CMRRR. Deny everything in general denial questions as I said as well. A sworn denial forces Hanna to produce a live witness on behalf of the creditor and their sworn affidavit is null and void. Sworn Denial is a simple statement. "I deny this is my debt and if it is my debt, I deny this is still a valid debt and if it is a valid debt, I deny the amount of the claim is correct."
c) File a motion for discovery and production of documents. Specifics of this can be found in the Laws of Civil Procedure. This is a civil claim, not criminal. You need to demand authentic statements and documents from beginning to end (original creditor to current creditor). Attack the live witnesses credibility. Question their direct relationship and knowledge of the debt to the creditor claim. If the debt is old and sold numerous times, your chances are much better (but never 100%) that you can break the whole "chain of custody" of the claim and the case will be dismissed. Demand things like specific job description of witness to the creditor, how long they've been employed by the creditor, if they knew of your alleged debt at the time they owned it,etc. At the very least, you force Hanna to rack up thousands in attorney fees through discovery and they may likely offer you a very low settlement or drop it altogether. Most creditor suits are easy default judgments where debtors fail to answer a summons so they don't like it when they have to spend thousands to win a case where the debt may not be large enough to bother with anyhow.