How to Beat Direct Recovery Associates

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.

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

Calls from Direct Recovery Associates may throw you off balance. Instantly, a million questions come buzzing in your head: Is this a legitimate debt collection agency? Are they planning to sue me? Will they ruin my credit score? What rights do I have in this situation?

It's important not to panic when Direct Recovery Associates contacts you. The company's purpose is to get money from you to settle a debt they think you owe. If you lose your cool, you may play right into their trap and end up worsening the situation. Your best reaction is to take a deep breath and stay calm.

Here are the answers to your questions and what you can do to beat Direct Recovery Associates at their own game.

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Is Direct Recovery Associates a legitimate company?

Direct Recovery Associates, LLC is a legitimate company and has been in business for more than 20 years. According to its website, Direct Recovery is an attorney based debt collection agency. This means that if Direct Recovery gets a hold of your debt, there's good chance you may end up in court.

Many consumers worry that Direct Recovery Associates is a scam. As a third–party debt collection agency, Direct Recovery collects on behalf of creditors from all sorts of industries. So, if you've never heard of Direct Recovery Associates before when they contact you about a debt, it's because the debt came from another company that hired Direct Recovery to collect on its behalf.

Just because you don't initially recognize the company's name, doesn't mean that Direct Recovery Associates is a scam. You should take all communications with Direct Recovery seriously. To make sure you're not being contacted by a company impersonating Direct Recovery, check the company's contact info, which is:

Address:5706 Corsa Avenue, Suite 200 Westlake Village, California 91362 USA
Phone number: 818-874-0011
Support email: email@directrecovery.com
Website: https://www.directrecovery.com/

Will Direct Recovery ruin my credit score?

Every debt in collection negatively affects your credit. Likely, the debt has already been reported to the credit bureaus by the original creditor before selling it to Direct Recovery. If Direct Recovery Associates credit reports, then you will have their account in addition to the original creditor's account in your report until the debt falls off your credit report in seven years. The presence of a debt collector in your report lowers your credit score. However, Direct Recovery claims that they don't report to the credit bureaus.

Direct Recovery Associates cannot violate your rights

As a consumer, you may have one or more complaints against Direct Recovery, and you are clearly not alone. Consumers who aired their grievances each have one or more of these complaints about the collectors from Direct Recovery Associates:

They will not provide proof of debt.
They are persistent and harassing with calls.
They use recorded calls.
They resort to threats of arrests.
They keep calling the wrong numbers.
They don't identify the creditor company they are calling for.
They sometimes ask for consumers' Social Security numbers.

Many of these actions are considered violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), which protects consumers like you from unfair treatment by debt collectors. You should understand your rights under the FDCPA to know how to defend yourself from Direct Recovery Associates.

The FDCPA protects you

Consumers have safeguarded rights under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) that protect them and govern what a debt collector can and cannot do when contacting them about debt. If you feel harassed by Direct Recovery, they likely have overstepped their mandate.

According to the FDCPA, a debt collector cannot:

Bypass your attorney if you have made it clear that they should communicate through an attorney.
Call you at work if you have told them you are not permitted to receive such calls at work.
Discuss the details of your debt with family or friends.
Call you several times in one day.
Call you outside the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m.
Collect an expired "zombie" debt.

What if Direct Recovery violates my FDCPA rights?

What if you realize that your rights have been violated? You can take the following steps:

File a complaint with the FTC.
File a complaint with the Better Business Bureau (BBB).
Hire an attorney to sue Direct Recovery.

Although the FTC doesn't handle individual complaints, they monitor several complaints about a business from consumers and eventually take action against them. The BBB, on the other hand, is a welcome resource where your grievances are aired, and Direct Recovery is allowed to respond.

Another available avenue is to defend your rights in court. If you decide to go this way and win, you are entitled to recoup any financial damages and your attorney's fees. This option is viable when you can prove that your consumer rights have been violated. In fact, you can sue Direct Recovery for up to $1,000 per FDCPA violation.

Is Direct Recovery going to sue me?

What if the debt is yours and you can't pay and are scared that Direct Recovery Associates may be coming after you with a lawsuit?

Direct Recovery Associates following a specific debt collection process.

First, the account is placed for debt collection, and the Direct Recovery's client provides information and supporting documentation about the debt. The debt collection program is used to review and process the claim. A demand letter is sent to the debtor via fax, mail, or email, and phone contacts are made.

Next, efforts are made to arrange payment, resolve disputes, and obtain clear commitments for debt resolution. If a payment commitment is obtained, efforts are made to ensure the payments are made. If the debtor does not cooperate, final pre-legal collection attempts are made.

Updates and recommendations are sent to the client, including details on forwarding the claim to affiliated attorneys. If authorized, the claim is sent to attorneys near the debtor for investigation for 60 days. If not authorized, the claim is worked for an additional 60 days before being closed.

Attorneys provide updates and recommendations, and if they recommend legal action, the lawsuit is prepared and filed. If the client does not provide suit requirements or is unwilling to litigate, the attorneys work on the claim for another 60 days before closing it.

The complaint is served, and if the debtor does not respond, attorneys file for default judgment. If an Answer is filed, the discovery process begins, and a trial date is set. If a judgment is awarded in favor, Direct Recovery Associates file for a Writ of Attachment and attempt to locate and verify debtor assets. Bank levies, garnishment orders, liens, etc. are initiated to satisfy the judgment.

So, if you've been sued by Direct Recovery, it's important to respond with SoloSuit's Answer to avoid default judgment. This may be your easiest way out. You should the Answer before your state's deadline, which is usually less than 30 days. It takes less than 15 minutes to create, and an attorney reviews it to make sure it's ready for filing. SoloSuit can even file the Answer for you if needed.

Respond to a debt lawsuit against Direct Recovery Associates

On the off chance that Direct Recovery Associates sues you for a debt, you should be ready to defend yourself. You can save a lot of money and stress when you represent yourself, as opposed to hiring an attorney. Use SoloSuit to represent yourself in court and win. Here's how.

Follow these three steps to respond to a debt lawsuit against Direct Recovery Associates:

Answer each claim listed in the Complaint document. Try to deny as many claims as possible, as this forces Direct Recovery Associates to prove all their claims.
Assert your affirmative defenses, which are legal reasons that Direct Recovery Associates does not have a valid case against you.
File your Answer with the court within the deadline, and send a copy to Direct Recovery Associates' attorneys.

Learn more about these three steps in this video:

How can I outsmart Direct Recovery Associates?

What to do now that Direct Recovery is calling you because of a delinquent account? Again, you are not without help. Try one of the following options to free yourself from debt collectors' calls:

Send a Debt Validation Letter.
Use the 11-word phrase: "Please cease and desist all calls and contact with me immediately."
Send a Cease and Desist Letter.

Let's take a closer look at each of these options.

Request that the company validates the debt they are trying to collect. When you send a Debt Validation Letter to Direct Recovery, they are obligated to prove that the debt is yours, that it's accurate, and is not past the statutes of limitations of your state. The Debt Validation Letter also requires the company to report the debt as disputed, and so they should stop any collection calls until the debt is validated.

The 11-word phrase has become popular in the wake of persistent debt collectors' calls. Did you know that you can ask debt collectors to stop calling you? Instead of calls, you can demand that they contact you only in writing. It is good to follow that call up with a written communication asking Direct Recovery to stop calling you.

If Direct Recovery Associates continues contacting you about the debt even after asking them to stop, send a Cease and Desist Letter. Use certified mail so that there is verifiable proof the company received your letter. After receiving your letter, they will stop with the calls and leave you with peace of mind.

Direct Recovery Associates' calls can be intimidating to deal with, but you can stop them. You have rights and endless resources to outsmart debt collectors, no matter their strategy.

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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