Is second Alliance, Inc. Harassing You?

Second Alliance, Inc.

Second Alliance, Inc. (Second Alliance) provides student loan collection services. It is located in Canoga Park, California.

According to its website, Second Alliance’s core values are service, leadership, and integrity with a focus on providing attention to the students, or in other words, the consumers.  Although Second Alliance promises to collect debts with integrity, consumer complaints depict a company that engages in unfair and abusive debt collection practices. The Better Business Bureau gives Second Alliance a B- rating for failing to respond to consumer complaints. Additionally, despite being in operation for twenty (20) years, Second Alliance is not accredited by the Better Business Bureau. To be accredited by the Better Business Bureau a company must demonstrate trust, honesty, transparency, responsiveness, and integrity.

In addition to the Better Business Bureau, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has received numerous consumer complaints against Second Alliance. The CFPB is a government agency charged with protecting consumers from unfair, deceptive or abusive debt collection practices. Second Alliance is most commonly reported for engaging in the following unlawful practices:

• Attempting to collect a debt that is not owed by the consumer;
• Improperly discussing the consumer’s debt with a third party;
• Attempting to collect an old debt;
• Harassing consumers by calling repeatedly and calling at places of employment; and
• Using obscene, profane, and/or abusive language.

A consumer filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau because Second Alliance made repeated and continuous phone calls. The consumer reported receiving four (4) phone calls a day from Second Alliance. The consumer reported these harassing debt collection practices to the Better Business Bureau. As a result of that complaint, Second Alliance agreed to cease collection activities on that account.

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and the Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (RFDCPA) prevent creditors and debt collectors from abusive and harassing debt collection practices. This includes calling consumers repeatedly or continuously with the intent to annoy, abuse or harass. Although federal and state law does not state the exact number of calls that would constitute harassment, there is a large volume of case law that interprets three (3) or more calls a day from the same debt collector to be harassing.

Creditors and debt collectors should be held accountable for these unethical and unlawful practices. If you are being harassed or subjected to any of these, deceptive, or abusive debt collection practices, it is time to hold Second Alliance accountable. Please contact our office for a free, no obligation consultation at 1-800-219-3577.