By:Â Robert J. Nahoum
THE PROBLEM:
You have just been served was a summons and complaint, the law-firm Cohen & Slamowitz, LLP is listed as the attorney for some company you have never heard of suing you for an old debt.
WHO IS COHEN & SLAMOWITZ, LLP?:
Cohen & Slamowitz, LLP is an infamous debt collection law-firm representing a creditor or debt buyer. Debt buyers buy up portfolios of old debt from banks, credit card companies, hospitals, doctors, cell phone companies and car companies for pennies on the dollar. The debt buyers then try to collect the full amount from consumers, plus interest, penalties, late fees, overdraft fees, attorney’s fees and whatever other kinds of fees they can dream up.
The most notorious debt buyers include:
Cohen & Slamowitz, LLP regularly makes debt collection phone calls from (800) 293-6006 and is located at:
199 Crossways Park Dr.
Woodbury, NY 11797
While Cohen & Slamowitz, LLP is a law-firm, in reality they are more like a glorified collection agency able to use the courts as a debt collection tool. Once a judgment is obtained, law-firm debt collectors like Cohen & Slamowitz, LLP can freeze bank accounts, garnishee wages and issue subpoenas.
Law-firm debt collectors like Cohen & Slamowitz, LLP employ few attorneys but many debt collection agents. In fact, if you call them, you will not speak with an attorney, you will speak with a debt collection agent who is probably being paid a commission for any money he or she collects from you.
Cohen & Slamowitz, LLP and many of its debt buyer clients are notorious violators of federal debt collection laws known as the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and are sued regularly by consumers for these violations. The FDCPA is a federal law that regulates the collection of consumer debts. It precludes third party debt collectors from using false, misleading, deceptive and harassing debt collection tactics.
THE PROBLEM WITH COHEN & SLAMOWITZ, LLP:
To Cohen & Slamowitz, LLP and its debt buyer clients, you the consumer are no more than an entry on a spreadsheet, you are data. Unfortunately for Cohen & Slamowitz, LLP, entries on spreadsheets are not enough to win against you in court.
In a debt collection lawsuit, Cohen & Slamowitz, LLP and its debt buyer clients always have the burden to prove that the consumer is responsible for the debt. To meet this burden, Cohen & Slamowitz, LLP and its debt buyer clients must prove that: (1) it has the right to sue you; (2) the debt is yours; and (3) you owe the amount for which you were sued. It is never the burden of the consumer to prove that he or she does not owe the debt.
To meet its burden, the proof submitted by Cohen & Slamowitz, LLP must be based on “personal knowledgeâ€. Personal knowledge means that the person offering the evidence must be a witness to the event shown in a particular document. For example, if credit card bills are offered into evidence, the person offering the evidence must have personal knowledge of how the information in the credit card bill got there, how it is generated and how it is maintained. That person must have personal knowledge of the computer system and how it operates. If this person does not have such personal knowledge, the evidence is “hearsay†and it cannot be used.
Remember, to Cohen & Slamowitz, LLP, you are just an entry on a spreadsheet. For this reason, Cohen & Slamowitz, LLP and its debt buyer clients routinely lack the evidence necessary to prove its case and beat you in court.
WHAT YOU SHOULD DO:
If you’ve been sued by Cohen & Slamowitz, LLP in a debt collection lawsuit, consider hiring a qualified attorney experienced in debt defense. As with all debt defense cases, a good debt defense lawyer analyzes debt collection cases to determine if any violations of the FDCPA have occurred. If a debt buyer or its attorney violates the FDCPA, you can sue for statutory damages up to $1,000.00 plus actual damages (like pain and suffering) and your attorney’s fees. In FDCPA cases, a good consumer lawyer won’t charge clients a penny out of pocket.