Just remember if they call again, to send them a cease & desist letter via return receipt or certified mail.  Keep records of their calls in a notebook and any messages left on answering machines. It also helps to record the calls, but check your states recording laws in regards.

http://800notes.com/arts/Jb8EW-eDhQA/harassin ... ou-need-to-know
See Residents post here also:
http://800notes.com/forum/ta-34af6a034ba34b6/unending-collection-calls
Templates of Letters:
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-319-242-7350

http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fdcpajump.shtm
http://www.consumerfinance.gov/askcfpb/search ...
http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/pdf-0096-fair-credit-reporting-act.pdf
http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0149-debt-collection

To File complaints FDCPA/TCPA violations:
Your State Attorney General
Their State Attorney general
https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/#&panel1-1
http://www.consumerfinance.gov/complaint/

They're still at it as of May 2014. Many thanks to the posters here for helping me deal with them. Turns out that I'm not the one they wanted, but had to provide info to prove it. I refused to give birthdate, or other private data. However they did accept my zip code as proof that I was not their target, and took my name off their list. Seems odd, surely they had my zip & address from the phone #, but whatever. Hope this post helps out their next victim.

I was just served a summons by Cohen & Slamowitz.  Do you have a phone number for the consumer lawyer Jason Shear?

I was sued in Buffalo City Court by Midland Funding.  I hired Amherst Consumer Attorney Jason Shear.  We got the debt collection case dismissed.  TT in New York

Received a call from 8002936006. Caller did not identify if affiliated with company. Caller did not provide reason for call. Consumer Protection representatives suggested reporting all calls of this nature and not to provide any information to the caller.

I was sued by Cohen and Slamowitz, their representing midland funding llc.  Can anyone recommend an attorney that can help me.

Contacat the District Attorneys office in your area

state na  name avde che pela luri

I hired Buffalo Attorney Jason Shear, Esq.

We got the debt collection case dismissed!

Jen,

Who was the atty you used?  I was just served a summons and complaint!

Ugghh .... The worst collection vultures love circling over active duty people precisely because they are too busy defending citizens to defend their own bank accounts. The punitive view of military laws toward debt doesn't help either.

SSCRA and the like are past my expertise but you could still have options for vacating the judgment and/or suing C&S for relief. See the item below and my remarks to Margaret.

http://www.creditinfocenter.com/wordpress/200 ... til-you-pay-it/

Jen won't be coming back to answer you 2.2 years later. You've seen this thread, you've read how easily this collector will break laws to get what it wants. You do not cut deals with lawbreakers. You dispute their claims and make their job difficult if not impossible. Otherwise you will find your once benevolent collector writhing and squirming to break the "agreement", hassling you for more payments, and trying to blame you for being "uncooperative".

Let's also be clear that "the courts" are not being restrained here. It is the debt lawyer "taking legal action" by filing suit in the first place. Did I mention the plaintiff is not your friend?

You have rights as an alleged debtor which very possibly this C&S has already violated. This is leverage to be used against your opponent, regardless of how much or little you quietly agree with the debt claim. When you catch them breaking certain laws, they owe *you* a payout, capice?

It's harder to put up a fight if you've never disputed the debt prior to being sued. Until a judge orders you to pay, you do have options under federal and state laws. Here's some homework:

Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fdcpajump.shtm

Fair Credit Reporting Act
http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fcrajump.shtm

For starters you'll want to determine if the account was assigned or sold for collection, the age of the account since charge-off, and if the creditor contract has a favorable private arbitration clause. Even more vital, was it really a summons or an illegal threat of suit? This is an outfit known for "sewer service", after all.

To get a handle on what is meant by the above, look at the examples of others posting to the forums at DebtorBoards, Credit InfoCenter, and Collectors Exposed. You can go attorney shopping through NACA, though it tends to be populated with sleepy bankruptcy mills. You want a fighter, not a "half price sale" deal broker. You might end up going pro se, in which case the mentioned forums will be a big help.

hello. i have received a summons from the law office of cohen and slamowitz regarding a credit card balance. yes i do have a balance to pay but no matter how many payments i make, the amount does not seem to be decreasing. we have reached an agreement on me paying $100 monthly and they will stop the courts from taking legal action. but i fear that this may not be the end. i have read about plenty of other people who have "reached an agreement" with them and yet they still harmed their accounts. where did you go for help? what kind of attorney did you get? did you originally have a debt to be paid like i do and still searched for legal help?

At least they called you guys. I am in the military and only found out about these bloodsuckers when I received a levy of pay through my government finance department who alerted me to the garnishment of pay due to a default judgement.
These people (Cohen and Slamowitz) failed to serve me and I was rewarded with a garnishment of nearly one thousand dollars for a Ballys account I never opened. Double dagger in the back.
To add insult to injury, the finance department overpaid the city marshall and I was unable to get it back.

People like this should be disbarred and put in jail. Or have them come over here (middle east) and feed the troops.

A Patriot

stop calling me i dont owe the debt

The law firm of Cohen & Slamowitz. They are calling to collect on a debt just as an agency would.

left message was a collection agency and was nasty

They called my cell again yesterday for Juan, whoever that is, and left a message for him.  The name of the caller was Natalie Suzuki, ext 8819.  I wonder how many calls it takes for them to give up on finding a debtor.  I''ve gotten calls for Juan from other debt collectors in the past.   After a while the calls stop, then a new collector buys the "leads" and I get called again.  Possibly, Juan had the same phone # as me once upon a time.  Lucky me.  Obviously, collectors lack the ability to sue Juan or someone would have done it by now and left my cell phone alone.

This is Cohen & Slamowitz.  Sometimes the debts they try to collect are invalid and sometimes they are not.  Either way, the law firm I work for can help if you are being called by them.

I deal with debt collectors like this all the time!  I work for S.J. Packman & Associates, a law firm that can help clients in all states and we have offices in NY, NJ, & PA.

Check us out and call us for help!

S.J. Packman & Associates
Attorneys at Law
www.sjpackman.com
1-888-314-1723 ext 101

They called my cell and asked for Juan.  I'm not him.  Don't know him.  Their caller was named Georgia at ext 8613.

A debt collector Leopold Gross and Sommer P C took my money out of my bank account, I TOOK THEM TO COURT, THEY WERE LYING about the entire case, they found my name from somewhere, now im sueing them for 100,000,000 one hundred million dollars. they said i owed the department of social services. you cant owe the welfare, its free money HJR-192 it was against the law for the attorney to contract with the goverment in the first place.  debt collectors are frauds

The e-mail address for one of the partners is davidcohen@cslawllp.com. If you send an e-mail requesting a cease of communications they have to honor it. Anything outside of that would be considered harrasement.

I have been contacted by this firm every year for the last 10 years in April around tax time,they always try to give me a discount on what they say I owe. From some bank that charged off a $400 debt. Every year it goes up by $2000+...They say I now owe over 11k....how can tat be?....its not even on my credit report....I wrote them a letter an asked them to Validate the Debt....they sent a letter back refuseing to. Now they are calling my placve of business with old info

The lawyer or person wanted our home address.  We told him that if he called us then he has our address.  He was extremely evasive about what he wanted.  We watch Law & Order and that is exactly what we told him.  We do not give out any personal information over the phone.
He said here is my phone # if you want to verify who I am... anyone can answer a phone with any company or law firm's name... so what does that confirm?
He finally terminated the call - his words.  I guess my husband & I were too much for him

I am currently involved in a cease against this firm. If anyone is interested in stopping the abuse and harassment (at no cost to you and maybe receiving up to a $1000) please contact me at 212.796.0930,www.harveyrephenlaw.com.consumeradvocatenyc@gmail.com.
Sincerely,
Attorney Harvey Rephen

KNOWN FDCPA VIOLATOR - NY AG JUST OVERTURNED 100,00 DEFAULT JUDGEMENTS !
Cohen and Slamowitz are implicated in this debt collection scam!
Used KNOWN sewer service process servers!  They only pretend to serve the summons!
ATTORNEY GENERAL CUOMO SUES TO THROW OUT OVER 100,000 FAULTY JUDGMENTS ENTERED AGAINST NEW YORK CONSUMERS IN NEXT STAGE OF DEBT COLLECTION INVESTIGATION

http://www.oag.state.ny.us/media_center/2009/july/pdfs/5015%20Suit.pdf

37 Law Firms and Collectors Named in Lawsuit for Failing to Properly Notify New Yorkers Being Sued for Owing Debt

Cuomo Seeks to Vacate Over 100,000 Faulty Judgments Statewide and Provide Restitution to Victims

New York, NY (July 22, 2009) - Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo today announced his office has sued 35 law firms and two debt collectors in New York State in order to throw out an estimated 100,000 default judgments improperly obtained against New York consumers. This is the latest action in Cuomo?s ongoing investigation into unlawful debt collection practices.

According to the lawsuit filed yesterday in New York State Supreme Court, Erie County, the companies relied on a Long Island company, American Legal Process (ALP), to notify New York consumers that they faced debt-related lawsuits. ALP, however, failed to properly serve consumers across the state with legal papers, causing thousands to unknowingly default and have costly judgments entered against them without the chance to respond or defend themselves. In April of this year, Cuomo?s Office announced criminal and civil cases against ALP and its owner, William Singler, for this fraudulent business scheme.

Today?s lawsuit is an effort to provide relief to the thousands of consumers facing costly default judgments as a result of ALP?s unlawful practices. The suit asks the court to vacate all default judgments secured against New York consumers in cases in which the firms (1) used ALP to serve legal process in commencing a lawsuit, and (2) the firms are unable to provide the court with any evidence, other than ALP?s affidavit, that proper legal service was made.

?Our legal system is defined by due process and the guarantee that every New Yorker will get the chance to defend his or herself in court,? said Attorney General Cuomo. ?ALP?s scheme undermined the foundation of this system and denied thousands of individuals their day in court. Today?s lawsuit is a key step in our efforts to uproot unlawful debt collection practices and undo the considerable harm they inflict on New York consumers.?

ALP, as a legal process server, was hired by high-volume debt collection law firms in New York to serve legal papers, usually a summons and complaint, notifying individuals that they are being sued and must answer the complaint. ALP, however, allegedly engaged in ?sewer service,? where process servers take advantage of individuals facing lawsuits by failing to properly alert them and denying them the chance to respond. As a result, tens of thousands of judgments were obtained against unsuspecting New Yorkers, many of whom first learned they were being sued when they found their bank accounts frozen or their wages garnished. ALP covered up the fraud by falsifying sworn affidavits of service in courts across New York.

The law firms and debt collectors sued today then used these false affidavits to obtain default judgments against NY consumers. Between January 2007 and October 2008, these law firms and debt collectors filed more than 100,000 lawsuits in every county in New York State, with the vast majority of the suits being debt collection actions. In a large percentage of the cases sampled and analyzed, the defendants never answered the lawsuit and the law firms sought and obtained default judgments from the courts. In seeking the default judgments, the firms made use of ALP?s fraudulent affidavits that claimed that the individual defendants had been given proper legal notice of the suits.

To rectify ALP?s widespread fraud on New York?s courts and consumers, today?s lawsuit, filed on behalf of the Honorable Ann Pfau, Chief Administrative Judge of the New York State Unified Court System, invokes the broad remedial powers granted to New York?s administrative judges to correct improperly obtained default judgments. In addition to seeking to vacate all of the default judgments where the sole evidence that the defendant received notice of the suit is an ALP affidavit, today?s lawsuit asks the court to order the law firms and debt collectors to:

   * Inform the New York State Unified Court System of each actions in which they used ALP to serve legal process and in which a default judgment was granted;
   * Notify all the parties in those actions of the existence of this lawsuit and their right to be heard; and
   * Notify the court of amount of any default judgments taken in any of the relevant actions, as well as whether the debtor paid any amount to satisfy the default judgment.

Additionally, where a default judgment is ultimately vacated, today?s suit asks the court to direct that proper restitution be made to any debtor who made payment on an improperly obtained default judgment. The Attorney General?s Office estimates that the average default judgment totaled approximately $5, 474.

Carolyn Coffey, an attorney with MFY Legal Services, a nonprofit provider of free legal services in New York, said: ?Over and over again we see hundreds of the most vulnerable New Yorkers -- the elderly, disabled, and working poor -- blindsided by default judgments in lawsuits that they never even knew about until after the cases were over. Our justice system is built on the basic premise that everyone has a right to be heard in court before a judgment can be entered against them, and the debt collection law firms that engage in sewer service deny New Yorkers this fundamental right. MFY commends Attorney General Cuomo for taking these steps to remedy the devastating effects of sewer service, and for sending the message to debt collection law firms that they must comply with the most basic requirements of due process.?

The law firms and debt collectors named in today?s suit are: Forster & Garbus; Sharinn and Lipshie; Kirschenbaum & Phillips, P.C.; Solomon and Solomon, P.C; Goldman & Warshaw, P.C.; Eltman Eltman and Cooper; Eric M. Berman, P.C.; Stephen Einstein & Associates, P.C.; Fabiano and Associates; Jones Jones Larkin O?Connell; Panteris & Panteris, LLP; Zwicker and Associates; Relin, Goldstein & Crane; Woods Oviatt Gilman; Leschack & Grodesnky; Hayt Hayt & Landau; Pressler & Pressler; Jaffe & Asher; Mullen & Iannarone; Arnold A. Arpino & Associates; Houslanger & Associates; Mann Bracken, LLC; Smith Carroad Levy & Finkel; McNamee, Lochner Titus & Williams; Thomas Law Office; Fleck, Fleck & Fleck; Eric Ostrager; Cohen & Slamowitz, LLP; Cullen and Dykman LLP; Winston & Winston, P.C.; Cooper Erving & Savage, LLP; Robert P. Rothman, P.C; Gerald D. DeSantis; Greater Niagara Holdings, LLC; Rodney A. Giove; Advanced Litigation Services, LLC; and Jason L. Cafarella.

Attorney General Cuomo also announced that as part of his ongoing investigation into fraudulent process servers and debt collectors, his Office is determining which other law firms statewide relied on ALP to serve legal process on New Yorkers facing lawsuits. More than 20 such firms have been identified to date and his Office is notifying those firms of its intent to seek to vacate any default judgments those firms have obtained based on ALP affidavits of service.

This civil lawsuit and investigation is being handled by Assistant Attorney General James Morrissey and Assistant Attorney General Nathan Reilly, in conjunction with Dennis Donnelly, George Danyluk, Aric Andrejko and Dan Johnson of the Internal Audit Unit of the New York State Unified Court System.


Cohen & Slamowitz, LLP
Aka/Gemini Recoveries, Inc.
199 Crossways Park Dr.
Woodbury, NY 11797
Phone: 800-293-6006
Fax:    516-364-6607
Web Address: www.cslawllp.com
Head Debt Collectors:
David A. Cohen, lawyer
Mitchell G. Slamowitz, lawyer


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bud Says                         Consumer Comments Below

These two debt collectors are using their law firm and bottom feeder agency to buy, collect and file lawsuits on. Located in Woodbury, NY, the debt collection law firm of Cohen & Slamowitz and Gemini Recoveries, Inc. This is typical of lawyers buying old, mostly worthless accounts and filing lawsuits so they can make money off the misery of others.

The problem with these type debts is that they must be proved in a legal venue. Consumers are warned that bottom feeders, such as Cohen & Slamowitz, aka Gemini Recoveries have a VERY difficult time in producing the correct legal documents. Any suit should be challenged, make demand for all documentation that validates their claim. Do NOT accept anything other than original documentation, containing your signatures. Make them prove what the annual percentage rates are legal, i.e.; proof that you were notified of the prevailing rates y the original creditor and that it was a part of the cardholder?s agreement.

NEVER, take a default judgment from a bottom feeder, make them show up in court, always answer a summons.

CAUTION: I recommend you NEVER disclose your bank account or credit card information to a debt collector, as you risk them emptying your account, or maxing out your credit card. If you feel they are reporting on your credit bureau files in error or need assistance in dealing with them, email  the details w/your location.  Assistance and referral to a consumer legal specialist may be available.

A person called Mr. Sandoval left a message to call back.  They have been harrasing me for more than a month.

They call me a whole bunch of times left messages with the name of the attorney firm but once you call "SURPRISE" is a collection agency they are rude un-educated no need to waste time taking with them. Requested not to be call again, one day they block me as I was living my driveway and present me with a summon at that point I contact my attorney who explained to me that was nothing else but a scare tactic. The don't even care that I'm permanent disable at that point because of my situation I apply bancruptcy. Anyone up there do not wate your time with crooks

I was sued by Cohen and Slamowitz when they represented a collection agency.  I hired a consumer debt defense attorney in Buffalo and we easily beat their case saving me thousands of dollars.  

$4,100.00 I saved to be exact, they sued me for $5,012.00 minus the $900.00 I paid the atty.  If they contact you, get help like I did.

A woman left a message on my manager's voicemail at my work. She mumbled the name of the company and who she was, so that all my manager could write down was the 1-800 number to call back. My home phone has never been called and this company uses my maiden name, so they only have old information. After finding out who the phone # is for on the internet, this Coheed law firm/collections, I'm not sure how to handle the situation. More than likely, after reading what others have said about them, they want money for something I am already paying back. There is no reason why I should be taken to court, but now I am nervous that I will be. Should I call back?