8008146580

Been recieving the same phone calls everyday and had to remove my name from their list.

you suck and you need to stop with the caps lock. that'll cost you..

Just called them back....something about owing money to Columbia House, amount around $50- address they gave was an address I never lived at; said they had sent a copy of debt to that address (in Dec. of 2008!) and it wasn't returned so someone opened it..too bad it wasn't me...and they wouldn't resend it!  Told her I didn't even live in the state where the letter was sent, so she quickly said they would be taking my name off of the list and hung up.  Had an account with Columbia House back in the 1990s and cancelled it.  Too bad it was so long ago I have none of the paperwork stating that!  Given all the comments on here, I'm inclined to believe that this is a scam; in addition, looking Columbia House up on Wikipedia returned information that the company had gotten in trouble for selling fraudulent debt and had a negative rating with the BBB.  I advise people to ignore the calls, or answer one call to get your name off of their list.

Same thing - they keep calling my cell phone.  No message.  No one answers the phone if this number is visible. I am debt free.

These scumbags apparently have the entire block of numbers from 800-814-6500 through 800-814-6599. A few of them have no complaints registered; they probably use them for their internal phone system. They have called me on 800-814-6580 twice asking if I was "someone (unintelligible) Shah" or "Shah someone." The first time I responded by pressing 3 (person unknown) but I got the same request a week later. The message was clearly computer generated and the voice had an Asian accent. I just hung up as soon as I recognized who was calling. Then I tracked them down on the Internet using Google.

A number of complaints on that block of numbers were from people complaining about being badgered for a debt they did not owe to Columbia House. You can read about Columbia House and fraudulent debt on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia_House#Fraudulent_Sale_of_Debt.

If you really want to gag, read about them bragging about themselves on their Web site: http://www.nationalrecovery.com/. They post "awards" from a bunch of organizations I've never heard of, and I suspect no one else has either.

This is who they really are (dba means "doing business as.")

NRA GROUP, LLC. dba National Recovery Agency
2491 Paxton Street
Harrisburg, PA 17111
or
P.O. Box 67015
Harrisburg, PA 17106-7015
Phone: 1-800-360-4319 or 717-540-5605
Fax: (717) 540-4810 or (800) 360-9954
Email: inquiry@nationalrecovery.com

They call every day at teh same time, never leave a message

I have been getting so many calls from this number, I lost it this morning and answered"Who the hell is this?"  All I got was a man in his twenties??  saying, "is their any need for such language?"  I said "yes, when you call all the time, leave me alone!"  I never did get an answer as to who it was!!   and this was about 8:00 a.m.!!

Calls began at noon on June 2nd. VERY annoying. Reported to Police in our county and they are looking into it.

Who called me. no message no one answers the phone.

Been getting a call every few weeks from this number. This morning I finally called them. They said they had no record of my number. What a load of BS, when they called me at 2pm yesterday.

If they call again I won't call them back I will just go to the cops and press harassment charges.

I kept getting calls from them so I finally called to ask them to stop
me: I keep getting calls from you, is it possible you could stop calling me?

Him: WHAT KIND OF CALL IS THIS? THIS IS A MAJOR CORPORATION!!!!*click*

I called again and I told them to stop and I told them my phone number... They haven't stopped

this number called looking for the name neiva and i told the lady that neiva doesnt live or work here and they wont listen they keep calling ....

Good grief, can't they find a legal immigrant to work for this stupid company?  I told him my name was Barak Obama and he asked me how to spell it.  Report these nitwits to the cops!  They are stupid and need to buzz off!

He did say he was from NRA and I asked him if it was the National Rifle Association and he was dumbfounded, which is an understatement!

The same idiot will call with a foreign accent and state that his name is Bill Smith.  There are so stupid it is almost funny!

This dude called and he was breathing heavy and stating sexual things too!  He was really weird, from the NRA group.

Phone calls from this # 800-814-6580 every day now.  Rediculous... this is a huge SCAM and their infomation says they make 100,000 calls a day, no doubt as I can see here all the complaints. DO NOT GIVE THEM ANY INFO!  Am not sure why the Fed's have not done anything to shut them down yet. Especially now if they are being sexual and nasty.... cripes! The recording is getting old and then nothing after too either?... a busy signal or just nothing.  It's NUTS!  At least have a human call so we can cuss them out ! lol    @ Mary, lol - you cracked me up !  So true...

Just got about 10 back to back calls from this number- they never left a message- just hung up and called back. This is a ridiculous business practice!

I spoke with a very rude person this morning and told them I was not this Esparza person they were looking for and she replied "Oh really...you're SURE you are not her?  Then you must know her"  and hung up on me.  Lo and behold they just called again.  I have HAD it with this!  I am taking the advice shown in this column rightnow.  Will let you know how it turns out.

4,054 Federal Consumer Credit Lawsuits filed so far in 2009 as of July 24, 2009 - FTC Sits on its Laurels
Tags: debt collection, debt collectors, consumers, consumer protection, consumer laws, consumer rights, ftc, federal trade commission, fdcpa, fcra, consumer credit, federal law, lawsuits | Categories: Consumers, Debt Collectors Posted by Allen on 7/25/2009 6:17 AM | Comments (0) Most of 4,054 the federal consumer credit lawsuits filed so far in 2009 are Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) against Debt Collectors and debt collection law firms.

You can see for yourself at Justia.com.

If you ask me that’s a lot of consumers being abused by debt collectors using questionable collection tactics. This is quite troubling as it shows that for the most part the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and state attorney general’s are not getting involved in consumer abuse as much as they should be.

These numbers also show that many debt collectors are willfully violating federal and state law to collect debts. I could see if there were maybe 75-100 (total) filed each month, but the numbers of lawsuits that consumers file themselves without the aid of federal and state law enforcement is quite staggering.

Maybe it is a good idea that consumer issues such as the FDCPA and FCRA (Fair Credit Reporting Act) be taken away from the Federal Trade Commission and to a new consumer protection agency that is being currently being proposed in congress. From all outward appearances the FTC is failing US consumers in protecting them from predatory and illegal debt collection.

What’s more the $1000.00 per incident damages outlined in the FDCPA is chump-change to many of the the large US debt collection companies, hence the large number of federal lawsuits filed against them. The Fair Debt Collection Practices act needs to be beefed up and hit debt collectors hard, right in the wallet. Put some meat in the FDCPA and once a couple of large cash awards hit the debt collectors the illegal collection tactics will dry up to a trickle.

Now let’s take a look at how many Federal consumer credit lawsuits were filed against large debt collection companies and Debt Collection law firms so far in 2009.


January 1, 2009 through July 24, 2009

Asset Acceptance – 226 lawsuits

Allied Interstate – 215 lawsuits

NCO Financial Systems (Group) – 205 lawsuits

Palisades Collections, LLC – 153 lawsuits

Allied Interstate Inc. – 98 Lawsuits

-- the above totals 897 lawsuits close to 1/4  of the total number of consumer credit lawsuits filed in 2009 --

Client Services Inc – 65 lawsuits

Midland Funding/ Midland Credit – 65 lawsuits

Mann Bracken – 60 lawsuits

Portfolio Recovery Associates – 54 lawsuits

LVNV Funding – 46 lawsuits

MRS Associates – 38 lawsuits

United Collection Bureau (aka UCB) – 31 lawsuits

First Revenue Assurance – 26 lawsuits

Alliance One – 26 lawsuits

LTD Financial Services – 32 lawsuits

West Asset Management – 23 lawsuits

Mitchell N Kay PC – 23 lawsuits

Unifund CCR Partners – 20 lawsuits

Gerald E. Moore & Associates, P.C. – 19 lawsuits

Eskanos & Adler, PC – 13 lawsuits

Scott Lowery Law Office, P.C.  - 11 lawsuits

Accounts Receivable Management – 10 lawsuits

BUREAU OF COLLECTION RECOVERY – 7 lawsuits

Allen, Lewis & Associates, Inc – 5 lawsuits


I have probably overlooked a few of the larger debt collection law firms and debt collection companies, however as you can see it not just one or two lawsuits being filed against them, it is dozens and some hundreds. Feel free to search federal civil filings at Justia.com (consumer credit lawsuits) and pull others you may have been abused by.

All these lawsuits filed against debt collectors in 2009 and in the last year the Federal Trade Commission has done nothing against any of them (so far as we know). It’s extremely sad if you ask me that consumers are being harassed and the very federal enforcement agency hasn’t done anything. No wonder debt collectors violate the law, they know that the FTC is going to do anything to them. I for one, am glad that congress is thinking of creating a new consumer protection agency and take some of the Federal Trade Commissions enforcement powers away. Like the old saying goes “Use it, or lose it” and the FTC only has themselves to blame…

Some debtors getting payback
Consumers winning lawsuits against collectors not following the law
By MARY FLOOD
Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle
April 15, 2009, 6:02PM

Got debt? If you’re being harassed by collectors, you may also have a good lawsuit.

Lawyers in the debt business say that as collectors get desperate in these tough times, consumers are increasingly fighting back by suing those who use illegal tactics.

In Houston, U.S. District Court statistics show lawsuits filed against debt collectors under a federal consumer protection law are up 60 percent the first quarter of this year, compared with the same time last year.

“This is definitely increasing in popularity,” said Daniel Ciment, a Houston lawyer who once owned a collection agency and now sues debt collectors. “It’s most likely because debt collectors are hurting.”

Houston lawyer Dana Karni, who teaches consumer law, said the law essentially allows consumers to get their own private attorney general.“A lot of consumers don’t understand that they can go after the debt collectors and they can get paid for their pain and suffering and their attorneys fees can be paid,” Karni said.

Karni sued for Evelyn Turner when debt collectors relentlessly called her while her husband was in Iraq, threatening the Huntsville woman would lose her freedom and her children if she didn’t cover a debt she’d long ago arranged to be paid with a home equity loan.

“They said I’d go to jail, lose my family, my home, never see my children again. It was really brutal. It was horrifying,” said Turner, who husband is a civilian worker overseas. “I didn’t know I had the right to make it stop. After bawling my eyes out every day, I broke down and one of the ladies at the office told me to get an attorney.”

Turner’s title company hadn’t paid the debt as promised. Turner’s happy now with the $17,500 she got under the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Karni got more than $50,000 in legal fees and costs reimbursed.

Karni said there aren’t many lawyers doing this, but some can make a living suing collectors.

“Anyone who thinks there isn’t collection abuse is an idiot,” said Manny Newburger, an Austin-based lawyer who defends debt collectors nationwide. But Newburger believes it’s a few bad actors in a legitimate industry.

“As long as you have human beings doing this, people are going to screw up,” Newburger said.

Those screw ups often involve breaking laws about when to call, how often to call, when to stop calling at work, who can’t be told about debt and about making false claims such as threatening jail time, the forcible taking of a person’s home, or wage garnishment.

Matthew Probus, a Sugar Land lawyer, filed a lawsuit in March for a Houston woman headed to the hospital to visit her prematurely born daughter when debt collectors started harassing her over a $200 debt she owed Target.

“She got five calls in 30 minutes. It was sad and outrageous,” said Probus, who used to be the lawyer for a collection agency and switched sides.

He said folks can sue under state or federal law, though he leans toward the federal law. A basic case may get the $1,000 maximum under federal law but, he said, people who have really been bothered with dozens of daily calls or stress that results in hospitalization, can get more.

Newburger said it should not be forgotten that most of those called actually do owe money and sometimes the debtors lie to or use foul language with the collectors.

“Bottom line: people who owe money ought to pay their bills, people who collect debt ought to follow the law and consumers have the right to expect not to be abused,” he said.

The lawyers said Texas is especially famous for two multi-million dollar cases under the laws to curb debt collectors.

A jury awarded an El Paso couple $11 million, though an appeal’s court cut that down to $1 million in 1998. Trying to get $2,700 owed on a VISA card bill, collectors swore at the couple, harassed them at work, said they’d put out a contract to kill one of the debtors and appeared to have called a bomb threat to a debtor’s workplace.

In another legendary Texas case, an elderly woman with anxiety disorders was awarded $15 million by a Duval County jury after being harangued about a relative’s debt and believing threats she’d be jailed so she surrendered to confused authorities.

mary.flood@chron.com

How to SUE Debt Collectors for FDCPA violations

You don’t need an attorney to start a FDCPA lawsuit, you can always get one involved once it gets on the court docket.


See chapter five of my book if you want to learn how to sue debt collectors, Stick It To Sue Happy Debt Collectors.


This is PART 1 of a series.

Backgrounder

#1 Log everything like debt collector calls, demand letters, etc. Date/time and who it is. Be vigilant.

#2 Take pictures of the CallerID (if you don’t have it get it), save and print these out and put them in a file. I keep on on each debt collector that has or is contacting me so I can keep it organized.

#3 Record all telephone conversations. If you live in  a one-party state (such as Georgia) and the debt collector is calling from a one-party consent state you don’t have to advise them that you are recording the call. An easy way to get around two-party consent state calls is once the debt collector tells you that they call is being recording, jokingly say yes I am too (do it in a humorous or off-hand way), if they don’t object you are good to go.

Save the phone calls and burn them to a disc or discs, I save them up until I file suit.

#4 When you get the initial written communication from the debt collector, send them a certified letter disputing the debt and request validation of the debt (this is most often where the debt collector will screw up, especially those that bought the debt form the original creditor or from another debt buyer that sold the account to them). They cannot continue to collect until that satisfy your request for validation. If they do then you have at least one FDCPA violation and could ultimately get a case thrown out if they choose to sue you.

#5 Publicize the debt collectors bad behavior, let other consumers and the company that you don’t have a problem telling the world what they are doing. Blog about it, post on consumer complaint forums, contact sites such as Consumerist.com, you local newspaper or other large newspaper and TV news in your area or state. Let them feel some of the same “heat” they are putting on you.

#6 If the debt collector is calling your cell phone and you answer and you hear a moment of dead silence then they are using an automated dialer and that is a violation of the TCPA (Telephone Consumer Protection Act) in addition to the possibility of them violating the FDCPA

When I send a dispute/validation request I also demand they cease and desist all telephone communications. 99.9% of the time they will violate it and you have a FDCPA violation to sue them for. Send your dispute, validation, cease telephone communications letter via certified mail so you have a record that they received it.

#7 Always file a FDCPA violation complaint against the Debt Collector for each violation with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)



What Debt Collectors CANNOT do (Federal 15 USC 1692 FDCPA violations) from About.com

Ask you to pay more than you owe, the collector cannot misrepresent the amount you owe. [15 USC 1692e] § 807(2)(a)

Ask you to pay interest, fees, or expenses that are not allowed by law

The collector can't add on any extra fees that your original credit or loan agreement doesn't allow. [15 USC 1692f] § 808(1).

Call repeatedly or continuously
The FDCPA considers repeat calls as harassment. [15 USC 1692d] § 806(5).

Use obscene, profane, or abusive language
Using this kind of language is considered harassment. [15 USC 1692d] § 806(2).

Call before 8:00 am or after 9:00 pm
Calls during these times are considered harassment. [15 USC 1692c] § 805(a)(1).

Call at times the collector knew or should know are inconvenient
Calls at these times are considered harassment. [15 USC 1692c] § 805(a)(1).

Use or threaten to use violence if you don't pay the debt
Collectors can't threaten violence against you. [15 USC 1692d] § 806(1).

Threaten action they cannot or will not take. Collectors can't threaten to sue or file charges against you, garnish wages, take property, cause job loss, or ruin your credit when the collector cannot or does not intend to take the action. [15 USC 1692e] § 807(5).

Illegally inform a third party about your alleged debt. Unless you have expressly given permission, collectors are not allowed to inform anyone about your debt except:
•your attorney
•the creditor
•the creditor's attorney
•a credit reporting agency•your spouse
•your parent (if you are a minor)
[15 USC 1692c] § 805(b).

Repeatedly call a third party to get your location information. he collector can only contact a third party once unless it has reason to believe the information previously provided is false. [15 USC 1692b] § 804(1)

Unless the debt collector has your permission they cannot contact you at your place of employment.



Initial Steps in filing FDCPA lawsuits

#1 Read the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act and familiarize yourself with the sections and chapters that cover debt collector violations (1692a-k). While you are working on this I suggest you locate and employ a consumer protection or consumer law attorney, you can find one in your state at www.naca.net and www.martindale.com. Consumer protection attorney’s generally don’t charge any up front fees and only get paid when you win your case against the debt collector.

#2 The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act allows you to file suit in just about any court in the US, such as small claims court, state court and of course federal court. I generally start at the state court level and let the debt collecting defendant remove it to federal court if they want. More than likely they will so they can invoke a Offer of compromise. Good for them, when they move it to federal court you can bet the Federal Trade Commission can gain access to more evidence of their bad behavior if and when they decide to investigate the debt collector. Of course the Federal Trade Commission seems to move at glacier speed when spanking bad debt collectors (maybe this will change one day). You can file a FDCPA suit in the county you live in, even though the defendant is not located in your county or state.

#3 Check your states procedures on serving a company, most state’s laws (code) are online and will give you the information on how to properly serve.

For instance in the State of Georgia proper service of a foreign corporation is as follows:

O.C.G.A 14-2-1510 Foreign corporations - service.

     (a) The registered agent of a foreign corporation authorized to transact business in this state is the corporation's agent for service of process, notice, or demand required or permitted by law to be served on the foreign corporation.

     (b) If a foreign corporation has no registered agent or its registered agent cannot with reasonable diligence be served, the corporation may be served by registered or certified mail or statutory overnight delivery, return receipt requested, addressed to the chief executive officer, chief financial officer, or secretary of the foreign corporation, or a person holding a position comparable to any of the foregoing, at its principal office shown in the later of its application for a certificate of authority or its most recent annual registration. Any party that serves a foreign corporation in accordance with this subsection shall also serve a copy of the process upon the Secretary of State and shall pay a $10.00 filing fee.
     (c) Service is perfected under subsection (b) of this Code section at the earliest of:
     (1) The date the foreign corporation receives the mail;
     (2) The date shown on the return receipt, if signed on behalf of the foreign corporation; or

     (3) Five days after its deposit in the United States mail, as evidenced by the postmark, if mailed postpaid and correctly addressed.

     (d) This Code section does not prescribe the only means, or necessarily the required means, of serving a foreign corporation.

Also see OCGA 14-9-902.1

You can search your states Secretary of States website, or contact them to find the registered agent. Of course this is mainly for out of state defendants, however if you are filing against a debt collector in your state you will still need to serve the corporations registered agent.

Each state has different rules and regulations on proper service so be sure to check with your state laws to ensure you don’t serve it incorrectly.

In state suits

Once you know who the registered agent it (in state suits) it will display the county in which they are located. Make a note of it as you will need this when filing/serving.

Search the Sheriff’s office website (for the county the registered agents is located in) and find the civil service section (or call them if they don’t have one). Find out what you need to send to them for serving the registered agent. Usually it is a copy of the suit (sometimes they require two original copies) (aka process to serve), a check made out to them for the service fee (money orders are generally acceptable), a Sheriff’s Entry of Service (get it form your court clerks office when filing) and a self addressed self stamped envelope (SASE) so you can get your copies back). Remember once you get your copies back you’ll need to file one with your court clerks office and then 30 day clock starts ticking for the defendant to reply with an answer to you suit.

Draft your FDCPA violations civil complaint (I will post references and samples very soon, so check back here often) and my advice is to make 6 original copies and get them all notarized as required by law. Take them to the court clerk’s office along with the filing fee. Once it is file ask the court clerk for a couple of “Sheriff’s Entry of Service” forms (one for each defendant and extras incase you make a typo). I recommend when filing the complaint to demand a jury trial, juries *LOVE* awarding big damages in FDCPA lawsuits.

Then follow the directions for serving the registered agent in the county they reside in.

That’s it for the time being! You just sued a debt collector!

If you start stressing or feel like you are over yor head when things start heating up in court, get a consumer protection (generally free) or a consumer law attorney involved. You can do this at *any* time during the suing process.

About 95% of the time the debt collector will attempt to settle with you before the case goes to trial. Demand everything they wish to settle in writing, if they won’t give it you in writing, politely tell them then we will just have to see each other in court.

NOTE
After they answer (if they do) you may receive a “notice of removal” this just means they are moving it to a higher court, mostly like Federal Court. I like federal court better than state court, the rule of procedure are clearer and easier for no lawyer types like me to understand.

I will post more about suing debt collectors soon along with some sample complaints that you can modify and file yourself as well as how to file Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) lawsuits against original creditors and debt collectors.

Just remember you have rights as a consumer and as a human being, don’t let *anyone* abuse those rights. Put those bad debt collectors where they belong behind the defendants table in court. It’s time to fight back against abusive and illegal debt collection tactics. The more consumers who do this the less likely these companies will continue their abusive behavior.

NOTE #2
If you are dealing with a 3rd party debt collector or debt buyer, just remember all evidence they provide or testimony they make is 100% hearsay.