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How to Beat NRC Collection Agency in Court

Melissa Lyken | December 08, 2023

Melissa-Lyken
Legal Expert, Paralegal
Melissa Lyken, BS

Melissa Lyken is a senior paralegal and legal-finance content writer with over eight years of professional legal and business experience and a bachelor’s degree in Sociology and Community Studies from the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Edited by Hannah Locklear

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: Are you being sued by NRC Collections? Find out who Nations Recovery Center is and how to win against them in court.

The recent global pandemic has left many people cash-strapped and prompted some states to prohibit creditors and debt collectors from engaging in specific debt collection actions, including filing lawsuits. However, the pandemic has since abated, and many states have resumed normal operations and lifted many of these bans.

This means that lenders are likely to demand payment for overdue debts, including by means of enlisting the help of debt collectors like the Nations Recovery Center, NRC. If you're a debtor, who has been sued in an unfair debt collection practice, listed below are the defenses you can use in court to beat the NRC collection agency.

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About Nations Recovery Center

NRC is a third-party collection agency based in Atlanta established in 1991 to provide debt collection services to the banking, retail, insurance, commercial, and medical service industries. The company uses many debt collection methods, including asset and income investigations, skip tracing, insurance follow-ups, and payment monitoring in compliance with:

Proven Defenses to Challenge NRC Collection Agency in Court

If the NRC sues you for debt, there are several defenses you can use to challenge the lawsuit.

Many creditors transfer debts ‘as is' to the NRC collection agency. They rarely verify if the creditor provided the correct balances or credit any payments the debtor has made. Also, they may not provide documents showing the date you incurred the debt. If the agency can't give this information, the debtor can argue the case in their favor as these documents are crucial to verifying the actual amount owed.

Violation of FDCPA Regulations

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) protects consumers against aggressive debt collection practices. Unfortunately, the NRC is known for violating some of the FDCPA regulations. The Better Business Bureau, BBB, has responded to up to 61 complaints against the agency. Most of the complaints allege problems associated with debt collection and billing, while others involve civil litigation.

Knowing your rights under the FDCPA is critical to identifying when the NRC has violated federal law, which is an excellent defense in court. Listed below are more methods a debtor can consider when the collection agency violates FDCPA regulations:

Sue the debt collector in state court: In such a lawsuit, the debtor must prove that the agency violated FDCPA regulations. If successful, you're entitled to $1,000 in statutory damages or more if you've suffered harm due to the violations.

Sue the agency in a small claims court: This is a better option for consumers who don't have the time for a full-blown state court lawsuit or don't want to hire an attorney. A small claims court action allows individuals to argue their case without an attorney and ensures an expedited court process. The debtor fills out simple documentation to start the case, and hearings are held within two months of filing the claim. The only downside of filing a small claims court action is that the amount of damages is limited.

Report the violations to a government agency: The Federal Trade Commission, FTC, is tasked with overseeing debt collectors and ensuring that the FDCPA regulations aren't violated. The debtor can file an online complaint with the FTC highlighting any such violations. Similarly, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is another government agency consumers can use to report FDCPA violations.

Report state law violations to the state's attorney general: Aside from violating the FDCPA regulations, the agency may be breaking state laws. If so, the debtor should contact the state's attorney general to obtain guidance on possible actions. The attorney general may decide to prosecute on behalf of the state if it receives many complaints against the agency in question.

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No Proof of Debt Owed

To sue, the debt collector must have the paperwork outlining the agreement between the debtor and the original creditor. For example, if collecting credit card debt, the contract should be in the form of a cardmember agreement showing:

  • The state law as applies to the case
  • How much the debt collector can collect in interest
  • Attorney fees

In many cases, NRC debt collectors don't have this paperwork and may never collect it from the original creditor. As a result, they use regular billing statements to pass off as cardmember agreements. These statements aren't adequate substitutes for a cardmember agreement or any other contractual agreements you entered with the original creditor. The debt collector will find it challenging to convince the court to accept these documents as evidence.

Statute of Limitations Lapsed

The statute of limitations is the period the debt collector or creditor has to file a legal claim. Once this time lapses, the law bars the creditor or debt collector from filing a lawsuit. The statute of limitations varies state by state.

No Standing Defense

Standing means a business. In this case, a debt collector has a legal interest in debt-collection lawsuits. The NRC must prove it legally owns your debt. This is because the debtor didn't enter a contract with the agency in question; the creditor did. It can only prove legal interest by showing that the creditor assigned the agency to collect debt on their behalf. If the agency can't provide this proof, the case won't hold.

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Additional Defenses You Can Use to Beat NRC Collection Agency

If you don't owe a debt, this can be used as a defense in court. For example, you may have filed for bankruptcy, and some debts have been discharged. If the agency is still suing you for these debts, you can argue that you've filed for bankruptcy. Also, some debts may be legally invalid due to fraud, coercion from a contracting party, or corruption during negotiations.

With this information, you should have one or even multiple defenses that you can use to beat NRC in court. If you have the resources, It can also help if you consult a local attorney to determine and argue the most effective defenses to your lawsuit.

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.

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"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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