Legal Expert
Sarah Edwards, BS

Sarah Edwards is a professional researcher and writer specializing in legal content. An Emerson College alumna, she holds a Bachelor of Science in Communication from the prestigious Boston institution.

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 Williams & Fudge feels like ^^

Summary: Is Williams & Fudge suing you for a debt? SoloSuit can help you take a stand and win in court.

No one likes receiving a notice from a debt collector like Williams and Fudge saying that you owe money. What's worse is receiving the notice and not even knowing what the debt is for!

Once you receive a letter, you can anticipate further ones, along with calls and other communications, until a settlement is reached or you are able to prove that you don't owe the money.

Receiving a debt collection notice can cause a lot of unnecessary, stress and anxiety. After all, you're being asked to pay a debt—which may add up to thousands of dollars—often immediately.

The average person in the U.S. doesn't have lots of money available to immediately satisfy a large debt. So what should you do when you receive a notice of collection?

First, what is Williams and Fudge?

Williams and Fudge is a collection agency based out of South Carolina that specializes in student loan debt. It is a legitimate debt collection firm.

If you receive a debt collection notice from Williams & Fudge, it's most likely related to educational debt, such as student loans, tuition, or other educational-related fines such as parking, room and board, or library fines.

Be aware that there are numerous complaints against Williams and Fudge. As of 2022, Williams & Fudge has received 103 complaints on its BBB profile in a three-year period. Even worse, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has reported 682 complaints against Williams & Fudge in the last ten years.

Let's take a look at a real complaint against Williams.

“My taxes got garnished for my studen loan debt and it covered it all and this company is trying to collect a ghost debt and have me pay for something that's already been paid.”

Most of these complaints allege that Williams and Fudge use aggressive techniques that aren't in line with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

What are aggressive debt collection techniques?

Aggressive debt collection techniques often feel like harassment to the individual on the receiving end. They may involve calling the person repeatedly or contacting them on their work line. In some cases, they may use a variety of different phone numbers to reach the person who presumably owes the debt.

Illegal aggressive debt collection techniques include any of the below:

Attempts to collect debts that people said they didn't owe.
Illegal letters.
Inappropriate communication.
Unfounded threats to take negative or legal actions.
False representations.
Improperly involving a third party in collection activities, such as a friend or relative.

These debt collection methods are 100% illegal. Knowing your rights can help you protect yourself from unfair debt collection practices.

What are my rights under the Federal Debt Collection Practices Act?

Under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the consumer has specific rights related to the collection of a debt. This act was specifically designed to protect consumers from harassment and illegal activity with the purpose of obtaining payment from the consumer. A few of the rights granted to consumers include the following:

Ability to dispute the debt and request no further contact.
Advise that the debt collector may not contact them during working hours if their employer disapproves.
Request proof that a debt exists and the collector is authorized to request payment.
Be represented by an attorney in a debt resolution case.

If you've just received notification of the debt, your first step is to dispute that it exists. Do so before the established period granted in the letter (usually 30 days). This will force the debt collection agency to dig up your file and prove that you owe money for a specific bill.

Many times, debt collection agencies have hundreds of thousands of individuals they are chasing at one time and may not have the documentation that is required to validate your debt.

What should I do if I am sued by Williams and Fudge?

It's not often that a debt collector will sue you in court. Such actions involve money and time, and unless they are likely to prevail, they tend not to pursue this route. However, if you are on the receiving end of a lawsuit from Williams and Fudge, don't despair.

The first step to beating Williams and Fudge in court is to respond to the lawsuit within the court's deadline by filing a written Answer. You have 14-35 days to respond, depending on which state you live in. If you don't file your Answer in time, a default judgment will most likely be entered against you. This means that Williams and Fudge can garnish your wages, freeze your bank accounts, and even put liens on your property in order to get the money back.

You can save yourself the time, money, and stress of hiring an attorney when you use SoloSuit to represent yourself and respond in court. Here's how.

Respond to a debt lawsuit against Williams & Fudge

Follow these three steps to respond to a debt lawsuit against Williams & Fudge:

Respond to each claim listed in the Complaint document. You can admit, deny, or deny due to a lack of knowledge. Most attorneys suggest that you deny as many allegations as possible. This makes Williams & Fudge work harder because they have to gather all the necessary documentation to prove the debt is actually yours.
Assert your affirmative defenses. These are legal reasons that Williams & Fudge doesn't have a case against you. A common affirmative defense to raise in a debt collection lawsuit is the statute of limitations. If the debt is past the statute of limitations, then Williams & Fudge has run out of time to sue you for the debt. If this is true, the case will be dismissed.
File the Answer with the court, and send a copy to Williams & Fudge. Make sure to file before the deadline, which is 14-35 days, depending on which state you live. Make a copy to send to Williams & Fudge via USPS-certified mail. You should also request a return receipt so you can prove that you properly sent the Answer to the opposing party.

You can learn more about these three steps in this video:

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

Get Started

We have answers.
Join our community of over 40,000 people.

You can ask your questions on the SoloSuit forum and the community will help you out. Whether you need help now or are just looking for support, we're here for you.

Ask a Question

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