John R. Cheadle, Jr. Cheadle Law ILLEGAL COLLECTION EFFORTS nashville , Tennessee

I have dealt with them for 10 years!! They have garnished wages, had a judgment for 10 years on my credit report now they are trying to renew it. I live like 4 states away and they expect me to be in court. Not to mention I spent $2,000 down for an account because thats what they wanted and started sending $100 payments per month then.....what do you know they lost one of my payments come to find out they magically obtained an account someone else had. Those f*kers bought a $12,000 account to try to make money intrest alone every month was $150. Now how do they expect me to pay that sh*t? I am filing bankruptcy just to be done with them.. Good riddens  Cheadle and Cheadle I hope you feel like a a*s for causing so much angst on someones life trying to support their family!!

Let me state a few things up front:

1) I may have come off a bit harsh in my previous rebuttal. This was unintentional. I have been a loyal RoR contributor for almost a decade, and my goal has always been to help. But when someone's complaint seems to be rooted in a misunderstanding, it's inevitable that I'm going to come off as somewhat of a jerk. My sincerest apologies!

2) Yes I am an attorney. I am licensed in the State of Indiana as well as the federal courts for the Northern District of Indiana and the Western District of Michigan. I graduated in the top 10% of my class from the Valaparaiso University School of Law. I was an editor on the Valparaiso University Law Review.

My primary areas of practice are bankruptcy and consumer law. I have worked on dozens, if not hundreds of FDCPA/FCRA cases, including very high profle class action suits. I know the law and procedure regarding your circumances VERY well.

3) I swear to you that I DO NOT know Mr. Cheadle. I never met nor heard of him prior to reading your complaint. I am merely coming to the defense of a fellow member of my profession whom I feel may be the victim of wrongful accusations. And no, I do NOT automatically defend all fellow lawyers. There are plenty of instances where I have advised RoR posters to file complaints against certain attorneys.

4) NO, I do not have all of the facts or supporting documentation regarding your complaint. I merely have the information that you have set forth. Apparently, you felt as though this was enough of the story to lodge a complaint. So why is it not enough of the story for me to lodge a rebuttal?

5) You state that every attorney that has reviewed your documents has confirmed your version of events and controverted mine. If this is the case, why are you still in this predicament? If multiple attorneys have agreed that the allegations you set forth are correct, why have none of them done anything to correct the situation? 

Both the FDCPA and the FCRA provide for attorney fees in the case of a prevailing complaint. This is why I personally take on so many of these cases: I KNOW I'm going to get paid! But somehow, after consulting with multiple attorneys, you can't find ONE that will fix this matter for you?

Now to the crux of your rebuttal. I'm going to take this "phrase by phrase," in "Times New Roman" nonetheless.

1) " the way judgement  was entered on my credit report was when Cheadle's office illegally accessed my credit report without authorization when I sent the supporting documentation to prove my identity"

Response:

Mr. Cheadle's office accessed your credit report because it was collecting on a debt. This is an allowable reason to access a consumer credit report.

Only the CRA itself can modify your credit report. Mr. Cheadle may have accessed your report, but this in NO WAY gave him the ability to modify it in any way. ONLY the CRA can do this.

2) "an unauthorized garnishment was entered that even my employer said did not have any supporting evident showing as me. The SS# and DOB both were incorrect."

Response:

There is NO SUCH THING as an "unauthorized garnishment." Garnishments occur through orders of the court, ergo they are ALWAYS "authorized." If the SS and DOB were incorrect, then you have yourself a case! See? I'm not a total jerk - I AM trying to HELP you here!

3) "Wrong again the judgement and garnishment again if you can read had only my name and address and no other supporting documentation and the original  creditor has sent me in writing and excecutives called with confirmation that the account did not belong to me ."

Response:

That run-on sentence doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but we can't all be Englich professors. I get the gist of what you're saying.

But here's the BIG problem: you have a judgment against you!!! I'm completely with you, there ARE some significant issues here.

But once a judgment is in place, NOTHING else matters!  As far as the law is concerned, the debt is YOURS!

And whether or not the addresses, birthdays, high school transcripts, vaccination records, SSNs or anything else line up, the court has decided that YOU are liable!

So you have two options A) you can file bankruptcy or B) you can try to get the judgment set aside. If you would like more information on this from an ATTORNEY who knows what he's talking about, I'd be more than happy to help!

If you want to question whether I'm actually an attorney, or if you want to stick with your story about me being affiliated with the complaintant, then I guess you're SOL.

4) "It is not legally permissible to access ANYONE's credit report even  by mistake if they did not give express permission"

Response:

WRONG!!!!!!!!! See FCRA Sections 604(a)(3) through (5); 15 U.S.C. 1681(a)(3) through (5).

5) "Furthermore , it is a violation of the FCRA or the FDCPA to access someone's credit report in connection with the collection of a debt when the debt has never or does not belong to that individual"

WRONG!!!!!! See id. (any consumer reporting agency may furnish a consumer report under the following circumstances . . . [T]o a person which it has reason to believe intends to use the information in connection with collection of an account of the consumer) (italics added).

6) "Since debt wasn't mine and the office was told months ago to cease any collection efforts and it continued via illegal means, it is an FDCPA or FCRA violation the credit report was not  accessed mistakenly but was done even after being notified in writing and in person and given proof that it did not belong to me.  (it's NOT an excusable mistake)."

Wrong again. A) You may have sent a cease and desist letter, or otherwise demanded a stop to collection efforts, but this DOES NOT have ANY bearing on litigation based collection efforts. B) Just because you sent them information regarding your side of the story, and even showed up in person to give your side of the tale, doesn't mean they have to take it as the gospel truth.

Consider this: how fast would a collection agency be out of business if they accepted every excuse as entirely legitimate?

I understand that you told these folks over and over again that you were NOT the debtor. You probably even sent what you considered to be "proof" that the debt was not yours. I have NO reason to doubt that you are telling the truth. I have NO reason to doubt that you sent in all the necessary documentation.

But that doesn't mean they automatically have to stop trying to collect from you. They can take your info and decide whether or not it provides a reasonable belief that you are not in fact the debtor, or they can decide that you are in fact the debtor and you're just trying to get out of paying your debts.

I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt. I BELIEVE YOU. I know I come off as harsh. But you are caught in a harsh situation. Would you rather have someone give you sugar-coated information that does you no good, or do you want some real advice? If you're here looking for other people to agree with you, then you may find just that. But what good does that do you? I may be a d**k, but I know what I'm talking about, and I am ready and willing to give you all the help I can.

And mind you, it took me about 45 minutes to write this rebuttal. If you were one of my clients, this information would have cost you about $120.00.

So if you're ready for REAL advice, holler back. Otherwise, post another diatribe that will ultimately end up in the "ignore" file. I am MORE THAN WILLING to help you. I LIVE to fight collection agencies. But I'm a realist. So if you want to get real, file an update. If you just want to b***h, find yourself a fat friend.

Best regards! 

Here's rebuttal to all your statements that will prove the fallacy in all of your  arguments hope you're  not an attorney since every attorney that  has reviewed my documentation and evidence has  told me otherwise. I find it strange you would take time to vigrously defending someone or a viewpoint of something when you are not aware of all the facts on a case or havent seen any of the supporting doucmentation. The fact you  have to state up front you dont know Mr. Cheadle blows your cover; Any intelligent person realizes that this is likely Mr. Cheadle or someone from Cheadle's office hiding behind another name on the internet making this post. I dont have to have to hide when the facts are so clear on what occured .First statement You make it sound as if Mr. Cheadle accessed your credit report and inserted a non-existent judgment therein. He Did The judgement that was entered was not entered by my personal  information but belonged to someone else; again since you didnt read   the way judgement  was entered on my credit report was when Cheadle's office illegally accessed my credit report without authorization when I sent the supporting documentation to prove my identity(read report). The  only personal information on the judgement that was  valid is my name and no other supporting evidence to prove it was my judgement ,DOB, SS# etc the law office was notified it was an error after judgement was apparently entered and also when an unauthorized garnishment was entered that even my employer said did not have any supporting evident showing as me.The SS# and DOB both were incorrect.

2nd  Wrong again the judgement and garnishment again if you can read had only my name and address and no other supporting documentation and the original  creditor has sent me in writing and excecutives called with confirmation that the account did not belong to me . This information was give to Cheadle in person and sent to his office to rectify and judgment was still sent to CRA illegally since he was never authorized to use my credit records or given authorization to use my SS# to access my credit records or to use in a case that I was never involved with.  The office of CHeadle cannot prove or show any authorization to gain access to my personal records since the judgement does not belong to me.

Lastly since whoever is writing this for Cheadle is in  damage control mode . It is not legally permissible to access ANYONE's credit report even  by mistake if they did not give express permission so and to fradulenty access a credit report after taking personal information to prove an account is not their it's not only illegal but also unethical. When a mistake damages the person that it was done to their are legal and financial consequences.  Furthermore , it is a violation of the FCRA or the FDCPA to access someone's credit report in connection with the collection of a debt when the debt has never or does not belong to that individual.Especially when the debt collector is notified in writing and in person.
 Since debt wasn't mine and the office was told months ago to cease any collection efforts and it continued via illegal means, it is an FDCPA or FCRA violation the credit report was not  accessed mistakenly but was done even after being notified in writing and in person and given proof that it did not belong to me.  (it's NOT an excusable mistake). In addition to legal measures my senator, congressman and several consumer groups and attorneys and federal and state regulators are looking into this matter.

You make it sound as if Mr. Cheadle accessed your credit report and inserted a non-existent judgment therein.

This is not at all what happened. And no, I don't know Mr. Cheadle. I don't have to know him to recognize the flaws in your report.

First, attorneys do not have the ability to independently modify your credit report. Only the credit reporting agency itself can do this. It receives a claim of a debt and reports it.

In the case of judgments, these appear on your credit report via searches of public records. If you've ever been to a court clerk's office and seen a couple of people with a big stack of files, entering information into laptops, these are contracted workers who gather information on judgments for the reporting agencies.

The only way that an attorney can cause a judgment to appear on your credit report is to send a copy of the final judgment document to the CRA.

In either case, there has to be an ACTUAL judgment. So if you have a 25k judgment showing up on your credit report, then you have an actual 25k judgment against you.

This conclusion is further supported by the fact that you have a garsnishment order against you. Garnishment orders are issued by courts and courts alone. Showing a judge a copy of a credit report is not going to get you a garnishment order. The order will only be issued if there is a judgment in place.

So we have established that this attorney did not fraudulently report a judgment on your credit report. Thus, no FDCPA or FCRA violation in that regard.

Further, it is not a violation of the FCRA or the FDCPA to access someone's credit report in connection with the collection of a debt.

Even if the debt wasn't actually yours, you fail to state an FDCPA or FCRA violation if the report was accessed in a mistaken belief that you were the debtor (it's an excusable mistake). 

So your REAL issue is the judgment against you. I don't know how you got a judgment against you if, as you state, you were so completely able to show that the debt was not yours.

So rather than focusing on the actions of this attorney, you need to look into your state's laws regarding the setting aside of judgments. Ideally, you should consult with an attorney. Because until you can get that judgment set aside, the debt IS yours, whether or not it was in the first place.

Best of luck!