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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.

Just beat [Alpha Recovery Corp in court] it.

Summary: Is Alpha Recovery Corp suing you for a debt? SoloSuit can help you take a stand and win in court.

In 2019 alone, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) received 21 complaints regarding the actions of Alpha Recovery Corp. These complaints were based on the fact that they used poor communication tactics, attempted to collect debt not owed, and even added incorrect information on consumers' credit reports. In some cases, Alpha Recovery Corp threatened to contact someone or share information improperly and even took or threatened to take legal action. If this sounds like something you have dealt with, or if you are simply being sued for debt by Alpha Recovery Corp, continue reading to learn how to beat them in court.

Who is Alpha Recovery Corp?

Alpha Recovery Corporation operates as a nationwide third-party debt collection agency, specializing in the collection of retail credit cards, student loans, auto deficiencies after repossessions, and installment loans. They often purchase debts from creditors for much less than the amount owed by the consumer. Alpha Recovery Corporation is based in Colorado, but they also have a second office scheduled to open in Tempe, AZ.

After a debt has gone 180 days without payment, it is common practice for the debt to be sold to a collection group like Alpha Recovery Corp. If one of your debts has been sold to Alpha Recovery, you will see the agency on your credit report as a new creditor. If the debt is legitimate, then they will attempt to collect on the debt, and eventually sue you.

Who does Alpha Recovery Corp collect for?

Alpha Recovery Corp's website states that they advertise a specialized service in four areas: collections, purchasing, asset sales, and consulting. They are active in most areas of business, such as consumer credit card debt, installment loans, secured and unsecured loans, auto repossessions, student loans, and retail credit cards.

They are an organization that makes money from consumers being unable to pay their financial obligations. They also prey on businesses that are unable to remain profitable. As a result, their business practices are essentially predatory and complaints have been made regarding this. Alpha Recovery has received several consumer complaints alleging violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA).

Your consumer rights

You have federal laws that protect you under the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (FDCPA). The FDCPA regulates the behavior of collection agencies. It bans abusive or threatening language, harassment, and the use of false or misleading information to collect a debt. However, the FCRA regulates how collection agencies and creditors report delinquent debts to the credit reporting agencies. There is further consumer protection by the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA).

What constitutes harassment?

Multiple calls in the early morning or late night from debt collectors (before 8 am and after 9 pm)
Violent language and harassment from debt collectors
Threats of arrests or poor credit due to your outstanding debts
Mentioning the debt to your friends, family, and coworkers
Automated robocalls from third party collection agencies

Suing Alpha Recovery for harassment

If you want to enforce your rights or recover money for violations, you can sue Alpha Recovery. If you believe that you have suffered from harassment, you may be awarded damages. Under the law, you can recover up to $1,000 per FDCPA violation, and $500 to $1,500 for each cell phone robocall. You may also be able to recover attorney fees and court costs.

How to beat Alpha Recovery Corp in court

If you've been sued by Alpha Recovery Corp, you have options. You don't have to shell out mega bucks to have an attorney represent you either. Represent yourself today and beat Alpha Recovery in court. Here's how.

Verify the debt

Before the lawsuit is filed, you can ask Alpha Recovery to verify the debt that they're contacting you about. You can do this by sending a Debt Validation Letter. When a collection agency contacts you about a debt, they must send a written verification within 5 days that includes facts about the debt (i.e. the exact amount owed, the name of the original creditor, etc). When they don't, they are in violation of the FDCPA. You should send a Debt Validation Letter within 30 days of Alpha Recovery's initial contact with you to get them off your back.

Most debt collection agencies don't want to spend the time and resources to prove or validate a debt. So, sending a Debt Validation Letter is a great way to make Alpha Recovery Corp give up on the debt they're trying to collect from you. SoloSuit's founder describes the process of drafting and sending a Debt Validation Letter in this video:

Respond to the lawsuit

The next step is to respond to the lawsuit by filing a written Answer. If you have been sued by Alpha Recovery Corp, then you will have been served a court Summons and Complaint. These are both legal documents that notify you of the debt and list the specific claims against you. The Summons should list a date by which you need to respond. If you don't respond before the deadline, the court may issue a default judgment. This is bad because it allows the debt collector to garnish your wages, freeze your bank account, and place liens on your property.

The first step to responding to the Summons and Complaint is to draft a written Answer document. In your Answer, you should respond to each allegation listed in the Complaint. Here are 6 helpful hints for drafting an Answer:

The Answer isn't the place to tell your side of the story
Deny, deny, deny
Include your affirmative defenses
Use standard formatting or “style”
Include the Certificate of Service
Sign the Answer

To learn more about these tips, check out this video where SoloSuit's founder describes the best way to draft an effective Answer:

After you've drafted your Answer, make sure to file it with the court. You should also print a copy of it and mail it to the attorney for Alpha Recovery Corp (this information should be listed in the Summons and Complaint documents). SoloSuit can file your Answer for you, and an attorney can review your documents before filing to make sure you have the strongest case possible.

SoloSuit can help you file an Answer in all 50 states.

Challenge their right to sue

Since collection agencies often buy debt from creditors for pennies on the dollar, they may not have purchased all of the information to be able to legally sue you. This means that if you ask for proof of their ownership of the debt, they must provide it. You can also request documentation showing the original credit agreement with your signature, as well as the paper trail showcasing the purpose from the original creditor to the collection agency. If they cannot provide enough evidence that they have the right to use you, or that you owe a specific amount, they will not win the case.

You should also look into the statute of limitations on debt in your state, which is the time period that a creditor or debt collector has to collect on a debt before it is unlawful. This time period can vary between states, but it is typically anywhere from four to six years. If the last time you were active on the account is older than that time period, they are not allowed to sue you for it.

File a countersuit

As mentioned, if you believe that your rights have been violated because the agency breached the Fair Debt Collection and Practices Act, you may be able to counter sue.

Attempt to settle the debt

Another common method of ending a debt collection lawsuit for less than you owe is to settle the debt. Settling the debt means that you pay less than what you owe, and typically settle out of court. It is usually an easier option, but you may need to pay a lump-sum payment, or agree to regular monthly payments. Usually, a lump sum will be the cheaper option.

An easy way to start settlement negotiation is to send a Debt Lawsuit Settlement Letter. Be sure to file your Answer into the case before negotiating a settlement, because even if you reach a settlement, collectors can be tricky and continue with the court process even after settling. So, you should file your Answer first and then reach out to Alpha Recovery Corp to talk about a payment option that works for you.

Here's how to negotiate a settlement in 3 simple parts:

What is SoloSuit?

SoloSuit makes it easy to respond to a debt collection lawsuit.

How it works: SoloSuit is a step-by-step web-app that asks you all the necessary questions to complete your answer. Upon completion, you can either print the completed forms and mail in the hard copies to the courts or you can pay SoloSuit to file it for you and to have an attorney review the document.

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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