My friend has just had an account sent to collections. He has been getting intimidating calls from them for a few days now. I told him about the C&D letter and DV letter, both of which he thought were pretty neat. I told him that next time the collector calls, he should do nothing but get the mailing address. The lady on the other end of the phone said that they don't have one because of XYZ and ABC. Could it be possible that the collection agency truly has no address? I didn't think so. So I checked into the company, AllianceOne, and found out that they have several offices and one located nearby. I found the corporate address on the website, but could not find addresses of individual locations. Under FCRA and FDCPA, if we send a DV letter to the corporate office, do they have to receive it and/or process it the same as if it were sent to the local office?
I don't know about them, but the CA I'm dealing with has their main office (and all their phone people) in Texas but, becuase they have to be licensed in this state, they have use a lawyer's office as their local (i.e. registered in the state) business office. I found this out by: a) looking up their business license b) googling their address: lawyer's office c) looking up lawyer's office in state bar association directory (same 411) d) calling them up and asking if they represent the CA (yes), Thank you. (click) All this from the comfort of my home office. Gotta love the internet.
You gave good advice. If they truly had no address, then how would you send them a check if you decided to send one? My bet is that they would find an address very rapidly if he offered to send a check. Of course, he would only be doing this to get an mailing address. He could also hit the caller ID button and call back to get a receptionist and find the name of the company and its address.
http://www.allianceoneinc.com/AOIPublic/ AllianceOne Inc. 717 Constitution Drive Suite 202 Exton, PA 19341 484-531-5000 - Telephone 484-531-5057 - Facsimile If he has received a first notice from the CA there will be an address on the letter/envelope. There has to be an address on the envelope for the PO to send back the notice with a NCOA or returned mail.
I think you missed the point, Collectman... The OP's friend does not have a letter, nor an accurate address from the CA because there is no " first notice " except a phone call. I am sure that person would have been smart enough to look on the letter if it had been sent to him/her....
I didn't miss anything. A CA is required to notify the debtor within 5 days of first contact in writing of the debt, which would include the address to the company, or a simple google search would have revealed the information as well.
Collectman is absolutely correct here and I applaud him for knowing the law which regulates his industry. That is not to be taken as sarcasm either, most wouldn't know this. In any event, I'd be careful issuing cease and desist letters without knowing to whom the debt is owed, what the amount is, and whether it is time barred or not. A simple request for validation would suffice here without knowing the above. Full-on cease and desist communications are often a good way to ensure a Summons.
