Fake process server calls
Complaint
Quintin L King
Country: United States
I have received numerous calls from this "company", all of which start with a request for address verification for Process serving. Intimations that a law suit has been filed (the Company, to the best of my knowledge is in Florida, I live and own a business in Illinois). What process server doesn't have an address? These people call constantly and wont reveal the name of the entity for which they are collecting unless you "confirm" your address and last four of social. I am formally filing a complaint with the FTC and the Florida Dept of Financial Regulation, but wondered if anyone has had experience with these people?
Comments
They are playing "shell games".
See related LLCs dredged up by corporationwiki and Google:
https://complaintwire.org/complaint/xKoBAAAAAAA/thurston-and-associates/12
Rite Coast Financial
Kam Financials Inc.
Five M Financial Inc.
Knox Financial
Alm Acquisitions Inc.
Buchanon Capital
Jacob J Adamo
Rick Pugh
Merrill Miller
Here's a great name, linked to "Levin, and Cohen",
http://www.corporationwiki.com/Florida/Orland ... c/67361141.aspx
Can't you just hear the call? "We're with the Process Server Office" ("Really, we weren't impersonating government employees! That's just our name!").
Here is their "Jewish lawyer" entity:
Levine, Cohen and Associates
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-888-227-7904/8
http://www.corporationwiki.com/Florida/Orland ... c/67303664.aspx
("Again, that's just our name! We can't help it if it sounds like a law firm.")
They are both linked to "Five M Financial"
http://www.corporationwiki.com/Florida/Orland ... c/67304777.aspx
which in turn shows Merrill Miller as President.
Miller and Pugh show up with connections to Hesperia, CA. You can find complaints against a similar operation there.
Did they all go to the same "school" as Begley and Lunsford?
License Name: THURSTON & ASSOCIATES LLC
DBA Name:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
License Type: Consumer Collection Agency
Status: Expired
Status Effective Date: 1/4/2012
Original Date of License: 7/11/2011
License Number: CCA9902414
License Expiration Date: 12/31/2011
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
License Main Address:
Street: 5720 OLD CHENEY HWY
City: ORLANDO
State: FL
Zip Code: 32807
License Mailing Address:
Street: 5720 OLD CHENEY HWY
City: ORLANDO
State: FL
Zip Code: 32807
Supposedly these are "debts" owed by someone, even if not the people they threaten, yet there is no way short of a complete forensic audit to tell how often they get money from non-debtors, and the tactics are designed to be as effective on non-debtors as debtors. They go to great lengths to create implied threats, basically to evade validation by deceiving consumers who do not know their rights, or just harassing people until they pay just to make them go away.
They get to play "poker" with every new person they call, so they get to bluff all they want.
http://dockets.justia.com/docket/florida/flsdce/9:2011cv81396/392376/
Cordova v. Mendenhall & Associates, Inc. et al
(Mendenhall & Associates, Inc., Levine & Cohen and Associates, LLC and Five M Financial Inc.)
http://dockets.justia.com/docket/illinois/ilndce/1:2011cv07512/261501/
http://dockets.justia.com/docket/texas/txedce/4:2011cv00651/132845/
Bare v. Mendenhall & Associates, Inc.
http://dockets.justia.com/docket/north-carolina/ncedce/7:2011cv00195/117054/
855-893-4558
I assume this is the same company. Just another number to watch out for....
Similar complaints report a "process server" shakedown racket.
Several reports of threatening people over unowed debt, including refusing to disclose who the alleged creditor was.
One complaint reports a call to a recently activated number.
Report of deceptively claiming the consumer was somehow "officially served" by phone [sic]
Reports they are evasive about disclosing their identity and location.
No indications in complaints of providing any location information.
No reports of receiving any "g" letter.
Complaint thread also shows shill posts, which are typical for these shakedown rackets.
No reports of anyone but shills receiving any summons.
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-855-893-4558
"MR Group"
"Mustang group"
"Mustang Recovery Group"
Consensus view: fraudulent debt collection scam, making illegal threats and collecting on fake "debt" using those threats. i.e. "shakedown" collection racket.
Google finds a Florida connection:
http://www.florida-annual-report.com/mustang-recovery-group-inc.html
MUSTANG RECOVERY GROUP, INC.
Status: Active Filing Date: 10/28/2011
Entity Type: Domestic Profit Corporation File Number: P11000094247
Qualifying State:
Company Age: 5 Months
Last Event Type: Last Event Date:
Principal Address: 3507 E. Frontage Road
Suite 135
Tampa, FL 33607
Mailing Address: 3507 E. Frontage Road
Suite 135
Tampa, FL 33607
Registered Agent: Calkins, Robert D
3507 E. Frontage Road
Suite 135
Tampa, FL 33607
Address is this building.
http://www.loopnet.com/Listing/16483653/3507-E-Frontage-Road-Tampa-FL/
Also at that "suite":
http://yellowpages.superpages.com/listings.js ... 221x&PI=26&PB=E
Edge Rock Tech Partners
Help Us Out Write a Review
3507 E Frontage Rd Ste 135
Tampa, FL
This is funny.
They have an address in the same building as the Florida AG-Economic Crimes Division.
http://www.usa.gov/directory/stateconsumer/florida.shtml
Tampa Branch- Office of the Attorney General
Economic Crimes Division
Concourse Center 4
3507 E. Frontage Rd., Suite 325
Tampa, FL 33607-1795
Phone Number: 813-287-7950
And also the FL AG Criminal Appeals Division.
http://www.myfloridalegal.com/direct.nsf/Offi ... 525644800541D19
Criminal Appeals Division
Office of the Attorney General
Concourse Center 4
3507 E. Frontage Road, Suite 200
Tampa, FL 33607-7013
http://www.corporationwiki.com/Florida/Tampa/ ... /100315538.aspx
http://www.corporationwiki.com/Florida/Tampa/robert-d-calkins/100319588.aspx
"Thurston" is Orlando.
"Mustang" is Tampa.
So far no connection found.
Florida AG investigators could be passing them in the lobby on the way to work, and not even know it.
1-888-342-0623 (ext.150) ... he keeps calling my house for somebody i dont know so i turned the tables on him by robo-calling him
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-888-342-0623/2
Vanderbilt & Associates
5732 Old Cheney Highway
Orlando, Florida 32807
I live in California. All of my past "bad debt" is long gone off my credit report. It's nothing I found great pride in. I paid the price dearly with paying huge deposits on the basic essentials in life. Getting loans would have been ridiculous. I worked every odd job out there just to make the basic ends meet. It was a rough time in my life. The original creditors during that time never prosecuted during the SOL and wrote it off. I had nothing I could have paid with at the time and compared to the average debt mine was next to nothing total.
I kid you not the day the 7 years ended for bad credit to be reported and my credit score finally went up the calls started coming. It shocked me. It was well past the SOL ( 4 yrs ) but why after the 7 years? It appeared as if someone had been watching and waiting for those 7 years to end and they were infuriated I had finally gotten a fresh start.
In October of 2011 I got a call from Midland I'll get to Vanderbilt trust me. I didn't let the woman from Midland lead the conversation. I asked for the beginning date of the last payment to the original creditor. She stuttered and stammered and said 2003 but it went to collections in 2005 so the SOL she said started in 2005. I pointed out she was incorrect about the real dates as I kept every single due date on every account. It was actually 2002 when the last payment was made. No the SOL does not start when it arrives in collections. However, either way based on the REAL date delinquincey started or the date she gave me it was past the SOL to legally prosecute. She got angry. She tried to start the whole thing about still having to pay and a moral obligation. I started laughing and said I have paid dearly for that debt. I'm free from it and never in my life did I ever contractually agree to recieve credit from you or your company so take your moral platitude and shove it. Don't call again it's useless. You can't prosecute and there will be no payment EVER made. This is my right and my choice. In November guess what happened? My credit score plummeted.
I immediately put a fraud alert on my credit report along with a freeze. Requested copies and all of a sudden there were payday loans and reports from companies I'd never heard of mysteriously added to my report in the month of.. can you guess? November. There was also a bogus address in my name located in the state of Missouri. I've never lived a day outside of Ca. I contested each one had the fake address removed and had them investigated. I contacted each agency asking for proof of the overdue debt. No return answers but one by one by one they all started disappearing off my records. So did the Witch from Midland have any connections to pull this? The story goes on.
All of a sudden after my report is up and looking good in Feb here come the calls again. First Portfolio Recovery. I did the same routine. Again pointed out the SOL. Again I was told in a round about way although they couldn't pursue it legally they could still demand payment. I said not after I sent a certified letter telling you to stop calling but whats the point? You see it's past the SOL. Well past. Do you think I'm going to send you money knowing I don't have to at this point? I'm telling you now.. I'M NOT PAYING. EVER. Get over yourself. No debt you call about was placed against you personally. For all I know you beat the hell out of your spouse when you go home at night. Don't call me ever again. Then maybe the next day I get a call from a company in DC that says they got a call from me requesting debt consolidation. I started laughing and said my credit score is incredible where did you get this number? And she hung up. Then another call from some company in Washington the state leaving an urgent message. I call and they were real quick to agree to never call again when I told them to cut the sh.. it's past the SOL I'm not paying move on to someone else. By now it's about April with this cat and mouse calling crap where someone calls but no one answers and caller id suggests it's some robo crap going on.
May hits and I hear from Portfolio again. I was livid. I didn't even talk. I typed out my C&D letter. Included the SOL for the state of California demanded no contact and if so I'd file charges. Two days after I got the receipt back that someone had signed for the certified letter they called. I actually had to talk to the girl like she was [***]. I asked her calmly.. What are you doing calling this number? I've got a receipt with someones signature from your company verifying you have been made aware of all my legal rights in regard to debt collection and you are to NEVER call me. She apologized up and down and swore she'd never call again...
Here we are May 22 and guess who calls my landlord at 8 in the morning? Enter Vanderbilt and Associates. This morning this scumbag of a collection agency. The type that feeds on the bottom feeders of collection agencies calls my landlord to inform them they need to urgently contact me over a "civil" matter. They gave a case number and return number 888-342-0623 My landlord was more worried then I was. She did not give them any of my contact info. I called and the routine I got was so stupid it was a comical journey but one that I've had enough of. After two disconnections I finally got some guy who mumbled. Kept disconnecting and coming back on so that he could push a button that makes an automated voice say the words " Litigation" like thats going to scare me. When he finally stopped that stupid routine I immediately requested the last date of payment on the alleged debt. yet another liar. He claimed it was delinquint in 03 but the date of delinquincey begins in 05 because thats when it went to collections. YAWN here we go again. Do they all read the same effin liars manual? Anyway I said how many years is it from 05 to 2012. He went silent. I said, that would be 7. And what does that mean? He remained silent. I said would this be past the SOL? And he says... Do you know what that means? I said you bet. Do you? He said tell me. I said, your the litigator why don't you tell it to me in real pretty litigator language. He got pissed. He started by saying.. All you guys think you can... I stopped him dead and said this debt is time barred. If you need me to send you a C&D letter I will. Call any third party again and you are going to start making me more money then what that debt is worth. He started yelling and I said ... Have a nice day
Now here's my question... do these agents who I feel are nothing but patsies have connections with other sleazy agents and do they do each other favors like collecting information off your C.R's and trying hard runs? It just seems odd I get bombarded in waves. By the way as of today I put another Fraud Alert on my Credit Report through Experian this time and requested a copy. Someone has to be making runs and checks on my report it's just not adding up. I wish there was a way to nail these punk agents who break all the laws and do all the threats and would never show their faces in court. The company would suffer the financial loss or stain from prosecution but the idiot agent that doesn't know their head from the azz walks free. The laws need to include certified agents only who stand behind their certification numbers and this B.S. about trying to humiliate and strong arm a debt 8 years and counting has got to stop. Some of us were embarrassed about that debt but we made it through and at a certain point just like the original creditor they've got to let it go.
So do these agencies work in cahoots? And how can I finally put an end to any calls about zombie debts? Isn't there a law that includes once it's recognized as non enforceable by prosecution and the debtor points that out they cannot resale that debt? And since they can't contact you because of the C&D notice at least it won't bounce around? I can't believe there are some people so bored with their lifes they invade someones credit report and load it with bogus garbage as well. You figure those people have lost their sanity to the power they feel they have as some wannabe loanshark thug hidden in a little cubicle.
The "upper class" if these bottom feeders, lie PRA, depend on veiled deception and implied threats to coerce some small payment so they can claim SOL was reset allowing them to sue.
The "lower class", like Vanderbilt, just make stronger implied or actual threats of lawsuits that don't exist, or use blatant deception, outright lies, harassment of relatives, etc.
Both groups exploit not only collection from the actual debtor, but often "accidental" collection from people who might be mistaken for the debtor. They often employ a mix of real cheap computer skip tracing, followed by "accidental" harassing calls and deceptive employee responses to disputes. The overall tactis may coerce payments from even people who don't owe anything, so it is doubtful that this is just an accident.
The 7.5 year point from the original date of delinquency, that determines that a debt is no longer reportable under FCRA, may be the point at which it becomes worth little to those debt collectors that at least somewhat comply with the law, and therefore it is only worth something to those that have the capability to work around the law while evading the consequences.
Your observation that a shower of spurious "debts" started appearing when you blew off Midland might not be a coincidence.
Payday lenders fit into two categories:
1) state licensed legally operating companies (with outragous rates),
2) unlicensed often overseas based illegal operations (with even higher rates).
The latter type is often assisted in what may actually be shakedown rackets by a level of equally sleazy debt collectors, often from the same group as what I referred to earlier as the "lower class". They may also run cramming shakedown rackets, depositing "loans" without authorization, quickly yanking it back but calling it interest, then continuing to take "interest only" payments until the victim shuts down the account.
What this illustrates is that there is a debt collection infrastructure that trades in "debt" all the way from really old, possibly discharged in bankruptcy, and only collectable by threats and lies, all the way to entirely faked "debt" that never even existed as a real loan. There are debt collectors willing to play the matching game over this whole range, with the result that we have an industry evolved to engage in and get away with routine conning.
On top of just intimidation, deception, and implied threats, one tactic used to coerce is credit damage, whether legal or not. First, the shady debt collector doesn't even have to provide the original date of delinquency to the CRA until 90 days after posting, and if they don't the FICO scoring will just substitute some other date in the posting, (like the posting date itself), making the fake "delinquent debt" even more damaging. Even though the debt may not be legally reportable, there is no penalty for breaking the law until the consumer catches the "error" and disputes through the CRA. This allows the credit reporting system to be gamed, and the CRAs have done little to prevent such gaming, preferring to leave the correction of their erroneous databases to consumer disputes (which they only pass on to the data furnishers) or FTC actions (like NCO).
Remember, there are "payday lenders" who will buy "loan leads", then fake "loans". That's basically what the Indian scammers do, but there are offshore "payday loan" scammers who do the same, and show up with a trail of consumer compliants as evidence. A cluster of them (probably the same people behind various names) shows up using mail drops in Kansas City MO, but supposedly incorporated or operating out of St. Kitts.
Addresses generally come from creditor information reports, and are tied to specific posted items. A cluster of "payday loans" on your credit reports, with a new "address" probably indicates some "lender" submitted the two together. That may indicate either that some of your information ended up in the hands of someone who applied for (fake or real) payday loans, or that Midland may have sold off your "account" to this level of "debt collector" who is exploiting the credit reporting system to attempt to poison your score. It might even mean that an employee of Midland may have stolen your information.
These low lifes depend on getting away with several free pot-shots, and still just walking away when they are caught. You may want to develop a close working relationship with an attorney who routinely handles FDCPA and FCRA cases, so that you use the first opportunity where they cross the line to nail them for it.
What data furnisher and "creditor" names showed up connected to the spurious credit report accounts?
What names showed up as debt collectors on these spurious "debts"?
That makes them liable under FCRA for damages for their errors. They can't just point the finger at the CRA.
Doesn't matter whether they are trying a collections shakedown, or whether they just "misidentified" you as the alleged debtor. That was their chance to correct or remove it without liability.
The removal date is probably calculated by the CRA from the reported original date of delinquency. Negative items must be removed within at most 7.5 years from the original date of delinquency. If the original date of delinquency was 12/21/2005, then the 9/13/2013 removal date isn't even accurate as well. In short they are reporting erroneously in multiple ways, which is common with screw-ups.
If this is not your debt, then get an attorney and sue them. FCRA and FDCPA allow courts to award damages and attorney fees so you can find attorneys who take these cases on contingency. Your attorney can make sure they don't get off the hook.
You might try www.naca.net to find a consumer attorney in your state.
http://www.bbb.org/upstate-new-york/business- ... lo-ny-21703593/
The Boyland operation, that Dateline tracked down several years ago, was also in Buffalo. It was shut down by the NY AG.
That area is home to many shady and fraudulent debt collectors, including many running shakedown rackets extorting payment of faked debt. There are also many debt portfolio brokers in the area, selling portfolios of really old debt, generally out of statute, for pennies on the dollar. These keep showing up connected to fraudulent shakedown rackets in varous parts of the country, where they appear to be used as cover for just cold calling people and conning them. Some of these scams have been caught buying consumer data out the back door of others, whic h shows how disconnected these scams are from actual "debt collection",
Most of these fly-by-nite shakedowns don't report to the CRAs. There have been a number of debt collectors employing "erroneous" credit reporting as a tactic, however. This may be a "mistake", or it may be they buy really cheap debt, and use it as an excuse to "park" collection tradelines on credit reports for anyone they can find with a similar name, just waiting for someone to have to pay off with no time to dispute, for example when buying a home.
Get an attorney and sue them.
They will probably remove ther cr*p the moment they get a letter from your attorney.