ERRONEOUS BMG MUSIC BILL
Complaint
JERMY F
Country: United States
Yesterday I received a credit alert advising me that there was derogatory information reported on my credit report on 3/1/10 by a company known as National Recovery Agency (NRA). The debt was for $36. I called the agency and they advised me that this debt derived from an order that I placed with BMG music back in 2006. I advised them that this debit is erroneous and someone clearly used my name without my permission in order to obtain these goods. With the advent of online file sharing, I have not purchased a CD in over a decade.
I advised the agent that I was never informed of this outstanding debt from BMG music. It has been four years! I was never contacted by phone or mail. I never supplied my signature or my social security number. They stated that they were not legally obligated to prove that I authorized this transaction, so I just need to pay it immediately. This issue has caused my score to drop by as much as 60 points. Do I have any legal recourse in this matter?
I advised the agent that I was never informed of this outstanding debt from BMG music. It has been four years! I was never contacted by phone or mail. I never supplied my signature or my social security number. They stated that they were not legally obligated to prove that I authorized this transaction, so I just need to pay it immediately. This issue has caused my score to drop by as much as 60 points. Do I have any legal recourse in this matter?
Comments
http://www.creditboards.com/forums/lofiversion/index.php/t339188.html
http://creditboards.com/forums/index.php?show ... redit+solutions
That would imply that the creator of this "document" is fabricating documents made to appear "notarized".
That isn't "debt collection", it's extortion.
Check all 3 credit reports, to see which show their bogus "collection debt". Send NRA a dispute of this bogus "debt" (mailed certified), disputing it as not your debt, and demanding that they send proof. Include a copy of the page from your credit report to identify the alleged debt, but black out ("redact") all other items.
On verifying their receipt of your letter (via the Post Office website and the certified number), send disputes (mailed certified) to each credit reporting agency that shows the bogus "debt", again disputing it as not your debt. Again, send copies of the specific CRA's credit report page to identify the error. The CRAs have 30 days from receipt to "investigate" (45 days if you pulled your reports through the free www.annualcreditreport.com).
All the CRAs really do is electronically ask NRA to check what they are posting. Although NRA could remove their error with no liability at this point, it is likely that instead NRA will just routinely "verify" the bogus account they are posting. This is what is required before you can sue them under FCRA. "Verifying" to the CRA is also a violation of FDCPA if they have not sent you the proof of the debt you previously requested.
If, as is likely, they maliciously "verify" their "error", file complaints for FDCPA and FCRA violations with FTC, your state Attorney General, and the Pennsylvania Attorney General. Send copies of your dispute letters, and your certified delivery confirmations.
Start looking for an attorney to sue them. Their rate of federal lawsuits has been rising rapidly in the last year, so it appears that they have been doing a lot of collection of bogus debts accompanied by credit damage.
You might try www.naca.net
Been in the telecom industry, I can tell you spoofing is illegal, you can always use other resources to follow thru. You may want to contact The US attorney general, the FCC as well as the FTC. Also if this is interstate you can actually contact the FBI.
Based on the law, they cannot contact you at your place of business. They are only legally able to contact you at your home; you can also send a stop and desist letter via certified mail.
Record their conversation, when you speak to them if you do, many of them have no clue of the law and make drastic mistake threatening people. They can't make any statements in which they can destroy your credit, call your family, call your work and or tell everybody that you have debts and you do not pay, this is protected by the law. IN this case now you have the upper hand, as now they open the door for a lawsuit, almost any attorney will take this type of cases on contingency. Is an infringement of your rights and punish by law. This people use scare tactics to scare people and even collect many times the same debts that have been paid previously.
The reality nothing that they can do, if you do not or can't pay, they must take you to court and get a judgment against you, then they need to be able to collect.
You want to get even, call then day in and day out, to their numbers use redial, and have anybody that you know do the same, do it day in and day out, that will shut down their PBX system, if they do it to you do it to them.
Yes annoying, but effective if hundreds of people do the same and saturate their phone lines.
Remember their 800 are free to you, they pay for it, call put them on hold and have your friend do the same, do this every day as much as you can. IF they have the right to harass you, you have the right to do the same to them. They called you first! Block your number if that makes you feel more comfortable. You are not subject to the same laws , do not talk to them, that is what they want, if you call back and talk to them they are verifying that you are acknowledging the debt regardless of the purpose of the call as they will not believe you are not the right person.
Here are some of the biggest scan bags in the industry, and believe me they are all scan bags at the end. They count on you to be afraid of them.
RGS Financial
http://www.rgsfinancial.com/
P.O. Box 852039
Richardson, TX 75085-2039
RGS Financial, Inc.
1700 Jay-Ell Drive
Suite 200
Richardson, TX 75081
Call their 800 numbers is free to you but not to them.
They use many spoof numbers if any, as many times they use no caller ID on purpose but they leave you a number to call. Always keep the recording particularly if they are menacing and report does to your police local department as now you have a legal record.
Spoof Number used: 1310-953-3485
Viking Collection Service, Inc.
Minnesota
7500 Office Ridge Circle, Suite 100
Eden Prairie, MN 55344Arizona
2075 West Pinnacle Peak Road, Suite 110
Phoenix, Arizona 85027 Spoof number use caller id Block. One of their numbers is 1800-287-5802
Primary Financial Services also uses Collection agency services to mask there illegal practices (http://www.collectionagencyservices.net/)
http://www.primaryfinancial.com/ (Their web site is been down for long time to be able to cover their illegal practices)
3115 N 3rd Ave Ste 112
Phoenix, AZ 85013
(602) 279-1000
1800-661-0086
If you want to negotiate a settlement call your original lender directly, do not negotiate with this scan bags, they are on commissions or percentages based. Many banks and lender will negotiate up to 80 % of the debts, make sure they do not report it to the IRS if not they can make you pay the taxes on the remaining amount, and make sure they clean your credit, get it in writing first.
Don't get mad get even.
People which do block the caller ID and or use Spoof numbers always have something to hide, that is the only reason they will use a Spoof number (Fake number / Voip Number / Or PBX number whit no actual connection only rings and then dies) Report them to the Authorities, this business practices are illegal and punish by law: if they use spoof numbers, Obscene and rude language, threats, harassment, all this are felonies and punish by law. Report them to your Local Telecom provider, your local District attorney, the local police department, your local senator, record the conversation and keep any and all voice mail left, don't be afraid, they can do absolutely nothing to you till they take you to court if you owe them any money, is futile to argue with ignorant people.
THIS IS AMERICA,
Note both opening phony accounts ("we will send you a catalog" becomes a crammed "account" with unordered shipments), and cramming of unordered sales once the membership terms were met.
One possible source of bogus collection accounts to add to debt collector "misidentification".
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/entertainment/bmg_p27.htm
"About four years ago I received a call from a rep trying to get me to join their DVD club. She told me she would just send me a catalogue to look through since she couldn't find any of the movies I asked about and that I would not be a member unless I returned the form, with the free movies I picked out.
...
Every month, like clockwork, I receive a movie from them that I write "refused" on and give right back to the postman. I have tried looking for contact information on them but all I can find is a phone number and address in London.
..."
Fraudulent "free" offer to keep customer on the hook.
"...
I had already fulfilled my membership agreement. I received a phone call one morning and the rep told me that because I was such a good customer, the company would like to send me out 3 FREE certificates, each good for a free CD. No cost to me, no strings attached, just as a thank you. I asked a few questions looking for the catch and he assurred me that there was no catch. Finally I said OK. A few days later, I go to the website to cancel my membership. To my surprise, it states that I owe them 92!! I check my account history and see that 3 CDs had been shipped to me.
I emailed the company and they told me that these were the CDs I had chosen to purchase when the rep phoned me and gave me the buy 3 and get 3 free certificates offer. Can you believe it? He falsified the whole thing, then apparently placed 3 bogus orders of his own choosing so he could make the sale.
..."
Order cramming.
"...
I cancelled my account in April 2006. This company sent me four parcels of Cd's that I had never asked for. I sent it back to them and they kept resending it to me. From this day, they are still sending me CD's and charging me about 161.00 for them that I have never ordered. They threatened me with collection agencys but I refuse to pay for them because as I said before, I DID NOT ORDER THEM!!!
..."
Tactics to block cancellation typical of common negative-option scams.
"...
I want my subscription canceled, but all I get are notices for the monthly selection with no contact number. I previously gave notice of this months ago, but it was ignored.
..."
Teaser offer followed by "messed up order" to create "defaulted account fees" for nothing, common fraudulent telemarketing pattern with magazine scams.
"...
In 2002 my wife responded to an offer for 12 cds for 9.99. After the 1st couple of cds did not include titles she ordered, she sent them back and called up to cancel. She was billed for the initial 12 for 9.99 though never eceiving 12 cds) and paid this anyway. 7 yrs later a collection agency has report to Experian that when the acct was closed there was an outstanding balance (won't say how much) and with 3 a month late fees for the past 80 or so mos. she now owes 255!
..."
Attempted shake-down of a minor, who knows what they are up to.
"...
recieved a call from these guys regarding a false purchase from BMG Music. They said I had an outstanding balance of 79.56 from the year 2005, when I was 12 years old. Now how on earth could I, 12 at the time, order almost 80 dollars worth of CD's using a credit card and then not get caught by my parents? And get this, the address they said I used doesn't even exist. These guys are con artists, but they sure got me worried.
They threatened to put it on my credit report, which is funny cause I'm 15 years old, and I was 12 at the time.
..."
Numerous cases of order cramming through unauthorized shipments to old addresses. Routine credit damage from bogus or crammed charges has been a recurring pattern, continued by several debt collectors following BMG's shut-down.
"...
The charges were supposedly incurred in 2005 - 2 years after I lived at the address that they have on file. This is bull. I cannot believe that their errors is affecting my credit score.
..."
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/entertainment/bmg.htm
"Courtney of Wellington, FL July 27, 2010
I received a credit report alert since I subscribe to this service through my bank. When I explored the alert through my bank online, I was able to track a collections posting to my credit report by a company National Credit Solutions. I called the number attached on the alert through my bank. The explained that BMG turned my account over to them in 2004 from not buying enough CDs in 2002. I explained to the NCS manager that I have had no correspondance from anyone in 8 years regarding such a thing.
...
She said it was a combination of both an initial amount owed to BMG plus late fees that have accrued at 3/month since 2004.
..."
It also appears that Columbia House/BMG may have deliberately set up their "termination fee" terms to game the credit reporting system, generating a lot of small value "nuisance" accounts accruing "late fees" while creating an excuse to extend the credit reporting time for a couple years beyond the last actual customer payment.
This is consistent with reports indicating that both NRA Group and NCS practically always posting damaging accounts, even for these trivial amounts, whether to the correct file or against a wrongly identified person, when Columbia House/BMG didn't originally collect credit information or SSN.
It appears that they know how the scheme was intended to be played.
Faked "account". They are concocting phony debt claims by using skip-trace information to "attach" old unlocatable accounts to real people.
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/entertainment/bmg.htm
"Greg of kingsport, TN August 11, 2010
I received a call from a collection agency on august 10,2010.It was told to me that i purchased an item in june of 2006,also the address that i supposedly ordered from is my current address which is the point i am trying to make.I was not living at this address in 2006.
..."
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/entertainment/bmg.htm
"...
Sandra of Florissant, MO August 17, 2010
I called NCS and they told me that I need to figure it myself when I asked how to get a hold of BMG. It is awful.
..."
Consumer defrauded into paying unowed debt.
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/entertainment/bmg.htm
"...
Helen of Austin, TX August 17, 2010
I was notified by Citi fraud that someone had put something on my credit report. I called and found that National Recovery Agency had this and Shanea told me that this was a charge from June 1, 2005 in Desoto Texas. I have not lived there since 2001. I just sold my home in Amarillo at 5012 Everett Ave. that I have owned since Sept. of 2004 and sold another n=home I bought in 2002 at 1012 W. 34th in Amarillo. How could I have incurred this when I did not even live in Desoto, TX. I am infuriated by such tactics of unscrupulous companies. I did pay it, as I do not want my credit tarnished.
..."
http://www.dc.bbb.org/complaints/commoncomplaint.html
or file a complaint with the PA attorney general at this website
http://www.attorneygeneral.gov/Complaints.aspx
or if you want to try and resolve directly with NRA, here is the contact information for their Compliance Officer and General Counsel.
Danelle O'Connor
Compliance Officer
NRA Group LLC
dba National Recovery Agency
2491 Paxton Street
PO Box 67015
Harrisburg, PA 17106-7015
800-360-9953 x3087
800-360-9954 Fax
doconnor@nationalrecovery.com
I also got the contact information for NRA's General Counsel - Elizabeth Rose
Elizabeth L. Rose, Esq.
Corporate Counsel
NRA Group LLC
d/b/a National Recovery Agency
2491 Paxton Street
PO Box 67015
Harrisburg, PA 17111
800-360-9953 x3024
800-360-9954 Fax
erose@nationalrecovery.com
www.nragroup.com Client Website
www.nationalrecovery.com Consumer Website
In addition, the owners of the company are Steve C. and Jill E. Kusic. I believe their email addresses are skusic@nationalrecovery.com and jkusic@nationalrecovery.com.
Their registered agent is Joseph Giambalvo
Joseph Giambalvo
1012 Drew Street
Clearwater, FL 33755
Apparently the company had revenues of $30 million last year and describe themselves as a "responsible revenue recovery agency". The Kusics play themselves off as a local do-gooder couple and spread some of their $30 million around to local charities - maybe to make themselves feel better for the intentional damage they're causing elselwhere. Good luck and spread the word!!
Your potential damages and awardable attorney fees have no relationship to the piddling debts they are apparently faking.
Their level of federal FDCPA lawsuits has been rising over the past year and a half.
http://dockets.justia.com/search?query=NRA+Group
Another bogus or re-aged, illegally reported "debt":
"Karen of Byrnedale, PA August 22, 2010
I checked my credit report and low and behold I have not ONE but TWO collections concerning BMG Music 1) National Credit Solutions out of Oklahoma, OK and 2) Natonal Recovery Agency out of Harrisburg PA...I have not dealt with this company since the early 90's....one acct is over 209 and the other is 54....never received the product when these scam collections said I did let alone odered anything..."
And another, with credit and financial damage:
"Lindsay of Cranston, RI August 23, 2010
I had my credit pulled for a loan and discovered a collection agency NCS appeared on my negative components. I called to find out more information but they were very rude and simply told me it was for columbia house (now BMG) from 2002. I have no recollection of ever belonging to this company. I have never received any bills, statements, calls etc in the last 8 years regarding this matter. This is the first time that it has been on my credit in the last 4 years. I find it hard to beleive that a debt from 8 years ago just shows up now. I don't owe this money and will fight to get it off my credit report. "
And another. Note deceptive evasion of validation, and payment of the unowed "debt" as quid pro quo for removal of the bogus credit reporting.
"Ken of Deerfield Beach, FL August 18, 2010
I called the number for National Credit Services because they showed up on my credit report because they are collecting for BMG music services. I informed Sue that I have never ordered anything from them and she stated that I ordered some sort of music or dvd. I asked Sue for the number to BMG she said they do not have that info. I asked you don't have the number to a company that your company is collecting for? She said no that they don't have to provide that number to us since BMG will only tell us to call National Credit Service back and deal with them. The credit report states the original amount was for 31, now they want 157.50???
...
just pay her the amount and she would make sure next month they would not be on my credit report, ..."
Odds are, they already have, and over a phony $21 "debt", it may have knocked 90 points off your credit scores. They and several other debt collectors have been running this little "collection" racket for years, collecting on phony Columbia House/BMG "debts", often from people who never even had music club accounts. Reports indicate Columbia House may have been involved in fraudulent order cramming and billing, and set up their teaser offers with "termination fees" if they "accidentially" failed to account for completion of member "obligations". This would have resulted in the creation of lots of bogus "termination fee debts" to sell off to debt collectors sleazy enough to play chicken with consumers, who know that with BMG and Columbia House out of the picture, they can make up whatever they want.
The issue is NOT some phony "$21 debt", but the hundreds or thousands of dollars of damage they are likely doing to you.
First dispute the debt in writing, and demand that they send you proof you owe it. Send your letter certified return receipt requested, so you have proof they got it. On verifying receipt, check your credit reports, and if their entry shows up, dispute it through the credit reporting agencies. They usually post their collection entry BEFORE they even contact you, so they can deny having any knowledge that you were disputing when they posted. This is, after all, a scam, so expect efforts to make it look "real".
A number of attorneys have been suing such collection agencies. Since both FDCPA and FCRA allow courts to award damages AND attorney fees, you might look for an attorney with experience in those areas willing to take the case on contingency.
You might try www.naca.net
http://dockets.justia.com/search?query=NRA+Group
"...
Estep v. NRA Group, LLC
Filed: November 17, 2010 as 3:2010cv03302 Updated: November 17, 2010 22:16:13
Plaintiff: Larry Estep
Defendant: NRA Group, LLC
Presiding Judge: Michael M. Mihm
Referring Judge: Byron G. Cudmore
Cause Of Action: Fair Debt Collection Act
Court: Seventh Circuit > Illinois > Central District Court
..."
Note plaintiff's attorney:
http://dockets.justia.com/docket/illinois/ilcdce/3:2010cv03302/50770/
"Plaintiff: Larry Estep
Represented By: Daniel A Edelman
..."
Edelman, Combs, Latturner & Goodwin is known for consumer protection class action lawsuits.
http://www.edcombs.com/
"Thomas v. NRA Group, LLC d/b/a National Recovery Agency
Plaintiff: Danielle Thomas
Defendant: NRA Group, LLC d/b/a National Recovery Agency
Case Number: 1:2010cv02390
Filed: November 18, 2010
Court: Pennsylvania Middle District Court
Office: Harrisburg
County: Dauphin
: John E. Jones
Nature of Suit: Other Statutes - Other Statutory Actions
Cause: 15:1692
Jurisdiction: Federal Question
Jury Demanded By: Plaintiff
..."
15 USC 1692 is FDCPA. Attorney for plaintiff is Brent F. Vullings.
https://www.webrecon.com/b/news-and-stats/page/2/
"...
FDCPA and Other Consumer Lawsuit Statistics, October, 1-15, 2010
There were about 497 lawsuits filed under consumer statutes in the first half of October, 2010. Here is an approximate breakdown:
• 455 Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
• 58 Fair Credit Reporting Act
• 24 Telephone Consumer Protection Act
• 11 Truth in Lending Act
...
The most active consumer attorneys of the year:
• Representing 294 Consumers: Jack Dennis Card, Jr.
• Representing 278 Consumers: Sergei Lemberg
• Representing 269 Consumers: Brent F. Vullings
• Representing 214 Consumers: David Michael Larson
• Representing 213 Consumers: Todd Michael Friedman
..."