Harassment
Complaint
Debra M. Persiano
Country: United States
I got a call today at home from a man stating he was a process server for Collin County DA's Office and he is with the Sheriff's office and needed to come serve a warrant on me. I was shocked and asked why? He stated do you live ....are you still at this address are you now at this address and I stated who are you? He again, stated he was from the county going to serve court papers on me today. He gave me a toll free number for what he stated was the county's office which is 1 866.872.6116 gave me a case no. which he called a Cause No. 008307-TX. I called the number was transferred to a Mr. Fisher's office who stated that law suite in the amount of $6,214.24 was filed in Collin Co., Tx and that warrant was out for me. He then after back and forth said let me get more information from my secretary and state this was for an outstanding debt in from Capital One a credit card that I obtained several years back and had disputes over interest charges etc. He stated that if I did not want to go to court or jail that I could pay $1,951.00 in full by end of business today and this matter could be cleared up. I explained that I recently lost my job etc. Anyway, he stated that I needed to call him back by EOB today or they will serve the papers. Ok, so that was a heads up for me. I called the DA's office nothing is filed on me as of today, after searching PMG it is clear that they do not practice best practices for collections and have been in trouble for this before back in 2004. I need someone to give me advise. I want to pay off my debt, I don't want this type of collections to continue this upset me, made my blood pressure raise, this type of collections are not the right thing to do. Had they called and ask to make arrangements or give me an opportunity to clear the matter, rather then threaten me by taken legal action, or harassment stating they are sending a sheriff over today. This is wrong, bad business, and should not continue this company is bad news.
Comments
Prime example from last month: “AT&T mobile misled millions of Consumers. . “
http://www.ftc.gov/enforcement/cases-proceedi ... le-data-service
Lets talk about some large round breasts!!!
(Sounds like a small operation compared to the rackets run in and around Orange County California! Maybe the feds will start small and work their way up. I'm most impressed with the fact that they actually arrested those making the calls! Hopefully a precursor of what's to come for our California con artists)
November 18, 2014
The government is putting debt collectors on notice.
Federal agents in Georgia arrested John Todd Williams, 48, founder of debt collection agency Williams, Scott & Associates along with six other employees on Tuesday morning for allegedly running a $4.1 million debt collection scam that targeted more than 6,000 people across the United States.
The arrests stem from an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Attorney's Office, the Federal Trade Commission and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. It appears to be the first time federal authorities have taken coordinated action against debt collectors, and could be the beginning of a broader crackdown.
"We are far from finished looking at the seedy side of debt collection," said Preet Bharara, the U.S. Attorney in Manhattan. "It affects too many people."
Prosecutors say employees of the company would routinely bully, threaten and trick thousands of victims by falsely calling themselves a "detective" or an "investigator" for local law enforcement agencies. Typically, they would call borrowers and say they had committed a crime such as "check fraud" and that if they failed to make immediate payment, a warrant would be issued for their arrest.
The debt collectors would read from scripts to threaten people with lines such as: "Who are we? We are a government task force set up to investigate and collect info on individuals involved in Depository Account Fraud and theft by deception."
From 2009 until April of this year, the debt collectors claimed to be working with the U.S. Justice Department or the Marshals Service and used legal terms that sounded official but were actually meaningless to try and coerce consumers, according to the complaint.
"This scheme took advantage of our poorest and most vulnerable citizens from all fifty states," said George Venizelos, the FBI assistant director in New York. "The defendants were nothing more than bullies with bogus badges."
Debt collectors have been using increasingly aggressive tactics in the years since the 2008 financial crisis.
Under federal law, debt collectors are barred from harassing consumers by repeatedly calling them or using threats to pressure them to pay.
In 2012, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was given authority to oversee and regulate the largest U.S. debt collection agencies.
The consumer agency's auditors can march into the offices of large debt collectors to ensure they're giving consumers a fair shake. They can evaluate debt collectors to make sure they are clearly and accurately identifying themselves, truthfully disclosing the amount of debt owed, and not attempting to collect debt that doesn't exist or has been paid off.
It's a big job.
An estimated 1 in 3 adults with a credit history -- or 77 million people -- are so far behind on some of their debt payments that their account has been put "in collections," according to a recent study by the Urban Institute.
The debt in collections ranged from as little as $25 to a whopping $125,000. But the average amount owed was $5,200.
https://complaintwire.org/complaint/uF7916VxXws/beringer-taylor-associates
951-444-7799
One of these is his direct line, the other is the general office line. He uses the alias "Greg Hines" now.