Transcript of Call between Robert Paisola and Mr. Idalberto de la Torre on the 27th of July 2006 Regarding UNIFUND ABUSE by Lawfirm of Jacobson Sobo and Moselle
MR. PAISOLA: This is Robert Paisola with Western Capital. It's the 27th of July at 12:38 p.m., Mountain Standard Time. Calling one of our customers.
Good afternoon. This is Robert Paisola with Western Capital. Today is July 27th, 2006. The time is 12:39 p.m. Calling one of our great customers, Mr. Idalberto de la Torre.
All right, sir. I appreciate the time you've taken to give us a call this afternoon. For the record, what's your name today? name today?
MR. DE LA TORRE: My name is Idalberto de la Torre.
MR. PAISOLA: And what city do you live in, Idalberto [sic]?
MR. DE LA TORRE: I live in Miami, Florida.
MR. PAISOLA: Okay. Tell us what happened.
MR. DE LA TORRE: Okay. Basically, this whole thing started about, like, three years ago. My wife and I were served with a summons and, I mean, we have never heard of this company ^CHECK where we received a summons {00:56}. ^We have never received any letters or never received any calls. Basically, someone knocking the door, someone showed up with the summons, and we were kind of shocked. I mean, this ^CHECK has not happened to us {01:08} before, so we were kind of a little surprised.
MR. PAISOLA: In what company was that?
MR. DE LA TORRE: The name of the company, the summons, was Unifund.
MR. PAISOLA: Okay.
MR. DE LA TORRE: The Unifund CCR.
MR. PAISOLA: Okay. Go ahead.
MR. DE LA TORRE: And then when we looked at the summons, it was basically the date of the – like a hearing, and date of – I guess what you would call as a copy of, like, the old statement of one of our credit cards. Actually, it was my wife's credit card, a Providian credit card, that was – I mean, the copy of the statement that they sent with the summons was dated at 2001.
Now, when we saw this, we – I mean, we – ^was {01:47} pretty good with our record keeping, so we would keep pretty much copies of everything. So we have now a copy of an old credit report and ^CHECK we're, yeah, indeed, that's {01:54} ^INAUDIBLE, we did have a Providian account. But this account had been charged ^us {02:00} 2001 because those – my wife and my sons, we had lost our jobs back in 1999. So there was a period there when we through some really rough financial times, and we – honestly, the credit card feels like a backseat to everything else.
MR. PAISOLA: Sure.
MR. DE LA TORRE: We did not pay them for a certain period of time, and at some point, I guess, the original creditor was like a ^UNCLEAR {02:20} and decided to charge off the account.
MR. PAISOLA: Now, just to be clear again, when was this account opened?
MR. DE LA TORRE: The account was originally opened in 1998.
MR. PAISOLA: '98. So we're talking an account that's approximately 12 years old as of right now in 2006?
MR. DE LA TORRE: Yes.
MR. PAISOLA: Okay. Great. I just want to be clear on that. Go ahead.
MR. DE LA TORRE: It was opened in 1998. So again, when we got the copy of the credit report, we saw that on the copy of the summons, they had stated basically that this account was now current. I wish it wasn't current because the summons was dated 2004. But supposedly that the account has been opened in 2003 and was showing l like, I guess, a current activity as of 2003, which we found was very, very strange, because, obviously, since we don't have a credit report, we assumed that it had been charged off in 2001.
So what we did was we requested a current copy of our credit reports, which now – and ^actually {03:19}, I realized that it's something that probably everybody should do like at least twice a year because this way you can see what's on your report.
So when we got a copy of the credit report, the Providian account was still there. It was showing off as charged off at 2001. But now, we had a similar account that – I guess the numbers had been changed as far as the account number, and it was under Unifund CCR. And then, again, like I said, the date of activity or actually, the account was showing it's opened in 2003 and it had like an activity date from 2003.
MR. PAISOLA: Now, let me stop you right there. What you're telling me, if I'm correct, just so I know you'd be clear on this, is that you opened an account in 1998, Unifund purchased your account, and then in order to keep it on your credit report, they've changed the numbers on your account and turned it into an installment loan and said it was opened in 2003?
MR. DE LA TORRE: Yes, that is correct.
MR. PAISOLA: In complete violation of the law?
MR. DE LA TORRE: Well, actually, we did some research ^instead {04:31}. We realized that, yes, this was completely illegal, because I think there's two items that clearly stated that, that date of last activity cannot be changed.
MR. PAISOLA: That's right.
MR. DE LA TORRE: Even if they changed ownership ^UNCLEAR {04:42}, they're not supposed to change that date.
MR. PAISOLA: Go ahead. We're hearing a lot of this, by the way, so this does not surprise me.
MR. DE LA TORRE: So basically then, what we do is we decided to attend the hearing. We went to the hearing. And, I mean, the hearing to me was incredible, there were these people that -- they showed up, they had at least, like, 30 or 40 cases. It seemed like that they're all on first-name basis with the actual judge. Most of the people that they were being served for this company, mostly, I think, if not all ^UNCLEAR {05:21} like Hispanic. They barely spoke the English language. You can tell they were really – I mean, they probably had absolutely no clue about their rights or anything that was going on.
MR. PAISOLA: Now, let's stop. Let me stop you right there.
I want you to go into detail about that day. So in your mind, go back to the day you walked into court and describe to our listeners around the world exactly what you saw, because what you said is a very, very, very important statement. And I want you to be very clear and clarify it, what that means from your standpoint.
MR. DE LA TORRE: I mean, like, I guess I could consider myself kind of fortunate. I mean, I had some college and, ^honestly {06:01}, I have access to the Internet, I ^CHECK actually took {06:02} computer, stuff like that. So when I got there and I saw these people and I saw the amount of people that ^disobeyed (06:07) and I saw as they would call each person up that – I mean, the people, the look on their faces, were -- I mean, they were basically terrified.
Obviously, because of their last names and surnames, you could tell that they were Hispanic. I mean, when the judge or even the attorney would address them, they could barely understand. They had to call people to translate. I felt horrible. I mean, I was very, very upset because, like I said, I mean, I'm fortunate enough to have a computer ^UNCLEAR {06:32} and do research or whatever and find things out, because you could tell these people that – I mean, they have no way of knowing this or doing this. And to me, I thought they were clearly being taken advantage of. That's really how I felt, and I was very, very upset. I mean, it was just very – I felt terrible. I mean, I felt really, really bad.
MR. PAISOLA: Okay. Now, in your letter to me, you also mentioned there were a lot of single mothers that were there.
MR. DE LA TORRE: Yes, yes.
MR. PAISOLA: Tell us about that.
MR. DE LA TORRE: Most of the cases also were – you can tell that they were single mothers. I mean, the judge would ask them and I guess, ^CHECK So tell me the account {07:04}, either their ex-husbands have been robbed, etc., etc. And yes, I mean, you could definitely see there were a lot – most of them were women, actually. There were a lot of women and from what -- I mean, the questions that I remember the judge asking them, they were either divorced or, you know, separated. You know, honestly, there was no male figure there that could be found.
MR. PAISOLA: Sir --
MR. DE LA TORRE: Well, I don't know. I mean, I couldn't really tell you ^CHECK because I think {07:28} ^UNCLEAR {07:28}. It was a pretty – I mean if you have 40 cases and maybe 35 of them are all Hispanics and maybe out of 35, 30 are all women, then I guess there is some type of criteria that they ^CHECK should only {07:39} follow when it comes to filing this type of losses.
MR. PAISOLA: Well, if that's true, how many people simply just didn't show up?
MR. DE LA TORRE: There was, I would say maybe of the 40 cases, maybe like – probably like ten were not even there.
MR. PAISOLA: They just chose not to show up at all?
MR. DE LA TORRE: Yeah. Yeah, they didn't show up at all.
MR. PAISOLA: Okay.
MR. DE LA TORRE: And, honestly, when they don't show up, you know, that the judgment gets ^entered {08:00} immediately. I mean, that's without a doubt. So, yeah, they didn't show up at all.
MR. PAISOLA: Okay. Go ahead.
MR. DE LA TORRE: So our name came up, we approached the judge. And basically the attorney that ^these {08:14} people had there, you could tell that he was not very bright, kind of clueless, actually. He started, like, fumbling through his papers and ^CHECK {08:21} stuff on this one. When we had to speak to ^this {08:24}, we told the judge that basically we had done research, we brought copies of the credit reports showing, you know, the dates, the changes. And we told the judge that we did not agree with this lawsuit, and we would like to hire an attorney or find an attorney to ^file {08:39}.
Uhm, and the judge said, “Okay, fine,” wrote it down. And then, you know, I guess a – because they were supposed to find out about another trial date.
At that point, uhm, I contacted Bud Hibbs, which obviously he wrote on your site, and I know you guys work with each other. I asked him, you know, if he knew of anybody here in Florida ^UNCLEAR {08:59} that could help me to ^CHECK look up in the knack of what I did {09:01}.
But most of the attorneys I found here in Florida were all ^UNCLEAR {09:06} cases like bankruptcy, so I didn't really find anyone that really had that consumer law or experience or – so here where I work, I decided to ask one of the attorneys here if, you know, maybe he could help me. When I asked him, I explained to him ^UNCLEAR {09:21} that was going on, and then he said he would take the case.
So then, based on the information that I brought him, he compiled, I guess, what -- it was going to be like a counterclaim to the lawsuit that they were filing. And he got it all ready and then, uhm, when the time came, he took it to the court.
And the judge basically ruled that, I guess, so much time has elapsed between the time of the original hearing and when he brought the actual documentation for our counterclaim. So we -- ^CHECK {09:51} we fell out. We were not allowed to actually file the counterclaim.
MR. PAISOLA: So isn't that interesting, a company like Unifund hires attorneys to go in and collect on their behalf.
MR. DE LA TORRE: Mm-hmm.
MR. PAISOLA: They change the date of last activity to hold you hostage for an account for 1998, and then when you go to court to try to seek remedy, you're told your time barred.
MR. DE LA TORRE: Yes, I know. ^CHECK You know what I mean, it's a {10:18} ^UNCLEAR -- I mean, I'll be honest with you.
I've lost a lot of faith, I guess, in the court system and just -- he didn't, like, uhm -- when this happened, I literally, like, “Bud, you know, you didn't give me some advices before I contacted the ^FEC.” {10:32}
I contacted the Florida Division of Banking ^UNCLEAR {10:33}, they're the government agency that handles collection companies because I contacted the licensing agency here in Florida to see if these people were licensed here, which they were not, they were never had a license here.
The Division of Banking, I mean, they tried, I guess, on my behalf to approach these people. And they wrote a letter ^UNCLEAR {10:56}. And it came down to them not being able to do anything.
They told me that they really couldn't do anything because of the laws here that was set up to truly, like, you -- the consumer really is helpless and so were they, because there's nothing really, I guess, concrete that they can go out to this type of people, which, again, I was like, “My God, this is incredible.” You know, you would think the laws are in place like ^UNCLEAR {11:18}. You'd think that if somebody break the law, that they should be held responsible, but it's not that way at all.
MR. PAISOLA: Well, you're talking about this kind of people. Let's talk about it. Is there a law firm that was involved in your case? I assume there was.
MR. DE LA TORRE: Yes, there was. There was a law firm that was involved. ^INAUDIBLE {11:36} basically --
MR. PAISOLA: Who was that firm? Who were those people? Do you remember the name?
MR. DE LA TORRE: Yes. The name of the law firm is Jacobson, Sobo & Moselle.
MR. PAISOLA: How was your experience with them?
MR. DE LA TORRE: Well, ^CHECK same as ones {11:49} that the whole counterclaim started, the attorney was – or my attorney was the one who was really handling the communication. ^CHECK But the only time I did get to actually see the attorney's list when they did the pretrial conference {11:58}. And the person, the one that they sent, he didn't look very, very polished. And he ^UNCLEAR {12:12} fumbling around with the papers, and when the judge would ask him questions, I mean, he looked lost. He didn't look like a very – what I would call a very reputable attorney.
MR. PAISOLA: Sure. Well, he ^CHECK did that collection {12:24}, my friend. It doesn't take a lot.
MR. DE LA TORRE: Yeah. Yeah. And then, I mean, one another thing I want also to mention is once this whole thing – I mean, once we realize that, that the attorney ^CHECK wasn't going to be involved {12:35}, he also sent letters to both the attorneys and ^Unicard {12:39} in Ohio so they could verify the account.
MR. PAISOLA: Okay.
MR. DE LA TORRE: ^CHECK I guess – I mean, well, with the summon that they sent, they had {12:43} -- they didn't send a copy of a contract. They didn't send – all they sent was basically an old – I guess a copy of an old credit card statement, the original state- --
MR. PAISOLA: Now what I want to do is I want to stop you right there.
MR. DE LA TORRE: Okay.
MR. PAISOLA: Because that is perhaps the most important thing that we could talk about today.
What you're talking about is the word “media,” M-E-D-I-A. And this law firm and Unifund made the decision to provide you with just simply a copy of a statement. That is not a valid form of verification of the debt. I could go to Quickbooks and create a bill saying you owe me a billion dollars. And that is not verified.
When I want to talk about media, I want a copy of the original credit application; I want to see a copy of the statements that took place from the date the account was opened until the date the account was charged off; I want to see a copy of every single signature slip that I signed, giving them authorization to put that on my account with every single purchaser. And then if the account has been sold, I want to see a copy of the sales agreement, transferring my account to X collection agency or the assignment saying that it is being collected on contingency. I then want to know if it has been returned; I want to see the return notice. I want to see a copy of all of the chain of evidence of where my account has gone.
You see, that is why we have rights. Because otherwise, somebody can sit down at a computer and just create debts, like Unifund is doing, with arbitrary dates, put on people's credit reports and sit back and wait for the money to come in.
MR. DE LA TORRE: That's ^right {14:45}.
MR. PAISOLA: And it's very unfortunate that they choose to pick two categories that in our country are considered discriminatory categories. And it's disgusting.
MR. DE LA TORRE: Oh, oh, that day, I felt horrible because – I mean, I felt helpless. I mean, there was nothing I could do. I mean, there was one incident I'd like to tell you, how much ^INAUDIBLE {15:08}. There was one lady that her husband had passed away, and the gentleman, I guess the original credit card, he had filed for bankruptcy. And they called this woman in. I mean, the – I guess that they obviously served her with a lawsuit. She was called in, and she had documentation, you know, showing that the account had been bankrupt but, I guess, she was like an authorized user of the account.
MR. PAISOLA: Sure.
MR. DE LA TORRE: She showed it to the judge, and the judge basically brushed her off. And in front of my eyes, she basically put in a judgement on this lady on account of a person who is deceased who ^subserviently {15:47} had filed bankruptcy and had his account, I guess, like, you know, ^recant {15:50}, removed, or absolved. I'm not sure what the proper term is. But I was like I was in shock. I was in shock.
MR. PAISOLA: And now --
MR. DE LA TORRE: And then, she could barely speak English. She needed somebody to translate. That was the same scenario.
MR. PASIOLA: But I'll tell you what, it sounds to me like we need to call this attorney. And when you talk to them and see what they say – well, I guarantee you what they're going to say. They're going to scramble because they're not going to know what to say because they're talking to a hundred thousand people right now. And in this condition, the attorneys don't like to be put in that spot. But you know what? We're going to do it.
So we'll go ahead and turn the recorder off right now. We're going to look up the telephone number of this law firm. Hopefully, we're going to get ahold of the actual attorney, Mr. Jacobson, and we're going to give him a call and see if he remembers this case, the date that he took advantage of all those people on behalf of Unifund, the date that Unifund decided that the law didn't apply to them, the date that forever will now live for you to hear about.
So, Western Capital, this is Robert Paisola. And we are simply on hold now.
(Off the record.)
MR. PASIOLA: This is Robert Paisola. Again, we're back online. The time is 1:01 p.m., Mountain time. We're now calling the law firm of Jacobson, Sobo & Moselle who conveniently have a website at FloridaCollections.com.
The first we're calling is Justin D. Jacobson, jdj@floridacollections.com. The law firm is located at 100 Northwest 70th Avenue, Suite 200, Plantation, Florida 33317. They have a mailing address of PO Box 19359, Plantation, Florida 33318. The telephone number is (954) 587-1968. The fax number is (954) 587-2797.
So we're now ready to give him a call. And of course, they'll probably not want to talk to us, but, well, at least we'll give them the opportunity.
All right, sir. Please hold. Okay?
MR. DE LA TORRE: Okay.
MR. PAISOLA: We'll be right back.
(Made a new call.)
(Message by answering machine.)
MR. PAISOLA: Are you there, sir?
MR. DE LA TORRE: I'm here.
MR. PAISOLA: Okay.
(Message by answering machine.)
MR. PAISOLA: Oh, we always want to do that.
By the way, they said they're recording, so that gives us consent also.
MR. ^ JANEL: Good afternoon. Jacobson, Sobo & Moselle. Mr. Janel speaking.
MR. PAISOLA: Good afternoon. Is Justin Jacobson there?
MR. JANEL: One moment, please.
MR. PAISOLA: Thank you.
And of course, for our listeners, you may want to go to Floridacollections.com/jdj.htm. That tells you who Justin Jacobson is.
We're putting the firm on mute right now.
And it looks like Justin says that he's “married to Jeannine, another lawyer, which makes for interesting dinner conversation. They live in Plantation with their two cats, Tigger and Peanut. And in his free time, Justin can be found cooking a gourmet meal, struggling to lower his golf handicap and running his fantasy baseball team and going to the movies.” Interesting information.
Mr. de la Torre, are you still there?
MR. DE LA TORRE: Yeah, I'm here.
MR. PAISOLA: I'm here too. Wow. I don't think they would have hung up on us, would they?
MR. DE LA TORRE: No, I don't think so.
MR. PAISOLA: But it wouldn't surprise me.
MR. DE LA TORRE: ^Thank you {21:49}.
MR. PAISOLA: So we'll give him about 30 seconds, then we'll call him back.
I was just telling our listeners that Justin loves to – he has a cat named Tigger, two cats. They live in Plantation, Florida. Tigger and Peanut are the animals. And he loves to be found cooking gourmet meals. Sounds like a single guy. “In his free time, he can be found cooking gourmet meals, struggling to lower his golf handicap and running his fantasy baseball teams.” Interesting.
MR. DE LA TORRE: Yes.
MR. PAISOLA: And it doesn't look like Justin wants to answer the phone. So we're going to hang up and start to call back again.
MR. DE LA TORRE: Okay.
(Made a new call.)
(Message by answering machine.)
(Call transferred to the operator.)
(Call redirected to Ms. Silver.)
MS. SILVER: Hello. Good afternoon.
MR. PAISOLA: Mrs. Silver?
MS. SILVER: Mm-hmm.
MR. PAISOLA: Hello. How are you?
MS. SILVER: Good. How are you?
MR. PAISOLA: Good. We're trying to get a hold of Justin Jacobson. Justin doesn't seem to be in his office. And I said I want to talk to the best collector on the floor, and they sent me to you, so --
MS. SILVER: That's because I'm the director. How can I help you?
MR. PAISOLA: Great. I've got a client on the line, and his name is Ildeberto [sic] del Torre.
MS. SILVER: Okay.
MR. PAISOLA: And I'd like to ask him to --
Spell your name, sir, will you, Ildeberto?
MR. DE LA TORRE: My name is -- oh, it's I-D-A-L-B-E-R-T-O.
MS. SILVER: All right. Go on.
MR. DE LA TORRE: My last name is --
MS. SILVER: Okay. Go ahead. What's your last name?
MR. DE LA TORRE: It's, D-E, space, L-A, space, T-O-R-R-E.
MR. PAISOLA: So you're the director there, huh, Ms. Silver?
MS. SILVER: Mm-hmm. ^CHECK Yes, I am {25:39}.
De la Torre, right?
MR. DE LA TORRE: Yes, that's correct.
MS. SILVER: Let me take out that and try this.
You wouldn't happen to have a file number, would you?
MR. DE LA TORRE: Oh, yes. I have a case number. Can I give you that?
MS. SILVER: No. Give me a moment.
Is it directly under your name, Mr. de la Torre?
MR. DE LA TORRE: It could be under my alias name. The first name is Dores, D-O-R-E-S.
MS. SILVER: Say it again? de la Torre, right?
MR. DE LA TORRE: Yes, Dores de la Torre.
MS. SILVER: And Del, D-E-L-L -- D-E-L and then A and then Torre, right?
MR. DE LA TORRE: That's correct.
MR. PAISOLA: That's D as a “dog,” D-E. Dela Torre -- or de la Torre.
MS. SILVER: De la --
MR. DE LA TORRE: Actually, I do have a file number.
MS. SILVER: Well, I'm going to take that. I just found it too. Go ahead.
MS. PAISOLA: We found that the --
MR. DE LA TORRE: 148-350.
MS. SILVER: Okay. So let's see something here. Okay. So I'm ^shown {27:58} that you've been dealing with ^INAUDIBLE {28:06} from my office?
MR. DE LA TORRE: Oh, well, my attorney has, yes.
MS. SILVER: Okay. And I have this in care of Bailey & Associates?
MR. DE LA TORRE: That is correct.
MS. SILVER: And the name of counsel on the phone with us?
MR. PAISOLA: My name is Robert Paisola. I'm with the Western Capital at the Salt Lake City, Utah.
MS. SILVER: Robert Paidell [sic].
MR. PAISOLA: I'm at the Salt Lake City, Utah with the Western Capital.
MS. SILVER: Western Capital.
MR. PAISOLA: Uh-huh.
MR. DE LA TORRE: I don't think ^you {28:31} got your last name correct.
MS. SILVER: That's okay.
Okay. How can I help you, gentlemen?
MR. PAISOLA: Would you tell us the status of the case, kind of, look at the notes and, kind of, tell us what's happened from your perspective, what you've seen. Can you give us a rundown?
MS. SILVER: I'm sure that that Mr. de la Torre's counsel will probably be in a better position to advise him that this is falling into judgment summons.
MS. PAISOLA: Okay. Yeah, I know that. But that's why we wanted to talk to you today.
MS. SILVER: Okay.
MS. PAISOLA: Has there been a judgement tendered against him?
MS. SILVER: Summary judgement has been entered, yes.
MR. PAISOLA: Summary judgement has been entered?
MS. SILVER: Mm-hmm.
MR. PAISOLA: Okay. At what point was summary judgement entered?
MS. SILVER: On 6/26/06.
MR. PAISOLA: 6/26/06. So we're looking at less than a month ago, it looks like. Yes, less than a month ago, summay judgement was issued?
MS. SILVER: Mm-hmm.
MR. PAISOLA: Okay. And your client, on behalf of this issue, is Unifund; is that correct?
MS. SILVER: Yes. We are local counsel.
MR. PAISOLA: You're local counsel for Unifund?
MS. SILVER: Mm-hmm.
MR. PAISOLA: Okay. Is there anything else that you have in the file?
MS. SILVER: Pertaining to what?
MR. PAISOLA: To his claim against -- or actually, your claim at this point against him.
MR. SILVER: ^CHECK You say it's up to him {30:06}? I'm sure that's here, I just have no understanding of those. I'm sure I'm knowing what I'm looking at across here.
Other than the summary judgment are being entered at this point, we're just still waiting the final answer from the Court at this point that they'll in fact -- what's being assessed in court costs, attorney's fees, as well as the judgment and the post-judgment being assessed.
MR. PAISOLA: Okay. So what you're telling me is the Judge has not executed the judgment then, right?
MR. SILVER: No, the summary judgment has been entered at this point, Mr. Paisola. Now, what's essentially happening is we're just waiting on the Court's documentation to come back. I guarantee you, it's already been done, we just haven't received it in the mail.
MR. PAISOLA: Okay. And what judge is handling this, or what court?
MR. SILVER: That's Miriam Lear.
MR. PAISOLA: Miriam Lear? Okay. All right. Well, this is probably a great time to tell you who I am and why I'm calling. You probably want to know, wouldn't you?
MR. SILVER: Well, I'm taking a look at some of your information from Western Capital. I see that the debt collection training --
MR. PAISOLA: Wouldn't you like to --
MR. SILVER: -- wouldn't that relate to --
MR. PAISOLA: Why don't you take a look – let's just go right to the point. Why don't you go to www.mycollector.com?
MR. SILVER: Okay. What for?
MR. PAISOLA: Well, if you don't want to, you're not required to at all. Absolutely not. You don't have to do a thing in the world. I'm just trying to give you the courtesy of letting you know what's going on.
MR. SILVER: Okay. I appreciate it. Go ahead.
MR. PAISOLA: Okay. If you go to mycollector.com --
MR. SILVER: I'm not going to mycollector.com. I was just hoping that you'd continue to go through the --
MR. PAISOLA: Okay. Okay. Well, you know what? That's perfect then. Not a problem. We now have the information that we need and this is an extremely, extremely sensitive issue, and I want you to know that we have over 100,000 listeners around the world and podcasting video crews that record and deal with everything that all of our clients go through.
We are in the middle right now of a huge matter on behalf of a lot of our affiliate attorneys against Unifund and in the way that they're collecting on accounts. They're violating the FDCPA. They're not providing proper media to the consumers. And in this case, which is really, really an interesting case, it appears that the targeted community that's being targeted by your firm is Hispanic and single mothers.
And it's really interesting because we've dealt with Unifund on many, many occasions and this is one that deserves to be heard. And you, as a collections manager, deserve to know exactly who we are, what we're doing. And if you choose to sometime take a look at it, you might want to take a look at mycollector.com, scroll down, and you'll see Mr. de la Torre's story, and you will be able to look at the whole picture. You'll also see the pleadings on the case and you'll see the reverse complaint that he's preparing to file against you and Unifund. And this, in my opinion, is extremely, extremely prejudicial to the entire Spanish community. And --
MR. SILVER: Well, hold on a minute. Hold on a minute. Well, am I to understand that you are now acting as counsel?
MR. PAISOLA: Absolutely not. I never once said I was an attorney so --
MR. SILVER: Okay. So when you called at this point and you were requesting this information – well, actually --
MR. PAISOLA: With him on the phone, with him on the phone.
MR. SILVER: Right. Right. He's requesting the information and you're actually asking this information so that you can put a counterstate against us as well as Unifund? Is that what I'm understanding?
MR. PAISOLA: Oh, you'll personally be named, absolutely, yes. Against your firm, against Justin who has two cats, yes.
MR. SILVER: Okay, hold on. Hold on a moment.
MR. PAISOLA: Absolutely.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is Robert Paisola of Western Capital. The time is 1:19 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. We're now dealing with another attorney who happens to represent ^Idalberto de la Torre {35:14} and several around the world. And we will now see exactly where they choose to go.
Obviously, Justin made the decision, at the time of the call, not to answer the phone call. So Justin now has put his collection manager in a position of having to respond on behalf of the wonderful firm of Jacobson, Sobo & Moselle at FloridaCollections.com. So we'll see what they have to say. It's pretty predictable because as you listen to the calls of how the attorneys of Unifund respond, it's very clear how they respond. It's called “churning.”
And since you have a huge Hispanic population in Florida -- and it's interesting as we get back ^to look {35:56} at all the records and we see exactly who is being sued, the number of people that meet that criteria. But it's just too bad that Justin D. Jacobson didn't show up today, must be playing golf.
And, of course, we'll contact the Court, we'll contact the Judge. And as always, you understand, we always contact the media so the entire -- ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, and CNN, anybody ^I knew at {36:28} Plantation, Florida -- will be involved in this case, as they already have been notified.
It's so wonderful when we have a client like this who is so vocal and who is willing to step up and make a stand. He's not willing to sit back and let things happen, he's willing to do whatever it takes.
Do you realize the dollar amount we're talking about, this gentleman's claim is about? It's no longer about money, it's about justice.
^MR. DE LA TORRE: It's true. {36:59}
MR. PAISOLA: That's exactly right. It has nothing to do with money. And when you cater and you choose to categorize an entire group of people, that doesn't work. When Unifund buys paper and they reage accounts, they don't provide media, they go to the Court, they lie. Look at Kevin Kim's case out of Hawaii. Look at what we did to Marvin Dang, the attorney for Unifund in Hawaii. Look what happened to him. I'll be surprised if he's not indicted by the time this is done. We will not play this game at all.
Now, we're in what's called the “scramble mode”: “Holy crap. Western Capital's on the phone. What are we going to do?”
Well, the first thing you'll do is call the client back at Ohio Unifund and say, “What the hell is going on?” And then, they'll try to conveniently just let it all slide away, try to buy Mr. de la Torre up, and put it all under the carpet. But again, Justin Jacobson didn't pick up the phone.
So to 100,000 listeners out there, you are the ones who win because you get to learn from this experience. You get to see exactly how this game is played. And let me put it in perspective for you a DVD-ROM sent from Ohio to a collection agency at FloridaCollections.com.
MR. SILVER: Okay. Mr. de la Torre?
MR. DE LA TORRE: Yes.
MR. SILVER: Is your attorney aware that you've made this phone call today?
MR. DE LA TORRE: Oh, no, he is not.
MR. SILVER: Okay. For us to have any further communication, I'm going to need a written authorization from your attorney to speak with you.
MR. PAISOLA: Well, we'll get him on the line, that's not a problem. Let's get him on the line right now because I'm sure --
MR. SILVER: Get me --
MR. PAISOLA: I'm sure he'll love to talk to you, too, with me on the line.
MR. SILVER: Get me written confirmation --
MR. PAISOLA: No. We don't need written confirmation under Florida Law, you know that.
MR. SILVER: Well, I said I'm asking for it.
MR. PAISOLA: I know. I don't care what you're asking for. It says in the law.
MR. SILVER: Sir, I'm asking for a written confirmation, and then once it's here – or you can have his attorney contact lead counsel from the office --
MR. PAISOLA: Do you get what's --
MR. SILVER: -- and they will answer that.
MR. PAISOLA: Do you get what's going on here, Mr. Silver? Do you understand the magnitude of what is happening here?
MR. SILVER: Sir, I'm going to no longer entertain your call.
MR. PAISOLA: Oh, woah.
MR. SILVER: I'm sorry.
MR. PAISOLA: So you're choosing to hang up on me then?
MR. SILVER: No. What I'm choosing to do at this point is ethically ask that a letter from his attorney come to my office.
MR. PAISOLA: Right.
MR. SILVER: And at that point, then we will go ahead and handle the matter.
MR. PAISOLA: How are you going to explain to the 100,000 people that are listening about the abuse that you put on people in the name of Unifund out of Ohio? Just like Marvin Dang did out of Hawaii, just like all of the other attorneys that's been around the country, how do you explain that?
MR. SILVER: Explain what to you, sir?
Again, we're not going to continue now this conversation, so --
MR. PAISOLA: Okay. And I understand what it's like not to be able to handle a conversation. Believe me, I understand. And it is tough in Collections when you get put a situation, when you're always in control, when you just simply can't handle conversations, and I appreciate that.
And you're telling me there's not one single attorney there, James Cary Jacobson, Justin G. Jacobson, Robin S. Moselle, none of them are there? Not one attorney is there to speak to us?
MR. SILVER: ^Well, yes. {40:31}
MR. PAISOLA: At a law office? Is that what you --
MR. SILVER: You can manage if you can – listen. You can manage this conversation however you'd like to. I've informed you of my wishes.
MR. PAISOLA: Okay.
MR. SILVER: Okay. I'm asking that I receive something from counsel advising that I can communicate with these parties involved and then we'll handle it.
MR. PAISOLA: Okay. Well, you would have to --
MR. SILVER: I think that that's a respectful request.
MR. PAISOLA: Okay. Is there --
MR. SILVER: And I'm sure at this point, our attorneys will be more than happy to answer anything in front of us.
MR. PAISOLA: Is there anything you have else to say? Is there any else you have to say, sir, it to us?
MR. SILVER: No, sir.
MR. PAISOLA: Okay.
MR. SILVER: Thank you for your time.
MR. PAISOLA: We wish you the best.
MR. SILVER: Good luck.
MR. PAISOLA: Ladies and gentlemen, what you just heard is you've heard a senior collection manager, a senior person who's in charge of the entire portfolio representing Unifund in Florida, choose to tell you to go to hell. In other words, “I'm not talking to you anymore, I'm not responding to you. Ah wait a second. Ah, I don't know what I'm going to do. Ah, I have no clue.”
Well, we'll see what happens because this will be posted. As a matter fact, it will be posted within the next hour on our website. And to all the people and to especially all the collectors around the country who monitor this, to our friendly ^Collections.com, {42:03} we ask you to listen to exactly what's going on. We ask you to listen to what's going on at Unifund. We ask you at Unifund and Unifund's corporate counsel to listen to how these people are being treated. The question is, What are you going to do? When are you going to step up and stop this madness? When are you going to take a stand?
We're taking a stand. As a matter fact, we're taking a $750-million stand on this practice. But yet, every single attorney firm who is called their affiliate, their representative, is involved. You cannot reage paper based on the date that it was entered into your system at your client-attorney's office. That is against the law.
This is a class-action lawsuit just waiting to happen. And we invite you, defense counsel, to contact us as quick as possible and give us your own internal solution, because believe me, we have talked to many, many of your employees and many of your attorneys around the country.
Isn't it amazing that Mr. Silver, as good of a guy as he is and he has been one of the best who has spoken to as far as respect, simply doesn't have the answer?
Well, how many single mothers who's just served with a subpoena at 10:00 o'clock at night have the answers? How many foreign nationals, immigrants to this great country have the answers as they are being served and food is being taken off their table? How many Courts, how many Judges understand the dynamics, the worldwide dynamics of what's going on? And my friend is, because of clients like this, he chose to take a stand in life.
For one thing we know is, we can either do one or two things: We'll just sit back and watch the world go by as things just happen in front of us and we do nothing, or we can be like this gentleman, Mr. de la Torre, and take a stand. And I guarantee you -- I have an interview this afternoon with the Associated Press and if you go to our website at www.mycollector -- you'll see all of the national news covers that we generated because of the abuses that collectors and collection attorney firms have caused.
I challenge you to do that. If you have any question, please contact the media@mycollector.com.
For Western Capital, this is Robert Paisola.
