How to Beat LTD Collections

Dena Standley | March 06, 2023

Legal Expert, Paralegal
Dena Standley, BA

Dena Standley is a seasoned paralegal with more than 20 years of experience in legal research and writing, having received a certification as a Legal Assistant/Paralegal from Southern Technical College.

Edited by Hannah Locklear

Editor at SoloSuit
Hannah Locklear, BA

Hannah Locklear is SoloSuit’s Marketing and Impact Manager. With an educational background in Linguistics, Spanish, and International Development from Brigham Young University, Hannah has also worked as a legal support specialist for several years.

Beating LTD Collections in court feels like this ^^

Summary: LTD Collections, also known LTD Financial Services, is a debt collection agency that collects on behalf of creditors throughout the US. If LTD Collections is suing you for a debt, you must respond with a written Answer by replying to each claim against you and asserting your affirmative defenses. SoloSuit can help you draft and file your Answer in all 50 states.

U.S. researchers estimate that 28% of Americans struggle with debt in collections. If you are one of those people, it might be comforting to know that you’re not the only person who has past-due debt. But it may still be unpleasant to have debts in collections even though it is fairly common, and a debt collector agency like LTD Collections can sue you.

If you are not familiar with what to expect when sued for a debt, it can be an unsettling experience. Despite the overwhelming feelings, ignoring the court Summons and Complaint is a mistake. Our article will help you discover how debt collection lawsuits work and the steps you can take if LTD Collections sues you.

LTD Collections: Is it legit, and how does it operate?

LTD Collections, also known as LTD Financial Services, LP, is a debt collection agency established in 1993 and headquartered in Houston, Texas. As a nationally recognized, top-tier collection agency, LTD Financial Services provides collection services to leading creditors.

Services offered by LTD include:

Business Process
Outsourcing
1st party recoveries
3rd party recoveries

Below is the contact information for LTD Collections:

3200 Wilcrest Drive,
Suite 600 Houston, Texas 77042
LTD Collections Phone: (800) 741.2100
Email: customercare@ltdfin.com
Website: ltdfin.com/index.php

Do consumers have any complaints against LTD Collections?

There are various complaints against this collections company alleging violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA).

As of 2022, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has more than 350 complaints against LTD collections over the last ten years. On top of that, the Better Bureau Business (BBB) has received 23 complaints against LTD in the last three years.

Here’s an example of a real complaint from LTD Collections’ BBB profile:

“This company, LTD Financial Services, repeatedly calls me and hangs up. I have asked for information about the supposed debt that they are collecting, which I do not believe exists, but they will not give me that information unless I give them an address so they can inundate me with mail, as well as personally identifiable information of mine such as my social security number. I will not -- under any circumstance -- be giving out my social security number over the phone to a company that will not even give me the courtesy of explaining what the reason for contact is. I have asked them to stop calling me, but they continue to do so, calling and then hanging up if I answer the phone.”

If you feel like LTD Collections has treated you unfairly, you should learn more about your rights as a consumer. You might have a really strong case against LTD if they’ve violated debt collection laws.

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) gives you rights that can protect you

Yes. Federal law regulates third-party collectors' practices, so exercising your rights can help you regain control of your debt collection experience. Below are five ways the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act protects you:

LTD Collections can't contact you before 8:30 a.m. or after 9:00 p.m.
It is against the law for LTD Collections to harass or abuse you in an attempt to collect debts.
Debt collectors are prohibited from making false, deceptive, or misleading representations.
They cannot collect more than you owe on a debt, which may include fees and interest.
LTD Collections must prove that you owe the debt. If they don’t, you should request a debt validation by sending a Debt Validation Letter. In response, LTD Collections must confirm the following: proof that the debt amount is accurate, that you actually owe it, and that they have rights to collect it.
If LTD Collections has violated the FDCPA when communicating with you about a debt, you can report them and even be eligible for up to $1,000 per violation.

Respond to an LTD Collections lawsuit

LTD Collections legal notices and papers won't disappear if you ignore them. Contrary to what you may have seen on TV, refusing to accept the lawsuit's delivery or "service" will not stop things. Your absence will not affect the case's progress, and if you don't show up in court, the debt collector may win when the court orders a default judgment against you.

With a default judgment, LTD Collections can garnish your wages or bank account and put a lien on your property as payment for the debt. They can request additional awards from the court, like collection costs, interest, and attorneys' fees. The last thing you want is a default judgment. Below, we describe three steps you can take to respond to your lawsuit and avoid a default judgment.

Don’t like reading? You can watch this video instead:

1. Answer every Complaint

Respond to the debt lawsuit, within your state’s deadline, with a written Answer.. In your Answer, respond to each claim listed in the Complaint document with "admit," "deny," or "deny due to lack of knowledge".

Keep in mind that most attorneys recommend denying as many claims as possible. This forces LTD Financial Services to prove each of their claims. If they don’t have enough evidence or documentation to do so, you might just win the case.

Below is an example.

Example: Vinny is being sued by LTD Collections in California. He uses SoloSuit to draft and file his Answer before California’s deadline, which is 30 days. In his Answer document, Vinny denies the majority of the claims that LTD Collections has made that were listed in the court Complaint document. This forced LTD Collection to prove each claim that he denied, and when they realized they didn’t have evidence of each claim, they decided to dismiss the case instead of continuing to pursue the debt.

Draft your Answer document in minutes online.

2. Assert your affirmative defenses

As the meat of the lawsuit defense, the affirmative defenses are the most important. They are legal reasons why you might not owe LTD Collections any money or why you should pay less than they demand. Common defenses include:

It is not your debt.
You have already paid the debt.
The debt is past the statute of limitations in your state. When you have not paid or added to debt for several years, you may be able to claim that the statute of limitations has expired for the creditor to sue you.
A bankruptcy discharged the debt.
The plaintiff is unknown to you.
You do not owe the plaintiff the amount they claim. Sometimes, the amount allegedly due on an account differs from what you owe. There are several reasons for this, including: the payment was not applied, fees and interest were incorrectly added, unjustified charges were applied, etc.
They are cllecting debts without a license: LTD Collections must have licenses. As an example, in New York City Administrative Code, Section 20-489(a), which mirrors the federal statute, "debt collection agencies" are defined as "persons engaged in businesses whose primary purpose is to collect or attempt to collect debts owed, due regularly, or asserted to be owed.". This law states: "It shall be unlawful for any person to act as a debt collector."

Let’s take a look at another example.

Example: When Vinny gets sued by LTD Collections in California, he feels confused because he doesn’t remember the debt. After doing some research, he learns that the debt came from an old credit card account that has been inactive for over four years. Since the statute of limitations on credit card debt is four years in California, LTD Collections has no legal standing. Vinny uses SoloSuit to respond to the lawsuit. In his Answer document, Vinny lists the expired statute of limitations as one of his affirmative defenses. This prompts LTD Collections to drop the case.

Before you file an Answer, you should consider any defenses you may have or other factors that will affect the outcome.

Make the right affirmative defense the right way with SoloSuit.

3. File the Answer in court and serve LTD's attorney

As mentioned above, you must file your Answer to the debt lawsuit before the deadline outlined by your state’s laws. Most courts accept filings through the mail, but some required electronic filing. If you prefer to file your Answer in person, you can print it out and take it to the county clerk's office in the relevant county.

SoloSuit can file your Answer for you in all 50 states. You can trust us to complete your Answer document and file it with the court, including free delivery to LTD Collections' attorney for you.

SoloSuit can help you

The process of finding an attorney is stressful and expensive. But SoloSuit empowers you to represent yourself in court by giving you the resources you need to do so confidently. You can beat debt collectors such as LTD Collections, and you don’t always need a lawyer in order to do it.

SoloSuit helps with the following:

Online Debt Validation Letters.
Preparing a lawsuit Answer.
Filing your Answer with the court and serving the plaintiff with a copy.
Settling your debt for less.

What is SoloSuit?

SoloSuit makes it easy to fight debt collectors.

You can use SoloSuit to respond to a debt lawsuit, to send letters to collectors, and even to settle a debt.

SoloSuit's Answer service is a step-by-step web-app that asks you all the necessary questions to complete your Answer. Upon completion, we'll have an attorney review your document and we'll file it for you.

Respond with SoloSuit

"First time getting sued by a debt collector and I was searching all over YouTube and ran across SoloSuit, so I decided to buy their services with their attorney reviewed documentation which cost extra but it was well worth it! SoloSuit sent the documentation to the parties and to the court which saved me time from having to go to court and in a few weeks the case got dismissed!" – James

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>>Read the FastCompany article: Debt Lawsuits Are Complicated: This Website Makes Them Simpler To Navigate