Velocity Investments is a third party junk debt buyer that we deal with on a daily basis. They often purchase old personal loan accounts from a company called Upgrade or Upstart. Sometimes they buy accounts from Finwise Bank, Cross River Bank and FingerHut as well. Their plan of action is to buy these delinquent accounts for pennies on the dollar and then collect the full amount from you.
In most cases, the proper course when faced with a Velocity lawsuit is to hire counsel and defend the case. A good consumer attorney can beat Velocity in court in most instances. There are two main issues that we see with Velocity cases. The first is that because they buy these accounts in bulk (often 10,000 accounts at a time), they have a difficult time proving that they actually bought your specific account. The second issue is that all of their evidence, all of their documents, were created by some other company. This is a problem for them because they need a live witness to authenticate the documents. This witness can be someone from the original creditor or it can be you. Yes, if you show up to a hearing with Velocity, their attorney will put you on the stand and cross examine you and use your testimony to prove its case against you. Instead, you should hire counsel and send them to the hearing alone. This will give you the best opportunity at victory.
There is a second option with Velocity cases and that’s settlement. Settlement is an option to consider if its cost effective for you. Sometimes settling is cheaper than litigating. We can often get Velocity to accept a small percentage of the debt when we try to settle with them.
Velocity has the burden of proof. You DO NOT have to prove anything.
Do not make the mistake of contacting Velocity or their Attorney. Call or email our office for a free consultation so you can have a better understanding of what is happening.