Complaints? Any Of these Agencies Harassed You?

Put An End To Those Harrassing Phone Calls

With some research, you will find scores of collection agency complaints (which may include: Asset Acceptance complaints, Portfolio Recovery Associates complaints, ACS complaints, Allied Interstate complaints, National Enterprise Systems complaints, and others …) by people like yourself in reference to harassment calls and for other alleged violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

Many consumers wonder how collection companies manage to track them down, and are seeking ways to stop collection agencies from calling them at work and home. The truth is they don't want you to know the extent that they will go to collect personal information about you, while attempting to collect a debt. Sometimes they reach too far. That is when you need to contact Luxenburg & Levin. Listed below are some of the methods that debt collectors will use to make your life difficult:

• Interrogation of acquaintances. Companies may contact identified acquaintances - be it family, friends, or other associations – to obtain personal information. There are provisions within the FDCPA that define the extent of the questioning that can take place.
• Utilizing the data mining industry. What is data mining? Companies that specialize in this business find, buy, and sell consumer data. The purpose of this information is to build lists for targeted marketing and credit reporting purposes. Companies like the ones listed above can purchase that information, also.
• Collection information stored in existing public records. In the United States, data privacy is largely unregulated. Even though there are laws in place providing privacy protections for health records (through the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), there are many other types of records - like driver's licenses and home ownership – that are viewable to the public. Unfortunately, there are bill collectors that are abusing public records in order to find debtors.
• Information collection through Internet searches. It is not difficult to find a many people just by inserting their name into a search engines. There are many "people finder" databases where you information is stored and easily accessed. Debt Collectors know that and use it to their full advantage.

And remember, as stated in the FDCPA, collection agencies are not permitted to:

1. Contact you at work if they are told that you are not allowed to take calls of that nature while you are working.

2. Continue collection of a debt if you have properly disputed all or part of the debt, until that verification is provided to you.

3. Further attempt to collect a debt if you have notified them in writing to cease all communication with you.

4. Threaten violence or use obscene or profane language when communicating with you.

5. Communicate with you without disclosing their identity and disclosing that they a debt collector.

6. Call you repeatedly or continuously throughout the day to annoy or harass you.

7. Use any false, deceptive or misleading representations to attempt to collect a debt.

8. Falsely threaten you with arrest or imprisonment or imply that you committed a crime by not paying your debt.

9. Debt collectors cannot misrepresent the amount or legal status of the debt.

10. Threaten to take any action against you which they cannot legally take (for example, threatening to garnish your wages or foreclose on your home when no judgment has been entered against you by a
court).

11. Falsely represent that you are being sued or are going to be sued if that is true or they don't intend to do it.

12. Communicate with anyone other than you regarding the debt, except for your spouse. Debt collectors cannot divulge to anyone else that you owe a debt, other than your spouse.

If you feel that any of these pertain to you: Asset Acceptance complaints, Portfolio Recovery Associates complaints, ACS complaints, CPS - Consumer Portfolio Services complaints, Allied Interstate complaints, National Enterprise Systems complaints, or others, have used your information in a harassing way; please contact Luxenburg & Levin immediately before this issue gets even worse.