Sued or Contacted by Patenaude & Felix?
Patenaude & Felix is a law firm from San Jose, California and believed to work with creditors and collection agencies to be provide support for debt collection services. If you’ve been contacted by Patenaude & Felix or received a law suit with Patenaude & Felix’s name on it, we want you to reach out to Brian Russ Law, Inc. today to schedule a call with our team to learn more about our debt collection defense services.
Patenaude & Felix’s Reputation
Viewing third party review sites will show you others have reported Patenaude & Felix’s reputation being like this:
- Calling relatives of a debtor
- Not willing to respond directly to consumers
- Aggressive litigation tactics
- Sending notices of debt to the wrong person
It’s pretty obvious to us that firms like Patenaude & Felix use aggressive tactics to deliver results for their clients. Brian Russ Law, Inc. has dealt with firms like this before and knows the tactics they use and how to get around them by using creative and professional negotiation and litigation strategies.
Immediate Steps to take If Contacted or Sued by Patenaude & Felix
If Patenaude & Felix has contacted you or sued you, you should take some immediate steps to protect your interests. These are key steps in any debt collection defense action plan:
- Find competent legal counsel to advise and represent you – reach out to Brian Russ Law, Inc. today and we can get you scheduled with our team to discuss further;
- Make a log of all the dates, times, and ways Patenaude & Felix has contacted you;
- Keep copies of all correspondence you’ve received from Patenaude & Felix, including the envelopes if it came in the mail;
- If you’ve been served a lawsuit filed by Patenaude & Felix; write down the date and time you were served and all other details about the service (a common deficiency in these suits is ineffective service of process); and
- Consider all possible defenses and counterclaims – there are defenses available if someone else stole your identity and incurred the debt or if the collection agency or firm violated the law.
Protections for Consumers Under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA)
Under the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, you have certain protections that firms like Patenaude & Felix cannot violate without being subject to stiff penalties. There protections include:
- Not contacting you before 8 am or after 9 pm.
- Not contacting at work if you’ve told them not to contact you at work.
- Not contacting you if the debt collector knows you’re represented by an attorney.
- Not harassing you.
- Not providing verification of the debt to you.
- Not threatening legal action when they don’t intend (or cannot) take legal action against you.
- Using threats of violence against you or your loved ones to collect the debt.
Protection for Consumers Under California’s Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (Rosenthal Act)
Under California’s Rosenthal Consumers Under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (Rosenthal Act), many of the same debt collection practices are available as under the FDCPA. But there are extended protections under the Rosenthal Act that we can help you with in an action against Patenaude & Felix, these additional protections include:
- Extending protections when contacted by the original creditor, not just the collection agency
- Extending protections against repossession agencies
- Expanded cost recovery or statutory penalties for violations of the FDCPA
- Extending protections against debt collection lawyers
Brian Russ Law, Inc.’s Strategy to Fighting Patenaude & Felix
Brian Russ Law, Inc.’s exact strategy for fighting Patenaude & Felix or any other debt collector is a trade secret and applied on a case-by-case basis. But the strategy roughly follows the idea that the credit card collection company or debt collection law firm likely only gets paid if they actually recover regardless of the amount of effort they put into it. That’s right – many of these debt collection law firms or agencies only make money if they actually get paid and that profit is offset by the cost to pursue the suit. So it’s in the best interests of these debt collection law firms like Patenaude & Felix to use as little resources as possible to collect the money. Of course, once you start pushing back and showing them weaknesses in their case and showing them how tough it will be for them to win, then they start becoming much more willing to dismiss the case.
Keys to Remember when Fighting Credit Card, Collection Agencies, or Debt Collection Law Firms like Patenaude & Felix
It can be scary to be sued by a firm like Patenaude & Felix. Brian Russ Law, Inc. gets it – members of our team (including our founding attorney) have been on the receiving end of collections calls, letters, lawsuit threats, and more. It’s a miserable experience. But remember that firms like Patenaude & Felix have to be able to show many things before they can win their suit:
They have to show that there is a legal basis to bring a suit against you;
Patenaude & Felix has to show legal standing to bring a suit against you;
They have to show that the court where they brought the debt collection lawsuit is the proper venue; and
That you actually owe the amount listed in the complaint.