Is Smith Debnam legit -- and how do you deal with them?

Yes -- Smith Debnam Narron Drake Saintsing & Myers, L.L.P. is a legitimate, long-established law firm, not a scam. It's a full-service firm founded in 1972, headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina, with offices in Charlotte and in Charleston, South Carolina, and its creditors'-rights group handles legal collections. Because a law firm collects by filing lawsuits, the number-one risk is a court summons, and the number-one rule is never ignore one: if you're served, file a written answer by the deadline, or the plaintiff can win a default judgment automatically -- and that judgment is what enables wage garnishment, a bank levy, or a lien. The firm represents a broad mix of creditors -- banks, credit unions, credit-card issuers, auto-finance and equipment-finance companies, and debt buyers -- so the account could be a credit-card or consumer-loan balance, an auto-loan deficiency, or a commercial receivable. Two carve-outs decide your strategy. First, if it's an AUTO-loan deficiency -- the balance left after your vehicle was repossessed and sold -- remember that the leftover is UNSECURED, because the collateral is gone; that makes it negotiable like other unsecured debt, and if the repo or resale wasn't handled in a commercially reasonable way, that can reduce or even erase the deficiency. Second, if it's a COMMERCIAL or business-to-business debt -- something one company owes another -- it isn't covered by the consumer FDCPA, and it should not be routed into a consumer debt-settlement program; handle a business debt with the creditor (or a business-debt advisor) directly. On any consumer account, an attorney who regularly collects is still a "debt collector" under the FDCPA -- not exempt -- so demand written validation of the amount and the creditor, don't admit the debt on a call, and check the statute of limitations because a payment or written promise can restart the clock; raise a time-barred defense if the debt is too old to sue on. If a debt buyer is the plaintiff, make it prove it owns your specific account through the chain of title. A genuinely-owed unsecured balance, once validated, can often be settled in writing -- get any agreement in writing before you pay, and note that a forgiven balance over $600 can trigger a 1099-C.