by Paul MankinHow to Bring a Slip and Fall claim against Kaiser Permanente?
Bringing claims for a slip and fall case can be challenging no matter who it is against. As the victim, you may feel like you are being shut down and kept in the dark about your situation, and that others are trying to worm their way out of having to properly settle a claim.
The difficulty can be drastically increased when dealing with large consortiums, like Kaiser Permanente. With how large the group is, and how much ground they tend to cover, it can be extremely daunting when facing their possible team of lawyers. Here are the steps you need to take when dealing with a claim against the likes of Kaiser Permanente.
Recording the Incident
Although it may seem like a moot point, or that it is not necessary for something as simple as this kind of incident, recording the incident in full detail is important for the proceedings to occur. The simple act of having either a video recording, written record, or photographed evidence, of the event and cause will help to solidify your case against Kaiser Permanante.
When the event occurs, it is best not to discuss any in depth details with any personnel affiliated with Kaiser Permanante. This is because any details or words that you give may be used against you in court later on.
Identifying Causation
Next, you must be able to identify a slip and fall accident when it occurs. Identifying the reasons that separate a regular fall and a slip and fall incident is key in pushing a claim forward.
The key point is understanding when the cause is not your own, or at least only partially your own. A slip and fall refers to a case wherein a victim slips or falls on the premises of another entity, and suffers an injury due to the accident.
The next is understanding if the cause of the accident was due to their negligence, or due to their medical procedures that they have prescribed to you. Such instances of this would be slipping on a spill on their premises that they did not label, or falling due to a medical prescription prescribed by a doctor of Kaiser Permanente. Both would hold substantial weight if tied to Kaiser Permanente.
Build your Case
After you have identified that kaiser Permanente are responsible for your injuries during the slip and fall incident, make sure to keep all relevant information throughout the healing process and legal proceedings. This will be important when bringing evidence to court, as well as how much you will claim on your lawsuit.
Relevant information can include, but is not limited to:
- Medical bills and diagnoses
- Documentation of incident
- Lost wage notices/loss of job notices
- Doctor’s visits notes and testing documentation
These above situations, if tied to the slip and fall incident, help to identify what needs to be covered, as well as what should be claimed in your lawsuit or legal case. Depending on the definitions of the case, such as if it was based on negligence or medical malpractice, you may be entitled to short-term coverage, as well as coverage for long-term problems and issues down the road. These can be anything from broken and fractured bones, to permanent motor function loss in the body. If an issue has had a financial impact on you, it may be entitled to compensation.
Hire a legal representative
Once you feel like you have a solid base in your case, it is time to hire a proper legal representative. Finding a legal representative to speak in your place has many advantages, but they will mainly be able to help guide you along the process. Bringing a claim against a large corporation such as Kaiser Permanente can come with many walls and problems that you may run into. Having a legal representative that understands these situations and is able to clearly define the problems that need to be fixed ensures that you have a solid case with no chance of mishaps occurring.
They will also help in organizing and cementing your information and records for the case. Your legal representative will be able to help tell you what is necessary to keep, and what to get rid of. They can identify if a certain loss will be claimable, or if it will be discarded during the proceedings. This way, you are only focused on the relevant information, and not any fluff that might tag along.
Do not Speak for Yourself
The last part of your case when bringing it up to Kaiser Permanente is to not speak for yourself at legal hearings or discussions. This includes any meetings between the parties involved (yourself and Kaiser Permanente), and any court hearings that you both may need to attend.
This may seem counterproductive, but it is extremely important, just as it was to not speak to a Kaiser Permanente representative during the time of the accident. This is because your words may be used against you at any point, and at any time. For instance, if you were to state after the accident, “You feel fine, and nothing really hurts,” that may be used to prove that your injuries are nothing more than superficial wounds, even if they have escalated to aggressive injuries. Not only that, but also stating that you may be willing to settle can lead to your case being damaged and possibly overturned.
Instead of speaking for yourself, always speak through your legal representative. They understand what is best, and are able to help navigate any discussions or proceedings that may occur. They will help to safeguard you against possible malicious probes by Kaiser Permanente, and ensure that you get compensated for your lost wages or payments, as well as be compensated for injuries that were sustained under the responsibility of Kaiser Permanente.
by Paul MankinWhat are five of the most important patient handling practices to prevent San Diego slip and fall injuries?
Preventing hospital patient slips and falls should be of utmost importance if you work at a medical facility. This is due to the nature of medical facilities and hospitals, as patients should be safer at these places than other areas.
As such, there are plenty of ways to help increase the safety points of a facility. Certain practices and routines can be implemented to help maintain a high level of safety and assistance to patients, no matter who comes in. Here are the top five patient handling practices that hospitals should do to help prevent the risk of a slip and fall injury.
Hourly Rounds
When it comes to an important type of patient handling, none can be prioritized more than making hourly rounds to each of the patients that reside within the hospital. Although it may seem self-explanatory, checking in with a patient frequently can ensure that their needs are met in a quick and efficient manner.
Although making the rounds is generally within a hospital staff’s list of duties, there are some things that can be properly improved upon with making the rounds to ensure that the time is being efficiently and effectively used.
MAKE CHECKLISTS
Having a checklist will help twofold when making the rounds for patients. First, it will assist in remembering and understanding any general questions that may need to be asked towards a patient. General questions may seem like they can be skipped often. However, they can be vital to ensure that a patient is well taken care of and in stable condition.
The second reason is that it will keep staff in line with the facility standards. Ensuring that a staff member asks every priority question that is necessary, as well as checking any vitals that must be checked, can ensure that one patient is not given less care than another.
ROUTINE INSPECTIONS
An hourly round will also keep staff on top of any hazards or possible conditional issues within a patient’s room. Have staff not only assess the patient, but the state of the room as well. If there are too few items, or items in disarray, it may be necessary for the staff member to help collect and organize the items in a safer style.
Proper Assessments of Patients
Another priority measure in place to assist against slip and fall accidents is to do proper risk assessments of a patient that is being admitted. These assessments can be used to test a number of different symptoms, such as physiological risk, mental risks, and susceptibility to falls and injuries.
Utilizing these tests and assessments can help to identify at risk patients, as well as any possible dangers and situations that may need to be secured and taken care of before a patient has a chance to face those hazards. Situations such as making sure a patient understands to not move on their own, and keeping a patient closer to a restroom than others can help to mitigate such situations from occurring.
Create Fall Prevention Care Planning
Fall Prevention Care Planning is the process of taking a patient’s risk assessment and tests, and modifying and creating a specific care plan for them. This is used to personalize the care and treatment to a certain patient, as each patient’s needs differ as time passes. These care planning processes should involve things such as:
- Possible altered mental state
- Impaired gait or mobility
- Frequent restroom needs
- Perception and visual impairments
- High-Risk Medications
Taking these symptoms into account, the fall prevention care planning should take each possible risk, and create an outline of how to deal with situations that are either common or uncommon for the patient.
Involve Family in the Fall Prevention Care Planning
The next important patient handling practice is to help key in family members and consistent visitors of the patient on the care plan. This is a type of upgrade to the basics of the fall prevention care planning. As the patient tends to have family and friends visit, allowing them an understanding of where the patient stands in terms of a stable pattern will allow them to also keep an eye on the patient while they visit.
As the family visit, they can be aware of looking for certain signs, such as unstable steps, or lapses in judgement if a patient attempts to stand or move about. These signs, if told about beforehand, can give hospital staff an extra set of eyes to help look after the patient in question.
Integrate and Refine Patient handling Practices to Fit your Facility
The fifth important patient handling practice is to incorporate the above to fit your facility. This may seem counterintuitive, but making sure not to overwork the staff or change things too drastically can mean the drastic improvement of the system in place, or the imploding of the system available for patient care.
Ensure that the practices being implemented fit for your current situations. If your hospital does not have enough staff to do hourly rotations, look to shorten the rounds, yet still be efficient through management of separate floor visits. If the hospital primarily deals with high risk patients, it may be necessary to properly prepare for it by always keeping the risk assessments at a higher level than normal. If the facility usually deals with lower and minor injuries, the practices for rounds may be elongated as the patients do not constant attendance.
If you have been involved in a hospital slip and fall accident, contact us at 1-800-219-3577 for a free no obligation case evaluation from experienced San Diego slip and fall lawyers.
by Paul MankinWho is Garnishing My Wages and How Do I Stop Them?
Who is Garnishing My Wages and How Do I Stop Them?
If you have to ask who is garnishing your wages, you probably did not receive proper service of the original lawsuit’s complaint and judgment against you or the motion and order to garnish your wages after the judgment was entered. This means that money is coming out of your paycheck every pay period and you don’t know who is taking it! However, it should be fairly easy to determine who is garnishing your wages, it is stopping them that may not be so easy.
Who is Garnishing My Wages?
A wage garnishment can only occur after a lawsuit is filed, a judgment is obtained, and proper service of the garnishment order is provided to your employer. The garnishment order tells your employer how much you owe, to whom you owe it, how much they should withhold from your paychecks each pay period, and where to send the withholding. So, the place to start in order to determine who is garnishing your wages is your employer. They will have a copy of the garnishment order which will tell you who is garnishing your wages and will give you the case or cause number so that you can provide it to the court in order to gather the information you will need to stop the garnishment.
How Do I Stop a Wage Garnishment?
Once you have determined who is garnishing your wages and you have a case or cause number, you need to call the court in your county and ask for a docket sheet so that you can figure out what happened in the case. After that, you will likely need to hire a consumer attorney to help you stop the garnishment, as the process will depend on how and when it was ordered, who is garnishing your wages, and what your current financial situation looks like. There are three basic ways you can stop a wage garnishment:
- Negotiating with the creditor or debt collector to repay the debt on your own
- Setting the garnishment aside or vacating it by court order
- Filing for bankruptcy protection
Negotiation with the creditor or debt collector might be difficult as they are unlikely to stop garnishing your wages based on your promise to pay a weekly or monthly amount towards the debt on your own. The wage garnishment ensures that they are paid a set amount on a regular basis, so you don’t really have much of a bargaining chip at this point.
If you can show that you never received proper notice of the original lawsuit that lead to the garnishment, you might be able to get the garnishment order set aside or vacated and get a hearing to determine if you in fact owe the debt and if so, how much you can afford to pay towards it, either on your own, or via a voluntary wage assignment, which could reduce the amount you pay each pay period.
If you owe the debt and cannot repay it, you may want to consider filing for bankruptcy protection. A chapter 7 bankruptcy would stop the garnishment and prohibit the creditor or debt collector from ever attempting to collect on the debt again.
If someone is garnishing your wages and you cannot afford to pay them, please contact our office at 1-800-219-3577, for a free, no obligation consultation.
by Paul MankinWho is calling me from 1-855-207-1892?
Are you receiving harassing phone calls from 1-855-207-1892? This phone number belongs to Ability Recovery Services LLC, a collection agency located in DuPont, Pennsylvania. The collection agency collects for telecommunication companies, healthcare providers, educational institutions, and utility companies.
Contact Information
284 Main St
DuPont, PA 18641-1960
Phone: 1-855-207-1892
http://www.abilityrecoveryservices.com/
According to the debt collection agencies website, it collects in a “professional manner, with integrity, and responsibility”. A look at some of the online complaints filed against agency would seem to tell a different story. The BBB reports 252 complaints against Ability Recovery Services LLC in the last three years and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) lists 377 since 2015. A majority of these complaints allege that the collection agencies representatives are rude, use profane and abusive language, and frequently hang up on consumers. The agency is also accused of reporting false credit information to the credit reporting bureaus. Almost all of which are FDCPA violations.
If you are getting harassing phone calls from 1-855-207-1892 and the representatives use profane, obscene, or abusive language, or harass or abuse you in any other way, they may be in violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. The FDCPA is a federal law that prohibits debt collectors from using unfair, deceptive, or abusive practices in order to collect on a debt.
If you are being harassed or abused by Ability Recovery Services, LLC, it is time they are held accountable for their actions. Please call our office at 1-800-219-3577, for a free, no obligation case review. We will also explain how to stop harassing phone calls.
by Paul MankinWhat is an Adverse Action by a Creditor?
An “adverse action” occurs when a creditor makes a decision adverse to the interests of an applicant or borrower. The manners in which adverse actions may be and must be handled are regulated by the two main Federal consumer credit protection laws: the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) and the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).
Under Regulation B of the ECOA, an adverse action most commonly occurs when a creditor refuses to approve an application for credit in substantially the same amount or with substantially the same terms as requested by the applicant. An adverse action under the ECOA also includes the termination of an existing credit account, a change in terms of a credit account that are not also made to the others in a class of account holders, and the refusal to grant a request for increased credit on an existing account.
The ECOA also provides guidelines for what specifically does NOT count as an adverse action by a creditor or other qualifying credit decision maker under the ECOA. In general, an adverse action does not occur in situations where the applicant or borrower is obviously or demonstrably aware of the action, such as when an applicant expressly accepts a counteroffer in response to an application for credit or when a change to account terms is made with the account holder’s express agreement. A non-adverse action might also occur at point-of-sale transactions where an account transaction is denied in real time.
Notably, the ECOA does not consider an adverse action to have occurred where an action or forbearance on an account is taken in connection with inactivity, default, or delinquency as to that account. It is not considered an adverse action when a refusal to extend credit is based on a law prohibiting the creditor from making the requested extension or where the creditor does not offer the type of credit or credit plan requested.
Under Section 701(d)(6) of the FCRA, “adverse action” is defined more broadly than by the ECOA. An adverse action under the FCRA generally includes a denial or revocation of credit, a change to the terms of an existing credit account (formal or otherwise), or a denial of credit under substantially the same terms or in substantially the same amount as requested.
The FCRA also specifically broadens the scope of “adverse actions” from that defined under the ECOA by including the denial, cancellation, increase in any charge, reduction of coverage, adverse change in terms, or other adverse action in connection with the underwriting of insurance, existing or prospective.
The FCRA further considers an adverse action to encompass a denial of employment or other decision adverse to the interests of a current or prospective employee, a denial, cancellation, or adverse change in terms of a government license or benefit, and an action adverse to an application or transaction initiated by a consumer or related to the review of a consumer’s account.
While the ECOA and FCRA define “adverse action” under substantially similar terms, it is notable that while the ECOA terms apply to both individual consumers and businesses, the terms under the FCRA only apply to actions taken against individual consumers.
by Paul MankinWhat Happens When You Don’t Pay a Bill?
Juggling the bills can cause a lot of anxiety when there is not enough money to pay them all every month. This can be especially true if you are not sure what will happen when you don’t pay a bill. Late or unpaid bills can result in different actions being taken by the company who is owed money and it may depend on what type of company that is.
What Happens When You Don’t Pay a Bill for Monthly Services?
When you do not pay a bill for monthly services such as water, gas, electric, internet, or telephone services, the company will eventually shut off the service. If it does this, it may also add additional fees, such as reconnection fees, that you will have to pay in order to have the service turned back on. Most service companies will not shut off your service for one late bill, and will give you a date, shortly before or after the next month’s bill is due, by which you must pay in order to keep your service on. Sometimes utility companies will work with you to help you catch up your bill without having your service disconnected, so if you have a bill you cannot pay on time, it is best to call the company and ask if there are any options for extending the due date or the disconnect date.
What Happens When You Don’t Pay a Bill for a Loan or Mortgage?
Eventually a loan or mortgage company will sue you in order to collect on a past due account or foreclose on any property that is secured by the loan or mortgage. This can take several months and the lender may be willing to modify or restructure the loan instead of filing a lawsuit as long as you contact them as soon as you become unable to make timely payments. Once a lawsuit has been filed, it may be more difficult to get the bank or loan company to work with you, so it is best if you contact them as soon as the account becomes delinquent.
What Happens When You Don’t Pay a Bill to a Credit Card Company?
Most credit card companies will begin calling you to attempt to collect on a past due payment a few days after they are due and unpaid. Eventually they may sue you and attempt to garnish your wages. Credit card companies are generally willing to negotiate payment of your debt by lowering your interest rate for a short period of time, not charging late fees for a few months, or settling the entire amount of the debt for less than you owe. If you are being harassed by a credit card company, try negotiating with them first but if that does not work you should consider hiring a consumer protection lawyer to help you. An experienced consumer protection lawyer may be able to negotiate a repayment plan or settlement of the account and can advise you of any violations of consumer protection laws that the credit card company may have committed.
What Happens When You Don’t Pay a Bill to a Doctor or Hospital?
The majority of healthcare providers who are owed money by consumers begin their collection process by sending bills marked “past due” or showing 30, 60, or 90 day past due columns. Many of them will ultimately turn your account over to a collection agency who may file a lawsuit if the amount owed is enough to make a lawsuit financially feasible. If they file a law suit and obtain a judgment against you, they will likely take the steps necessary to begin garnishing your wages if you do not make other arrangements to pay the judgment. If the amount past due is not enough to warrant the time and expense of a lawsuit, the collection agency will simply call and write letters attempting to collect on the debt. This can be become quite annoying and the company may violate consumer protection laws in their attempt to collect the debt. If you feel you are being harassed by a collection agency, you should contact a consumer protection lawyer to help you determine if you have a claim against them and to make them stop their harassment.
Consumer Protection Laws
Anytime a bill goes unpaid, the consumer becomes subject to collection efforts of the creditor or a debt collector. These efforts almost always entail phone calls that can become abusive. The federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) was enacted to help protect consumers from unfair, deceptive, and abusive practices of debt collectors when attempting to collect a debt. The Act is federal, so it applies to consumers in every state; however it only applies to debt collectors (collection agencies) and does not generally apply to original creditors who attempt to collect on their own past due accounts. Many states have consumer protection laws that do apply to creditors and these laws oftentimes mirror the FDCPA in the practices that are prohibited. Under the FDCPA, a debt collector may not:
- Call a consumer before 8:00 a.m. or after 9:00 p.m.
- Allow a consumers phone to ring continuously in order to annoy them
- Use profane or obscene language
- Threaten to have a consumer put in jail for not paying a bill
- Make false representations regarding the amount owed or the legal status of the debt
- Threaten to take any action it cannot legally take
This is just a partial list of what the Act prohibits debt collectors from doing and any collection tactic that is deceptive, abusive, or unfair may give a consumer a claim under the Act. Not only can a claim stop the debt collector from contacting the consumer, but it may also result in the debt collector having to pay the consumer for its violations.
If you are being harassed by a debt collector please contact our office for a free, no obligation consultation at 1-800-219-3577.
by Paul MankinIs Transworld Systems, Inc. Calling or Harassing You
Transworld Systems Inc.
Transworld Systems Inc. (Transworld) is a third-party debt collector that provides services to medical companies, dental companies, education facilities, Fortune 500 companies, and small businesses. Transworld was founded in 1970 and is headquartered in Santa Rosa, California. According to its website, Transworld collected approximately $865 million in 2016.
Within the last three (3) years, consumers reported 283 complaints to the Better Business Bureau. In September 2017, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), a Government agency tasked with protecting consumers from unfair, deceptive or abusive debt collection practices, took action against Transworld for engaging in unlawful debt collection practices. The CFPB found that Transworld filed collection lawsuits in situations where the debt could not be proven or was time-barred pursuant to the statute of limitations.
When requested, a debt collector must provide proof of a debt. The Federal Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) allows consumers to request a creditor or debt collector to send proof of the debt. A consumer has thirty (30) days to dispute a debt and to request proof of the debt after being provided notice of the debt by the creditor or debt collector.
The FDCPA also prevents creditors and debt collectors from filing lawsuits against old debt. Debt collectors only have a certain number of years to file a lawsuit to collect on a debt. This is referred to as the statute of limitations. In California, there is a four (4) year statue of limitation for filing a lawsuit to collect a debt. Debts that are beyond the statute of limitations are considered “time-barred.”
Due to these violations of the FDCPA, Transworld was required to stop filing lawsuits that were time-barred, to stop attempting to collect debt without proper documentation, and to pay a $2.5 million civil penalty.
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 Transworld accountable. Please contact our office for a free, no obligation consultation at 1-800-219-3577.
by Paul MankinIs Managed Recovery Systems, Inc., calling and harassing you?
Managed Recovery Systems, Inc. is a debt collection agency located in Greenville, South Carolina. It has been in business since 1996 and collects for all types of businesses and entities across the country.
Contact Information:
1435B Augusta St
Greenville, SC 29605
Phone: (864) 271-2402
http://www.managedrecoverysystems.net
The Better Business Bureau (BBB) and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) each report only one complaint filed by consumers against Managed Recovery Systems, Inc. in the last three years. Only one of the complaints is available to the public and it alleges that the debt collection agency refused to provide debt verification information to the consumer and threatened to take legal action on the debt.
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) is the main law that governs debt collectors behavior when attempting to collect on a debt. The FDCPA is a federal law that prohibits debt collectors from using unfair, abusive, or deceptive practices in order to collect on a debt. The Act specifically prohibits practices such as:
- Making telephone calls without properly identifying themselves
- Attempting to collect fees and charges not included in the original contract
- Falsely implying that a consumer will be arrested if they do not pay
- Calling consumers before 8:00 a.m. or after 9:00 p.m.
- Threatening to commit acts of violence against a consumer
- Falsely indicating that they are an attorney, law enforcement officer, or affiliated with a government agency
- Charging fees or interest not allowed for in the original contract
- Refusing to provide a consumer with verification of a debt it is attempting to collect
- Threatening to take action it has no legal right to take or does not intend to take
- Using abusive, profane, or obscene language when attempting to collect on a debt
- Allowing a consumer’s telephone to ring continuously in order to annoy them
Any harassing, deceptive, or abusive tactic used by a debt collection agency may also be in violation of the FDCPA or other state and/or federal consumer protection laws and if those practices are being used by a debt collector who is attempting to collect a debt from you, they may owe you money.
If Managed Recovery Systems, Inc. is using any unfair, deceptive, or abusive practices in order to collect a debt from you, it is time to hold them accountable for their actions. Please contact our office for a free, no obligation consultation at 1-800-219-3577.
by Paul MankinIs Firstsource Advantage, LLC calling and harassing you?
Firstsource Advantages, LLC is a debt collection agency located in Amherst, New York. It has been in business since 1985 and also uses the names Firstsource Advantage LLC and Firstsource Business Process Services, LLC. The agency provides debt collection services to a variety of companies including the telecommunications industry, healthcare providers, banks, and credit card companies.
Contact Information:
205 Bryant Woods S
Amherst, NY 14228-3609
Phone: (716) 564-4400
The Better Business Bureau (BBB) and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) report over 80 complaints filed by consumers against Firstsource Advantages, LLC in the last three years. Complaints allege that the collection agency:
- Contacted consumers at their place of employment when they knew that type of call was not allowed by the employer
- Refuses to send debt validation information to consumers
- Continues contacting consumers after being asked to stop
- Allows consumers phones to ring continuously in an attempt to annoy them into paying the debt
- Continues attempting to collect on a debt they know is paid
- Contacted a third party about a consumers debt and shared personal information about the consumer
- Continues calling consumer phone numbers after being told they have the wrong person and wrong number
- Attempted to charge fees not authorized in the original contract
These are all violations of the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). Other practices specifically prohibited by the Act include:
- Calling a consumer before 8:00 a.m. or after 9:00 p.m.
- Falsely implying that a consumer can be arrested for not paying a bill
- Advertising a debt for sale in order to coerce payment from the debtor
- Using profane, obscene, or abusive language
A large number of the complaints allege that Firstsource Advantages, LLC continued calling their phone number after being told that they had the wrong number, the wrong person, or the debt has already been paid. If a debt collector will not stop calling you, you can write them a letter telling them to stop contacting you and mail a copy of the letter to the Federal Trade Commission at 6th and Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. 20850. Under the FDCPA, the debt collector may contact you only one more time after receiving your letter in order to let you know that they received it and will stop contacting you, as well as to advise you of any other action they intend to take, such as filing a lawsuit against you.
If Firstsource Advantages, LLC, Firstsource Advantage LLC or Firstsource Business Process Services, LLC is using any unfair, deceptive, or abusive practices in order to collect a debt from you, it is time to hold them accountable for their actions. Please contact our office for a free, no obligation consultation at 1-800-219-3577.
by Paul MankinIs Enhanced Recovery Company Calling or Harassing You?
Enhanced Recovery Company, LLC
Enhanced Recovery Company, LLC (ERC) is a third-party debt collector for clients in telecommunications, utilities, banks, and student loan industries. ERC was founded in 1999 and was previously known as Enhanced Recovery Corp. ERC is headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida.
Since 2013, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), a Government agency responsible for protecting consumers from unfair, deceptive, and abusive debt collection practices, has received 6,229 complaints against ERC.
Consumers allege that ERC has engaged in the following illegal debt collection practices:
- Attempting to collect a debt that is not owed by the consumer;
- Attempting to collect a debt that has been paid;
- Attempting to collect more than what is owed; and
- Refusing to validate or provide proof of a debt.
After receiving a collection letter from ERC, one consumer responded by certified mail requesting validation of the debt. ERC refused to provide proof of the debt, yet continued to contact the consumer by telephone.
The Federal Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) allows consumers to request a creditor or debt collector to send proof of the debt. Within five (5) days after its initial communication, the creditor or debt collector must send a notice, referred to as the G-Notice. A consumer then has thirty (30) days to dispute a debt and to request proof of the debt.
The consumer filed a complaint with the CFPB and the matter was satisfactorily resolved in favor of the consumer.
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 ERC accountable. Please contact our office for a free, no obligation consultation at 1-800-219-3577.