harrassment
Complaint
dimmy
Country: United States
Live on charity, have no money, these people call my mother's phone # (I dont have one) daily, twice a day. They scare her. I want to write a cese and desist(?) letter to them but they wont give an address. I'd pay if I could, I owe the debt, but I have nothing, no bank account, no assets, no cash. Was in severe accident and disabled.
Comments
Their evasion of consumer attempts to exercise legal rights is an indicator of possible deception and fraud. So is abusive and harassing calls to relatives. Both are predatory behavior often associated with fraud.
Your mother should write a "cease and desist" letter, to cease calling her phone number and harassing her. Have her mail it certified, return receipt requested. If they keep harassing her, she can file complaints with her state Attorney General, and she can also sue.
Since FDCPA allows courts to award statutory and actual damages, and attorney fees, there are attorneys who take FDCPA violation cases on contingency. She can find an attorney at www.naca.net
This shows up on 800notes.
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-888-714-2338
Numerous consumer complaints report harassing and abusive calls, continuing to call after being informed they are calling the wrong number, and attempts to collect unowed "debt" from the wrong people.
Some reports they are collecting on legitimate but already paid debts.
Complaints include reports of using an Indian call center, which often have very poor records of FDCPA compliance, and are often associated with abusive or fraudulent collection complaints.
Complaints include reports of fraudulent charity telemarketing tied to the same number.
Reportedly they collect on very old debt, which is often associated with abusive and fraudulent illegal collection tactics.
Supposedly "BCR" stands for "Bureau of Collection Recovery", which is about as close to a deceptive collection name as you can get without getting sued for it, as it starts to deceptively imply connections with either a governmental agency or a credit bureau.
http://www.bureauofcollection.com/
"...
BCR has offices in Eden Prairie Minnesota, Willmar Minnesota, and New Delhi India.
Bureau of Collection Recovery Inc.
7575 Corporate Way,
Eden Prairie, Minnesota 55344
Toll Free Contact:
1-800-831-7311
..."
Forget calling them, as that has no value in documenting a "cease and desist" demand. Have your mother send her CRRR letter to the above address. They are in Minnesota, so should she or you have to sue, you will be able to locate their headquarters, and they will be under jurisdiction of your federal or state court system if sued for violations of FDCPA.
And if you get contacted, or receive a letter, be sure to send a dispute and validation request. This debt collector is "shady".
What type of debt was this originally, and from what creditor?
Any phone numbers for the debt collector, to confirm it is the abouve "BCR"?
Incredibly, 3 years ago I had the same trouble with sprint-the minute I dropped their service which I was going to pay, they sent my bill to this same collecter the next day. I paid them off imediately over the phone with my debit card-- yes, very stupid-- and the very next day someone was buying expensive phones, etc. on my account. My credit union investigated and I filed with the police so no harm done in the end. But you can imagine how upset it is to deal with them again. They scare me! At least I have no assets for them to get from me now.
I have requested a mailed bill from them, just to be sure it's them. I do owe the debt, just can't pay for a bit. I've even called sprint and at&t to ask them to get new collectors with better reputations, if there are any.
Funny, their phone numbers come up as local, towns within 30 miles, then I'm clicked over to somebody else after half a minute.
So my mom should send the letter, as it is her phone account?
Thanks again for so much important info and letting me know I'm dealing with bad people.
If they are contacting her, claiming that she somehow owes your account, they should have sent her a letter within 5 days notifying her of her right to dispute it. She should in that case dispute it and demand proof she owes it, and get an attorney and sue if they continue to deceptively and fraudulently claim she owes some account that is not hers.
If you are disputing and requesting that they send you validation (from the original creditor) do so IN WRITING MAILED CERTIFIED. If you send them a dispute or validation request, and you send it within 30 days of their first letter, they must cease collection until they send validation, or you can sue them. Debt collectors will generally just ignore any such requests you make by phone, and just continue to harass and intimidate you. That's why they often refuse to provide their address, since they can evade your FDCPA dispute letters, while denying they are doing so.
Debt collectors are basically a lying, thieving bunch, who spend all day acting threatening even as they deny doing so. If the opportunity comes to sue them, they don't deserve the benefit of the doubt.
The telecoms prefer to pay others to do their dirty work, as it keeps the mud off their own hands. They end up abusing some of their own good customers in the process, even when the problem is a billing error of their own creation.