Page 23 – The Law Office of Paul Mankin

Have you ever received multiple phone calls from the same phone number, but did not answer your phone, and therefore, don’t know who is calling you? We have found that many consumers experience numerous harassing phone calls each day. As a consequence, consumers screen their calls and do not answer the phone when a phone number is not recognized. Call screening seems to most commonly occur when consumers are receiving harassing phone calls from a debt collection who is most likely committing multiple FDCPA violations. We have started a list of common debt collector phone numbers so that you can identify who is calling you based on common debt collector phone numbers.

Who is calling me from 1-866-683-5215 (A-Collections Agency, LLC)?

Who is calling me from 1-888-418-8001 (ABC Collectors, Inc.)?

Who is calling me from 1-800-356-3713 (A.C.A. Recovery, Inc.)?

Who is calling me from 1-855-207-1892 (Ability Recovery Services, LLC)?

Who is calling me from 1-800-444-1944 (BCA Financial Services)?

Who is calling me from 312-380-4059 (Harris & Harris, LTD.)?

Who is calling me from 1-866-355-6815 (Ace Cash Express)?

Who is calling me from 800-279-9048 (IC System, Inc.)?

UncategorizedNovember 7, 20230 comments

by Paul Mankin

Is Hatfield Portfolio Group Harassing You?

Hatfield Portfolio Group is a debt collection agency located in Amherst, New York. The company has been doing business since 2010 and also operates under the names Harbinger Processing Group LLC, Frontline Recovery LLC, and HPG.

Contact Information:

4330 Maple Rd Ste 100

Amherst, NY 14226-1064

http://hatfieldportfolio.com

(716) 261-2789

Hatfield Portfolio Group has two complaints that were filed against it with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) to which it never responded, giving it a rating of D- with the BBB. One of the complaints alleges that the company contacted them and two other family members about another family member’s debt. The other complaint is for harassing phone calls at work and the debt collector’s refusal to provide a payment history. The lack of BBB complaints does not mean that Hatfield Portfolio Group is a polite and law abiding collector, as it has 53 complaints against it with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), a federal agency created to protect consumers from unfair and abusive practices by banks, debt collectors, and other financial institutions. CFPB complaints allege that Hatfield Portfolio Group has violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) in numerous ways, including:

Not providing proper debt verification information
Calling before 8:00 a.m. or after 9:00 p.m.
Threatening to sue on time barred debt
Making repeated calls to the same telephone number
Failing to advise consumers of their mini Miranda rights
Contacting family members and employers
Using obscene or abusive language
Threatening to have consumers arrested if they do not pay
Calling after being asked in writing to stop

The collection agency has been sued in California, Ohio, Indiana, and New York for using some of these very same collection tactics. In 2017, a California resident filed a lawsuit claiming Hatfield Portfolio Group made repeated calls to her cell phone and threatened to have her arrested if she did not begin making payments on the debt. The agency failed to respond to the complaint and a default judgment was issued against it. In 2015, an Indiana resident filed suit against Hatfield Portfolio Group for failing to provide proper notice of the debt within five days of its initial contact and for threatening to call his employer or references if he did not return a call. The collection agency failed to respond to this suit as well, and a default judgment was entered against it. A look at the other lawsuits against Hatfield Portfolio Group seems to indicate that it is the company’s general policy not to respond to lawsuits.

Has Hatfield Portfolio Group called your friends, family members, or employer, made repeated calls to your number, failed to advise you they were attempting to collect on a debt, or harassed or abused you in any way? If so, please call us today at 1-800-219-3577 for your free, no obligation consultation.

UncategorizedNovember 7, 20230 comments

by Paul Mankin

Is the debt collection agency Alternatives Collections, LLC harassing you?

When it comes to debt collection agencies and services, many think of thugs walking around, beating up anyone that owes them money. However, those are the days of old. In the modern era, debt collectors hide behind phones, letters, and emails, in an attempt to confuse and distort the information given to you.

Companies such as Alternatives Collections LLC may attempt collection practices that may seem shady. Are they legal practices, or is this debt collection agency going too far? Here are the things you need to know if you have been contacted by Alternatives Collections LLC, and the steps you need to take to protect yourself.

What is Alternatives Collections LLC?

Currently, there are no associated businesses that are directly under that name. With many debt collection agencies and businesses, the names all tend to be similar in nature, which allows businesses to sometimes get away with harassment and aggressive tactics.

There are other companies that do go by a similar name, however. A company based out of Buffalo, New York goes by a similar name which is Alternative Collections LLC. They also do business as Alternative Collection Solutions, ACS Asset Compliant Solutions, and ACS.

Is Alternatives Collections LLC a legit Debt Collection Agency?

As far as stated, the company based out of Buffalo, New York is a legitimate business. They have been in operation since 2006 and had their Better Business Bureau file opened in 2008. They have been accredited by the BBB since 2008, and currently hold an A+ rating with the BBB.

Alternatives Collections LLC Contact Information:

Address: 65 Lawrence Bell Dr Ste 101 Buffalo, New York 14221-7182

Phone Number: 1-716-995-5714

Other Phone: 1-716-633-3500

Other Phone: 1-888-995-4227

Alternative Names: Alternative Collection Solutions, DBA – ACS Asset Compliant Solutions, ACS

Fax Number: 1-716-633-3501

Website: www.acs-cam.com

Does Alternatives Collections LLC have Complaints against them?

Alternative Collections LLC currently has no listed complaints against them on the BBB website.

They do, however, have 8 listed complaints against them through the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Consumer Complaint Database.

Of note, there are no complaints against an Alternatives Collections LLC on either the BBB or the CFPB’s CCD.

What kind of Complaints have been made?

The spectrum of the complaints is quite large. The most recent complaint was from 2018, where it stated that Alternative Collections, LLC botched their management of a loan or lease. Another complaint states that they had been contacted by Alternative Collections, LLC about a debt that they never even had. Even further back, the complaints state that they have been harassed by multiple phone calls from debt collectors, as well as having them attempt to collect the wrong amount against the proper debt.

There is something else of note. These complaints did not originate from the same state or area. These came from many areas around the US. The states listed as consumer states on the CFPB’s CCD files show that the complaints came from California, North Carolina, Tennessee, Colorado, and Florida, just to name a few.

Are the Practices of Alternatives Collections LLC Legal?

Unfortunately, these types of practices are not legal, and should be considered harassment and excess use of abuse under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (RFDCPA). Debt collectors are held to a certain standard, as there used to be no laws about how a debt collector could collect on a debt. Since then, debt collection laws have been in place, such as the FDCPA, or the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. The FDCPA states that a debt collector is not allowed to do certain things that would be considered excessive or abusive in nature.

These Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) laws state that a debt collector may not call after certain times of the day, or before certain times of the day. They also state that debt collectors are not allowed to contact people other than the consumer in question about the debt. This means they are not allowed to contact close family members, friends, or coworkers.

In the case of Alternative Collections, LLC, they breached multiple legal laws and steps. In the case of repeated calls, this breaks the FDCPA laws, as well as attempting to continue contacting the consumer after the consumer asked them not to. These are both examples of debt collector harassment and abuse of power from them.

How can I protect myself and fight back against Alternatives Collections LLC?

Debt collection harassment can be quite intricate in nature. Because you may not know exactly what constitutes harassment, you may find it difficult to define and identify the harassment.

The first step to protecting yourself against such harassment is quite simple. If you have been contacted by Alternative Collections, LLC, or Alternatives Collections LLC and their subsequent names, make sure to ask for identification of the debt. This can be done multiple ways, such as a written letter, key information details, and an identification key for online searches. If they are not able to provide adequate identification of the debt, it is safe to state that the debt may be a scam.

Another step to take is to find and hire an experienced and knowledgeable debt collection harassment attorney or lawyer. We here at the Law Office of Paul Mankin, APC have a deep and experienced roster of attorneys that are willing to help and assist you throughout the process of stopping and prosecuting unlawful debt collection harassment. We can help you identify debt collection harassment, as well as assist you in stopping the harassment and reporting it to the proper authorities.

Not only can we help you to defend against debt collection harassment, we can also help to build a case, and assist you in understanding where the illegal collection patterns are for debt collectors. We are also able to help facilitate any communications or discussions between the parties, ensuring that nothing you say can be used against you.

The most important bit of information in your fight is to always remain vigilant. No matter who you have at your side, it can seem like a daunting battle against such a large company and agency. If you have ever been the subject of:

Multiple calls per week from a third-party collection agency
Multiple calls in the early morning or late night from debt collectors.
Violent and belligerent language and harassment from debt collectors.
Threats of arrests or poor credit due to outstanding debts.
Having your friends, family, and coworkers harassed from debt collectors.
Automated robocalls from third party collection agencies.

Then you may have a case available. So do not wait, make sure to give us a call, and get started fighting back against the debt collection harassment.

UncategorizedNovember 7, 20230 comments

by Paul Mankin

Is the debt collection agency Action Revenue Recovery, LLC harassing you?

Action Revenue Recovery, LLC is a medical collections agency founded in Louisiana on July 4, 1999 by owner and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Drew Kennedy. Action specializes in resolving outstanding insurance claims and collecting on unpaid medical bills. Their service reportedly employs computer-generated notices (in keeping with federal requirements) and is administered by collection account specialists. Action claims that their collectors are Fair Debt Collection Practices Act-certified and maintain positive public image for their clients, but their record of consumer complaints speaks somewhat to the contrary.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

Action Revenue Recovery, LLC

910 Bres Ave

Monroe, LA 71201-5955

(318) 387-9002 (phone)

(318) 387-0606 (fax)

http://www.actionrevenue.com

A Better Business Bureau (BBB) file was opened for Action Revenue Recovery, LLC on February 1, 2008 and contains 14 official public complaints. The collector is not BBB accredited but does maintain an ‘A’ rating. The collector also has 33 CFPB complaints. Based on the many complaints lodged against it on both government and privately run online business review forums, the medical collections company has seen its share of litigation. In one notable case, Action Revenue Recovery, LLC was sued in Missouri for collections actions taken in 2014, including using unfair and unconscionable means to collect a debt; failing to identify itself as a debt collector in all communications; threatening legal action it could not take; failing to send a debt validation letter. The allegations alleged, if true, are all violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and the California Fair Debt Collections Practices Act.

The collector’s Yelp listing does not have any consumer reviews but does list an alternative business address: 2225 Justice Street, Ste B, Monroe, LA 71201.

Consumer complaints regarding Action’s collection practices generally include: never attempting collection before filing lawsuit or affecting credit report; consumer’s have no awareness of any balance (common complaint) after insurance billed by doctor, no notice of collections account or opportunity to pay balance, credit score affected before knowledge of debt; acting in an unprofessional and uncooperative manner when debtors try to get information to pay their balances; threatening or suggesting a debtor’s credit would be damaged; and attempting to collect debt not actually owed.

These actions, each and all, amount to collector harassment under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, and you have the right to be free of this behavior. To learn more about how the federal government regulates debt collection and protects debtors and other individuals from collector harassment, see FTC Debt Collection pamphlet. More information regarding complaints regarding Louisiana-based collectors can be found at https://louisianalawhelp.org/issues/consumer-issues/debt-collection-garnishment-repossession. Complaints regarding a collector in any state may be filed with the Federal Trade Commission at www.ftc.gov or (877) FTC-HELP (877-382-4357), and complaints regarding any collector or other business can be made at BBB complaints.

If you believe you have a claim for collector harassment or are a victim of another violation of state or federal debtor’s rights, you should speak with a consumer rights attorney or debt collector harassment attorney immediately. Contact us today to discuss your matter and see how we can help at no cost to you.

UncategorizedNovember 7, 20230 comments

by Paul Mankin

Is Blackstone Financial Group, LLC

Blackstone Financial Group, LLC is a debt collection agency located in Ontario, California. The agency has been in business since 2009 and provides debt collection services to a wide range of creditors.

Contact Information

2910 S Archibald Ave # A

Ontario, CA 91761-7358

Phone: (909) 456-1240

No complaints against Blackstone Financial Group, LLC have been filed with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), an agency created to help ensure that debt collectors and other companies in the financial industry do not abuse consumers, or the Better Business Bureau (BBB).

This does not mean that the collection agency has never violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), a federal act that was passed to protect consumers from abusive and unfair debt collection practices, and if you feel that Blackstone Financial Group, LLC is using unfair or abusive practices to collect a debt from you, it may be time to contact an attorney. The FDCPA prohibits debt collectors from using any harassing, unfair, or abusive tactics when attempting to collect a debt. A company may violate the Act by:

Calling at unusual times (specifically before 8:00 a.m. or after 9:00 p.m.)
Using obscene or profane language
Failing to provide verification of a debt to a consumer
Threatening to take actions it does not intend to take
Falsely implying that communications are from an attorney
Impersonating a law enforcement official
Continuing collection attempts after being asked in writing to stop
Communicating with third parties about a debt
Depositing, or threatening to deposit, a post-dated check before the date on the check

This is not an all-inclusive list of the acts prohibited by the FDCPA, and if you feel as if you have been abused or harassed by Blackstone Financial Group. LLC, please contact our office for a free, no-obligation consultation at 1-800-219-3577.

UncategorizedNovember 7, 20230 comments

by Paul Mankin

Free Program: Creditor Call Stopper

Are you being harassed by bill collectors?

Some people receive constant calls from creditors at all hours of the day and night. We are sure that you find this annoying, especially if you are working from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic (and therefore within earshot of your home phone virtually 24/7).

For many people, however, this kind of harassment goes beyond merely annoying. In fact, bill collector harassment can get so bad that it prevents you from concentrating on your work, which in turn can prevent you from earning the money that would pay your bills and stop the phone from ringing. Other people face harassing calls for debts that are not even their own.

Would You Like the Calls to Stop?

If you ever wondered when it would be time to put a stop to it, that time is now — because I know how to make it happen. You didn’t ask these bill collectors to call you (who would do that?). You may have told them to stop calling you, and they probably ignored you time after time.

In addition to calling your home phone and your cell phone, bill collectors might be calling your work, your friends, your family, or your ex-roommate, thereby causing you significant stress and humiliation. You might even lose your job over these calls. It’s time to put a stop to this nonsense.

The Law Is on Your Side

If you are like most consumers, you have very little idea of the true extent of the rights that you possess against bill collectors. And believe me, they are extensive. I know, because I have been exercising them in favor of my clients for many years. In fact, you might end up in a position to actually demand that your creditors pay you money — in fact, that happens all the time.

A broad range of federal and state laws have been enacted to protect consumers like you from abusive bill collectors. These laws include:

The federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) restricts the behavior of third-party bill collectors. Although the FDCPA applies only to third-party debt collectors (a collection agency, for example, rather than the company that issued you your credit card), you can receive damages of up to $1,000 per violation.
The California Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act restricts the behavior of both third-party bill collectors and original creditors such as credit card issuers. It prohibits most (but not all) of the activities that are prohibited to third-party debt collectors under the FDCPA.
The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act prevents bill collectors and other creditors from unfairly placing negative information on your credit report. It might also be possible to file a defamation lawsuit over inaccurate and negative credit information.
New California legislation requires debt collectors to inform you if the statute of limitations has already expired on the debt they are trying to collect.
The federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) prohibits “robocalls” and establishes a Do Not Call registry. This law offers victims up to $1,500 in damages per violation.
The Pallone-Thune Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence (TRACED) Act provides for civil fines of up to $10,000 (which go to the government, not to the victim of harassment) for robocalls.

What Debt Collectors Cannot Do

These laws collectively prohibit bill collectors, and often original creditors as well, from the following actions:

Knowingly or negligently placing inaccurate information on your credit report;
Subjecting you to robocalls;
Pretending to work for a government agency, including the police, the Justice Department, the US Marshals, the prosecutor’s office, or a consumer reporting agency;
Threatening to have you arrested or prosecuted;
Threatening to take any action against you that they are not capable of taking or are not entitled to take;
Threatening to take any action against you, even actions they are entitled to take, that they do not actually intend to take;
Calling you early in the morning, late at night, or at inconvenient times;
Sending you a bogus court summons (be careful to check it out, though, because it might be real — but don’t verify it using the contact details provided in the document because they might be bogus);
Publishing your name as a debtor in an attempt to publicly shame you;
Discuss your debt with anyone other than you, your spouse, or your attorney (they can, however, contact third parties to try to locate you, although strict limitations apply even in this case);
Try to collect a debt you don’t owe (this is a very common practice, however);
Fail to send you written verification of the debt (unless the creditor is an original creditor rather than a third-party debt collection agency);
Threaten you with harm, especially physical harm;
Use profane language;
Call repeatedly;
Call you after you have requested them to stop contacting you (except to confirm that they will comply with your request and to notify you that they have filed a lawsuit against you); and
Call you at work, as long as you notify them in writing not to do so.

Any of these activities can be used as leverage to stop an aggressive creditor dead in his tracks.

A Loophole In the Statute of Limitations: Don’t Fall Into This Trap

The statute of limitations defines the length of time that a creditor has to sue you for an unpaid debt. In California, this time limit is four years for most types of debt (but 20 years for state tax debts). The statute of limitations clock typically starts running on the date you fell into default, depending on the type of debt and the terms of your indebtedness.

After the statute of limitations period expires, you still owe the debt, and your creditor may still call you, but your creditor cannot sue you for it, which renders the debt uncollectible unless you make an error.

You could legally revive it by acknowledging the debt (particularly in writing) or by paying a portion of it. If this happens, your creditor will regain the right to sue you. For this reason, do not cooperate with a debt collector, even to the point of acknowledging the debt, until you confirm whether the statute of limitations has run out.

Try Our Free Program to Stop the Creditors’ Calls and Restore Your Peace of Mind

If you give us permission to do so, we will be more than happy to stop bill collectors from calling you using every legal means at our disposal. We will take advantage of some of the specific laws mentioned above that allow us to demand that your creditors stop calling you. Your rights as a debtor are useless unless you use them. We know exactly what they are, and we will use them on your behalf.

Our Services are Free: No Hidden Fees and No Obligation

This is a unique program — we won’t charge you a dime for our assistance. Additionally, our services come with absolutely no obligation on your part, financial or otherwise. We promise you that you won’t be involved in a lawsuit or any other legal action, and it doesn’t matter how many times a week you are being called by debt collectors.

OK, so what’s the catch?

“This isn’t the way the real world works. Where is your incentive to help me? There’s GOT to be some hidden catch.” Actually, there isn’t. But there is an incentive for us to help you — our reputation. There’s nothing like proving it, and by proving what we can do for debtors, our reputation improves, one satisfied consumer at a time. And word of mouth advertising is the most effective kind of advertising there is.

Information We Need

For us to help you, we will need certain basic information such as:

the creditor or debt collector’s name and address;
The phone number or numbers that they called you from; and
Enough information about you to be able to tell them who to stop calling.

About the Law Office of Paul Mankin

The Law Office of Paul Mankin is a small law firm — small enough to offer you personal and individualized service, but not so small as to lack the resources to properly assist you (a problem frequently faced by sole practitioners). One of our major areas of practice is assisting clients who are being harassed by debt collectors.

Attorney Paul Mankin, firm founder, developed his passion to help abused debtors quite early in his career, when he saw with his own eyes just how vicious creditors are to debtors. In personal injury and bankruptcy cases, for example, he watched creditors ruthlessly pursue people who had been seriously injured in accidents and were unable to work to pay off their debts. He watched as these creditors broke the law in their debt collection efforts, and it made him angry.

At the Law Office of Paul Mankin, we help clients who are being bullied by unscrupulous debt collectors, and we help them fight back. We see it as our job to fight for people who can’t fight for themselves.

Seek Assistance Today

Contact us today by completing our online contact form (scroll down after clicking the link) and indicating your desire to participate in our program. If you do this, we will be in contact with you shortly. We look forward to hearing from you!

UncategorizedNovember 7, 20230 comments

by Paul Mankin

Is Central Credit Services, Inc. Calling You?

Central Credit Services, Inc. (CCS) is a third-party debt collector that specializes in the debt collection of auto, mortgage, credit card, and retail debt. CCS was founded in 1987 and is based in Jacksonville, Florida, with additional offices in St. Louis, Missouri, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. CCS is a subsidiary of Radius Global Solutions, LLC (Radius Global), which is a debt collection agency that was formed in 1988.

Many allegations of debt collection harassment have been made against CCS and its parent company, Radius Global. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is a Government agency that is tasked with protecting consumers from unfair, deceptive, or abusive practices and is authorized to take action against companies that violate consumers’ rights. The CFPB has received over 750 complaints against CCS and Radius Global.

Consumers allege that CCS and Radius Global have 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;

Harassing consumers by making repeated and frequent calls;
Improperly discussing the consumer’s debt with a third party; and
Refusing to validate or provide proof of a debt.

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 CCS and Radius Global accountable. Please contact our office for a free, no-obligation consultation at 1-800-219-3577.

UncategorizedNovember 7, 20230 comments

by Paul Mankin

What is a Soft Credit Inquiry

A “soft” credit inquiry (or a soft “pull”) is distinguishable from a “hard” credit inquiry in two key ways: it can be done without the consumer’s knowledge or consent, and it doesn’t affect a consumer’s credit score. When we hear someone caution against the harm of checking one’s credit score, they are, perhaps unknowingly, talking only about hard credit inquiries.

While credit scores are, in fact, impacted by hard credit checks, they are actually the less common of the two types. A hard inquiry typically only occurs when a consumer applies for credit or a loan, and the associated inquiry requires the consumer’s knowledge and consent. A soft inquiry, on the other hand, may be performed for any number of other reasons and, in many cases, can occur without the consumer ever knowing.

A common type of soft inquiry occurs when a credit card company sends a consumer a pre-approval letter. Since a hard credit pull will have to be performed if and when the targeted consumer submits a credit application in response to the pre-approval notice, the creditor first performs a soft pull so it doesn’t waste time and postage soliciting business from an unlendable consumer.

Soft credit inquiries are also commonly performed as part of a prospective employee’s background check. Since an employer’s credit inquiry is done for reasons other than assessing the risk of lending to a consumer, a hard inquiry is unnecessary and the employer’s pull will not reflect on the consumer’s credit report. It is worth noting, however, that an employer’s credit pull is one of the very few types of soft inquiries requiring express consent from the consumer.

Another type of soft credit inquiry occurs when a consumer checks their own credit. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, a consumer is entitled to receive an annual copy of their credit report at no cost and at no harm to their credit score. This annual report is identical to the report provided when a hard credit inquiry is made and gives the consumer the best available idea of what a prospective creditor or lender sees when reviewing a credit or loan application.

A more common type of soft inquiry occurs when a consumer checks their own credit report through a third-party service, such as Credit Karma. While the reported information is (or should be) accurate, the credit score provided to the consumer is likely to be at least a little different than the score provided in response to a hard credit inquiry. The disparity is due to the fact that the third-party service calculates and provides scores based on their own algorithm as opposed to using that of one of the two major score providers, FICO and VantageScore. While the third-party scoring algorithm is largely similar to that of FICO and/or VantageScore and will provide a comparable result for most intents and purposes, third-party algorithms tend to underestimate a consumer’s credit score and should not be relied on as a matter of fact.

UncategorizedNovember 7, 20230 comments

by Paul Mankin

Is the debt collection agency Americol harassing you?

There are many debt collection agencies that are currently in business. These companies prey on the fact that you may have a debt that needs to be paid off, as they tend to buy the debts from the original owners a much lower amount that what is owed.

Here is what you need to know about Americol, and what may happen if they contact you.

What is Americol?

Americol is listed as a debt collection agency that serves the Los Angeles and Silicon Valley area. They are stated to have one employee, and have been in business since 2009. They work as a debt collection buyer system, as well as a third-hand collection representative.

Is Americol a legit Debt Collection Agency?

According to the Better Business Bureau, they are said to reside in California. However, they do not have any primary information, and have a rating of NR through the BBB. They are also not accredited by the BBB.

This may all stem from the fact that the company is no longer in business. According to the BBB, all of the phone numbers that were previously listed on the BBB were disconnected. Not only that, when the BBB attempted to send mail to the company, the mail was returned as undeliverable.

Americol Contact Information:

Address: PO Box 1001, Canyon Country, CA 91386-1001

Does Americol have Complaints against them?

Americaol does not have any complaints listed against them on the BBB database. They also have no reviews listed through the BBB.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has no information on Americol within their Consumer Complaint Database. There is no mention of them even under their alternative name, Americol, Inc.

What does this mean for Americol?

As listed above, if you have been contacted by Americol at this point, then you are most likely being scammed. Since the company is listed as being out of business by the BBB, it is safe to assume that they should not be contacting anyone about a debt or debts they may have.

According to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), it is also vastly illegal for them to be harassing you and badgering you through phone calls or emails. If you have had several phone calls from a company known as Americol, then whoever is calling you is in violation of federal laws, and can be punished by the courts.

How can I protect myself and fight back against Americol?

So how can you protect yourself against such scammers? Quite easily. The first step is to quell their attempts at getting any information from you. They will most likely attempt a scare and fear tactic by saying that you “Are being pursued” or that you “Are behind and have people looking for you.” If you are told any of these, or other such lines, understand that the first thing you should do is ask for verification of the debt. Verification can come in many forms, such as a written letter, or an email with personal information on the debt. You can also tell them to stop harassing you, and to stop calling you, as that is well within your rights as well.

If they continue to harass you through excessive phone calls or robocalls, then you should hire an experienced and knowledgeable debt collector harassment attorney. We here at Law Office of Paul Mankin, APC understand that you may not know what debt collector harassment is, or what it looks like. As such, our experienced team can help you identify the harassment, stop the harassment, and then report the harassment to the proper authorities.

Not only can we help you to defend against harassment, we can also help to build a case, and assist you in understanding where the illegal collection patterns are for debt collectors. We are also able to help facilitate any communications or discussions between the parties, ensuring that nothing you say can be used against you.

Multiple calls per week from a third party collection agency
Multiple calls in the early morning or late night from debt collectors.
Violent and belligerent language and harassment from debt collectors.
Threats of arrests or poor credit due to outstanding debts.
Having your friends, family, and coworkers harassed from debt collectors.
Automated robocalls from third party collection agencies.

Then you may have a case available. So do not wait, make sure to give us a call, and get started fighting back against the debt collection harassment.

UncategorizedNovember 7, 20230 comments

by Paul Mankin

Is Central Financial Control Harassing You?

Central Financial Control provides debt collection services to the medical and healthcare industry. The company is based in Anaheim, California.

The Consumer Financial Protection Board (CFPB) is a government agency charged with protecting consumers from unfair, deceptive, or abusive debt collection practices. In 2015, the CFPB took an enforcement action against Central Financial Control because it engaged in certain unlawful debt collection practices. The CFPB found that the company mistreated consumers and prevented consumers from exercising critical debt collection rights. Specifically, the CFPB found that Central Financial Control failed to send debt validation notices to over 10,000 consumers, while still continuing to collect over $2 million in debt from these same consumers. The CFPB highlighted the importance of debt validation notices because these notices allow consumers to determine whether the debt is valid and whether the amount demanded is correct.

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) expressly allows consumers to request that a creditor or debt collector 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. Failure to respond to the request for proof of a debt is a direct violation of the law.

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 Central Financial Control accountable. Please contact our office for a free, no-obligation consultation at 1-800-219-3577.

UncategorizedNovember 7, 20230 comments

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