"It's also interesting that the documentation does not match the amount of the debt that they are claiming, and not just by $1.00 or $2.00 -- but by 14% -- $500.00. So much for confirming the balance of the account." 14% = $500 => $3500 How do you end up which a $3500 phone bill? Only a business account, a phone company account plan error, or an act of fraud would normally produce that.
On www.complaintsboard.com, Afni is now #2 Worst Rated, at (-104), and #2 "Subject of Wide Speculation", at (85). Looks like they are moving up in the world.
Based on reports on other sites, BBB complaints should start rising. "BBB Reliability Report The Better Business Bureau® Serving Central Illinois 112 Harrison Peoria, IL 61602 (309) 688-3741 www.peoria.bbb.org Afni, Inc. 404 Brock Drive Bloomington, IL 61702 Telephone: (309) 828-5226 www.afninet.com The BBB reports on members and non-members. If a company is a member of the BBB, it is stated in this report BBB Definition: report - A summary of activity reflected in a company's BBB file. Includes basic business background, BBB membership information, and Bureau complaint activity over the previous three years. Also reports may include any known government actions, advertising issues or other information that results from activity conducted by the BBB. Original Business Start Date: January 1936 Principal: Ms. Amy Acree, PPS Customer Contact: Ms. Amy Acree, PPS - (309) 828-5226 Email Address: TOB Classification: Collection Agencies BBB Membership: This company is not a member. Additional DBA Names Anderson Fin Network Anderson Financial Network, Inc. Anderson Financial Network Nature Of Business This company offers credit collection services. Customer Experience When considering complaint information, please take into account the company's size and volume of transactions, and understand that the nature of complaints and a firm's responses to them are often more important than the number of complaints. The Bureau processed a total of 444 complaints about this company in the last 36 months, our standard reporting period. Of the total of 444 complaints closed in 36 months, 241 were closed in the last year. Contract Issues BBB Definition: Contract Issues - Claim of alleged failure to honor contract or agreement, work performed without authorization, or invalid contract. Resolved BBB Definition: Resolved - The company resolved the complaint issues. 2 - Company addressed the complaint issues. The consumer failed to acknowledge acceptance to the BBB. Administratively Closed BBB Definition: Administratively Closed - The BBB determined that the complaint could not be satisfactorily settled using standard methods of voluntary dispute resolution 1 - BBB determined the company made a reasonable offer to resolve the issues, but the consumer did not accept the offer. Billing or Collection Issues BBB Definition: Billing or Collection Issues - Claim alleging billing errors, unauthorized charges, or questionable collection practices. Resolved BBB Definition: Resolved - The company resolved the complaint issues. 51 - Company resolved the complaint issues. The consumer acknowledged acceptance to the BBB. 3 - Company offered a partial (less than 100%) settlement which the consumer accepted. 220 - Company addressed the complaint issues. The consumer failed to acknowledge acceptance to the BBB. 72 - Company offered a partial (less than 100%) settlement which the consumer failed to acknowledge acceptance to the BBB. Administratively Closed BBB Definition: Administratively Closed - The BBB determined that the complaint could not be satisfactorily settled using standard methods of voluntary dispute resolution 43 - BBB determined the company made a reasonable offer to resolve the issues, but the consumer did not accept the offer. 29 - BBB determined that despite the company's reasonable effort to address complaint issues, the consumer remained dissatisfied. 9 - BBB determined the company provided proper verification that indicated there was no obligation to resolve the issues of the complaint. Sales Practice Issues BBB Definition: Sales Practice Issues - Claims of alleged sales presentations made in person or by telephone that contain misrepresentations of the product or service, high pressure sales practices, failure to disclose key conditions of the offer, and verbal representations not consistent with written contractual terms or agreements. Resolved BBB Definition: Resolved - The company resolved the complaint issues. 1 - Company addressed the complaint issues. The consumer failed to acknowledge acceptance to the BBB. Administratively Closed BBB Definition: Administratively Closed - The BBB determined that the complaint could not be satisfactorily settled using standard methods of voluntary dispute resolution 1 - BBB determined that despite the company's reasonable effort to address complaint issues, the consumer remained dissatisfied. Service Issues BBB Definition: Service Issues - Claims of alleged delay in completing service, failure to provide promised service, inferior quality of provided service, or damaged merchandise as a result of delivery service. Resolved BBB Definition: Resolved - The company resolved the complaint issues. 1 - Company offered a partial (less than 100%) settlement which the consumer failed to acknowledge acceptance to the BBB. 4 - Company addressed the complaint issues. The consumer failed to acknowledge acceptance to the BBB. Administratively Closed BBB Definition: Administratively Closed - The BBB determined that the complaint could not be satisfactorily settled using standard methods of voluntary dispute resolution 1 - BBB determined that despite the company's reasonable effort to address complaint issues, the consumer remained dissatisfied. Customer Service Issues BBB Definition: Service Issues - Claims of alleged delay in completing service, failure to provide promised service, inferior quality of provided service, or damaged merchandise as a result of delivery service. BBB Definition: Customer Service Issues - Claims alleging unsatisfactory customer service, including personnel's failure to provide assistance in a timely manner, failure to address or respond to customer dissatisfaction, unavailability for customer support, and/or inappropriate behavior or attitude exhibited by company staff. Resolved BBB Definition: Resolved - The company resolved the complaint issues. 1 - Company offered a partial (less than 100%) settlement which the consumer accepted. 3 - Company addressed the complaint issues. The consumer failed to acknowledge acceptance to the BBB. Refund or Exchange Issues BBB Definition: Refund or Exchange Issues - Claim of alleged failure to honor company policy or verbal commitment to provide refunds, exchanges, or credit for products or services. Resolved BBB Definition: Resolved - The company resolved the complaint issues. 1 - Company addressed the complaint issues. The consumer failed to acknowledge acceptance to the BBB. Issue Not Defined Resolved BBB Definition: Resolved - The company resolved the complaint issues. 1 - Company addressed the complaint issues. The consumer failed to acknowledge acceptance to the BBB. ..."
BBB summary: 444 complaints closed in the last 3 years, 241 closed in the last year or 54% closed in the last year. There appears to be no tracking or visibility in the BBB report of whether the original Afni debt collection action, or Afni employee phone response, was legally compliant or reasonable, or whether any violations of law were reported as part of the complaint, only some end result after the consumer complaint was filed. As a result, the BBB report is virtually useless for determining what deceptive statements or claims were made before the BBB complaint was "resolved". All reported complaints are either "resolved" or "closed", apparently in some supposedly "reasonable" manner acceptable to BBB, and apparently those that have not been, are not reported. There is no reporting of, or visibility of, outstanding unresolved complaints, which may be the state of the bulk of complaints matching those on other consumer sites. In addition, BBB has NO WARNING TO CONSUMERS that many of these bills may be erroneous, even though that is practically the universal complaint of most consumer reports on other sites that allow the posting directly by the consumer of their full complaint. Other complaint sites have noted that where a BBB or AG complaint has been filed on an Afni/Verizon bill, Afni failed to provide any "validation", and "closed" the account. There have also been a number of reports that where a consumer both "disputed" and requested validation on an account, the Afni reply is to claim they can't validate, but still demand consumer information (on an "account" for which the consumer has not been provided any details) claiming they cannot "investigate" their dispute until it is provided.
Updated BBB report, 2-28-07: "The Bureau processed a total of 454 complaints about this company in the last 36 months, our standard reporting period. Of the total of 454 complaints closed in 36 months, 251 were closed in the last year." 10 more complaints have been processed and closed compared to the report on 2-26-07, 2 days ago. It looks like the complaint spike is starting to show up at BBB. As expected, all recent complaints are for "collection" issues. BBB's only catagorizations are on whether disputes were addressed, resolved, acknowledged, verified as "reasonable", etc. No warning that consumers are complaining about being dunned on debts that are not theirs, the key piece of information a consumer receiving one of their letters would want to know. No warning that Afni has "continued collection" even after receiving validation request letters and admitting they cannot provide validation. "BBB Reliability Report The Better Business Bureau® Serving Central Illinois 112 Harrison Peoria, IL 61602 (309) 688-3741 www.peoria.bbb.org Afni, Inc. 404 Brock Drive Bloomington, IL 61702 Telephone: (309) 828-5226 www.afninet.com The BBB reports on members and non-members. If a company is a member of the BBB, it is stated in this report BBB Definition: report - A summary of activity reflected in a company's BBB file. Includes basic business background, BBB membership information, and Bureau complaint activity over the previous three years. Also reports may include any known government actions, advertising issues or other information that results from activity conducted by the BBB. Original Business Start Date: January 1936 Principal: Ms. Amy Acree, PPS Customer Contact: Ms. Amy Acree, PPS - (309) 828-5226 Email Address: TOB Classification: Collection Agencies BBB Membership: This company is not a member. Additional DBA Names Anderson Fin Network Anderson Financial Network, Inc. Anderson Financial Network Nature Of Business This company offers credit collection services. Customer Experience When considering complaint information, please take into account the company's size and volume of transactions, and understand that the nature of complaints and a firm's responses to them are often more important than the number of complaints. The Bureau processed a total of 454 complaints about this company in the last 36 months, our standard reporting period. Of the total of 454 complaints closed in 36 months, 251 were closed in the last year. Contract Issues BBB Definition: Contract Issues - Claim of alleged failure to honor contract or agreement, work performed without authorization, or invalid contract. Resolved BBB Definition: Resolved - The company resolved the complaint issues. 2 - Company addressed the complaint issues. The consumer failed to acknowledge acceptance to the BBB. Administratively Closed BBB Definition: Administratively Closed - The BBB determined that the complaint could not be satisfactorily settled using standard methods of voluntary dispute resolution 1 - BBB determined the company made a reasonable offer to resolve the issues, but the consumer did not accept the offer. Billing or Collection Issues BBB Definition: Billing or Collection Issues - Claim alleging billing errors, unauthorized charges, or questionable collection practices. Resolved BBB Definition: Resolved - The company resolved the complaint issues. 53 - Company resolved the complaint issues. The consumer acknowledged acceptance to the BBB. 3 - Company offered a partial (less than 100%) settlement which the consumer accepted. 216 - Company addressed the complaint issues. The consumer failed to acknowledge acceptance to the BBB. 83 - Company offered a partial (less than 100%) settlement which the consumer failed to acknowledge acceptance to the BBB. Administratively Closed BBB Definition: Administratively Closed - The BBB determined that the complaint could not be satisfactorily settled using standard methods of voluntary dispute resolution 43 - BBB determined the company made a reasonable offer to resolve the issues, but the consumer did not accept the offer. 31 - BBB determined that despite the company's reasonable effort to address complaint issues, the consumer remained dissatisfied. 9 - BBB determined the company provided proper verification that indicated there was no obligation to resolve the issues of the complaint. Sales Practice Issues BBB Definition: Sales Practice Issues - Claims of alleged sales presentations made in person or by telephone that contain misrepresentations of the product or service, high pressure sales practices, failure to disclose key conditions of the offer, and verbal representations not consistent with written contractual terms or agreements. Resolved BBB Definition: Resolved - The company resolved the complaint issues. 1 - Company addressed the complaint issues. The consumer failed to acknowledge acceptance to the BBB. Administratively Closed BBB Definition: Administratively Closed - The BBB determined that the complaint could not be satisfactorily settled using standard methods of voluntary dispute resolution 1 - BBB determined that despite the company's reasonable effort to address complaint issues, the consumer remained dissatisfied. Service Issues BBB Definition: Service Issues - Claims of alleged delay in completing service, failure to provide promised service, inferior quality of provided service, or damaged merchandise as a result of delivery service. Resolved BBB Definition: Resolved - The company resolved the complaint issues. 4 - Company addressed the complaint issues. The consumer failed to acknowledge acceptance to the BBB. 1 - Company offered a partial (less than 100%) settlement which the consumer failed to acknowledge acceptance to the BBB. Administratively Closed BBB Definition: Administratively Closed - The BBB determined that the complaint could not be satisfactorily settled using standard methods of voluntary dispute resolution 1 - BBB determined that despite the company's reasonable effort to address complaint issues, the consumer remained dissatisfied. Customer Service Issues BBB Definition: Service Issues - Claims of alleged delay in completing service, failure to provide promised service, inferior quality of provided service, or damaged merchandise as a result of delivery service. BBB Definition: Customer Service Issues - Claims alleging unsatisfactory customer service, including personnel's failure to provide assistance in a timely manner, failure to address or respond to customer dissatisfaction, unavailability for customer support, and/or inappropriate behavior or attitude exhibited by company staff. Resolved BBB Definition: Resolved - The company resolved the complaint issues. 1 - Company offered a partial (less than 100%) settlement which the consumer accepted. 2 - Company addressed the complaint issues. The consumer failed to acknowledge acceptance to the BBB. Refund or Exchange Issues BBB Definition: Refund or Exchange Issues - Claim of alleged failure to honor company policy or verbal commitment to provide refunds, exchanges, or credit for products or services. Resolved BBB Definition: Resolved - The company resolved the complaint issues. 1 - Company addressed the complaint issues. The consumer failed to acknowledge acceptance to the BBB. Issue Not Defined Resolved BBB Definition: Resolved - The company resolved the complaint issues. 1 - Company addressed the complaint issues. The consumer failed to acknowledge acceptance to the BBB. ..."
Anyone have Pacer? What is this about? http://dockets.justia.com/docket/court-caedce/case_no-1:2007cv00215/case_id-159543/ Charles Traylor v. AFNI, Inc. Case Number: 1:2007cv00215 Filed: February 8, 2007 Court: California Eastern District Court Office: Fresno Office Presiding Judge: District Judge Lawrence J. O'Neill Referring Judge: Magistrate Judge Theresa A Goldner Nature of Suit: Other Statutes - Other Statutory Actions Cause: 15:1692 Fair Debt Collection Act Actually, there appear to be over 20 federal cases filed against Afni over the last year, most involving FDCPA. 5 appear to have been filed in Feb. 2007 alone, consistent with the upsurge in complaints since the beginning of 2007. Prior to that, filings appear to be a little over 1 per month. (By comparison, Midland Credit Management shows around 40 federal FDCPA cases spread over the last year, which would be a rate of 3 to 4 a month. Palisades Collection shows around 60 federal FDCPA cases over the last year.)
Some responses to validation requests are beginning to be reported: http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/ripoff229572.htm "Update Submitted by the original author Submitted: 2/26/2007 2:21:33 PM Modified: 2/26/2007 3:55:21 PM They sent me a generic bill! How nice! I received in the mail today - a generic bill with no letterhead, no account details - just how much I owed and that was that. Supposedly itemised from the company the debt was incurred with (GTE/Verizon Communications) Afni state that I "have" to pay the bill even though they have no proof I authorised the account. - oh not to mention the account is 10 years old! G - Clarksville, Tennessee U.S.A." http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/ripoff237552.htm I filed a complaint with the BBB about Afni Inc. They sent me a collection bill for over $2000 for a bill from Verizon in November of 1999. I have never owed this money. I paid all my bills. They sent me a "bill" from the supposed "charges". The "bill" was computer generated and didn't even have Verizon's logo or anything. I never even had Verizon for a phone company!! I called Verizon and they told me that they sold over 2 million of their old accounts to Afni. Outrageous!! I am waiting to hear back from the BBB regarding this. Jami Auburn, Indiana U.S.A."
According to FTC, "validation" produced by a CA on its own computer, even with data provided by the OC, is NOT validation under Section 809(b), and in particular when there is an issue of dispute over whether the "debtor" is correctly identified, or the amount is in dispute. (For the same reasons, a affidavit signed by a CA employee, accompanied by a "Chaudhry" letter saying "Based on Chaudhry, this is all we have to give you as validation. Pay up." is not validation. Both are continued collection without sending validation, and use of deceptive in collection of a debt for misrepresenting that they are validation in accordance with FDCPA, when sent in response to a request for validation. The validation sent to Chaudhry was, in fact, consistent with this letter, obtained from the OC, and itemized.) From the FTC Wollman letter, way back in 1993: http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fdcpa/letters/wollman.htm "... Dear Mr. Wollman: This is in response to your letter of February 9, 1993 to David Medine regarding the type of verification required by Section 809(b) of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. You ask whether a collection agency for a medical provider will fulfill the requirements of that Section if it produces "an itemized statement of services rendered to a patient on its own computer from information provided by the medical institution . . .â? in response to a request for verification of the debt. You also ask who is responsible for mailing the verification to the consumer. The statute requires that the debt collector obtain verification of the debt and mail it to the consumer (emphasis mine). Because one of the principal purposes of this Section is to help consumers who have been misidentified by the debt collector or who dispute the amount of the debt, it is important that the verification of the identity of the consumer and the amount of the debt be obtained directly from the creditor. Mere itemization of what the debt collector already has does not accomplish this purpose. As stated above, the statute requires the debt collector, not the creditor, to mail the verification to the consumer. Your interest in writing is appreciated. Please be aware that since this is only the opinion of Commission staff, the Commission itself is not bound by it. Sincerely, John F. LeFevre Attorney Division of Credit Practices ..."
see, the amount isn't that outrageous for the current round... they pay ~$2.00; come up with $1998.00 profit... at most they pay ~20.00; come up with $1990 profit... if they have one person pay the bill, they can afford the few suits they get caught in...
And all their victims, assuming they don't get wise to them quickly, get to spend hours of time, file police reports on "id thefts" that aren't, send and pay for a bunch of CRRR letters, expose their identity info to increased risk of theft, worry about what other "fraudulent" accounts might be out there, pull and pay for credit reports to see, place fraud alerts on their credit reports, interferring with granting of new credit, etc, etc. Probably costs each consumer $20 to $40 or more, including time, assuming they aren't conned into paying a debt they don't owe, and another $20 in costs to have the police take the report, and maybe more if there are AG, BBB, or other complaints. $2 cost to Afni might result in $100 of economic costs to others for each "erroneously" dunned consumer. Supposedly, they bought 2M GTE/Verizon "debts". Another federal FDCPA lawsuit against Afni was filed today: http://dockets.justia.com/docket/court-hidce/case_no-1:2007cv00105/case_id-72878/
From today's BBB report on Afni: "The Bureau processed a total of 463 complaints about this company in the last 36 months, our standard reporting period. Of the total of 463 complaints closed in 36 months, 260 were closed in the last year." This is up by 9 from 251 closed in the last year as of 2-28-07, 5 days ago. That is running about 2 per day. That would be a monthly rate of about 60 per month. Measured back to the 2-26-07 report, 241 were closed in the last year for a difference of 19 over 7 days. That would be about 2.7 per day, or 81 per month. For comparison, if there were 463 complaints in 36 months, and 260 in the last year, then there were 203 over the first 2 years, or a rate of 101 per year, or 8.5 per month. The current complaint rate is about 10 times the baseline rate from three years to one year ago, consistent with the increase in Internet complaint report rate since the first of the year. The BBB report contains only generic warnings regarding the debt collection industry, with no specific warnings about Afni's practices. It also contains this little error: "If a consumer does not wish to be contacted by a collection agency via phone, he must state so by contacting the company in writing within thirty days. "
As long as you don't have to provide any proof, you can be "confident" you are right, even when your own information is inconsistent, and even when you get inquiries from an attorney general. What a bunch of B.S. http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/3894/page/5 "I am also being harassed by AFNI for a verizon account. The number which is being collected on was listed on the collections notice. Strangely, the number did not exist when I lived in the state for which the number is assigned (a new area code was assigned in 2000, and I moved to the west coast in 1999). I have complained to the attorney general. Afni responded to the attorney general's letter, stating that the number originated at an address in a town with a 777 prefix. The number on the collections letter has a different prefix.This number could not have originated at this address. Afni will not provide proof of the debt, but told the attorney general that it is confident that it is collecting from the correct person. Oddly, they are collecting on something that could never possibly have existed. WIll complain to the Federal Trade Commission next. I am interested in the class action lawsuit being mentioned, please contact me at this e-mail address."
Update Hello again! It's been around 30 days since Afni Collections and Afni Corporate got my letters. I got the green cards back, too. Neither place responded so I guess this is the end of it? Do I need to check my credit reports again? If so, how do I do it? I think only one place gave me the option to check my credit report again for free and that offer has probably expired. Plus I don't remember my username or password...
They might, or might not, just drop it. Nor can you assume that no response in 30 days means they have dropped it. Jam237, above, has reported sending them a cease communications on a similar questionable account a number of years ago, which they acknowledged and agreed to, yet they only just recently restarted collection attempts. Since it is, at least according to them based on your phone call, allegedly old (long past 7 years), presumably they should know not to report it. However, there are sufficient reports of various illegal collection activities that you cannot count on anything. Based on reports on ripoffreports.com and complaintsboard.com (over 200 so far), they should be building up a lot of AG, FTC, and BBB complaints. I have seen no information on any AG or FTC sites about complaints against Afni, however new complaints against them filed with BBB have been "closed" at a rate of about 2.7 per day, based on the limited info in the on-line BBB reports. That is about 10 times the rate in the prior two years. Federal FDCPA cases filed also appear to be increasing. (See above.) In addition, the rate of new reports, as opposed to reports of their reponses, appears to be tapering off, but that might be more based on their mailing rate. There are reports they bought 2M old GTE accounts from Verizon, and they might be planning to mail out batches, and handle or collect on them before going onto the next batch, just to pace the load on their call centers. However, don't lower your guard. There are multiple reports indicating that their reponses to a request for validation are something like either: 1) "We can't validate, but you have to provide us all this information, including your full identity info, police reports, etc. to prove it is not yours. And, oh, by the way, here is a convenient envelope to send in your payment, which is easier that what we are going to put you thru." (This is the path they were attempting to steer you into on the phone. FDCPA violation for continued collection without validation, and use of deception for misrepresenting consumer dispute rights under FDCPA.) 2) "Here is your validation. Pay us." Enclosed is some printout with a bunch of charges, no indication where it came from or whether it was actually obtained from the OC. (May be a fabrication, no way to know the source. Nothing to confirm the alleged identity of the party opening the account. May be FDCPA violation for deceptive collection.) 3) In one case, a complaint was made to a state AG, the AG sent them a letter, and they replied with essentially: "We are confident we are collecting from the correct person." (Might be FDCPA violation for continued collection without validation, use of deception to collect, failure to notify any party that a disputed debt is disputed, providing false or misleading information to law enforcement, etc. If they failed to "validate" with the OC, they have no legal reason to assume anything is valid, that there is ANY account from the OC in this name, or that there is even any amount owed. They cannot simply rely on their own records. They cannot be "confident" of the accuracy of the account, and it is deceptive to claim otherwise.) In other words, their reported response to a validation request has been to not provide it, yet to continue collection activities. Their response letters indicate they are fully aware they have received a validation request, even admitting they can't send anything. If the validation request was sent timely (within 30 days of receipt of their notice to the consumer) then this would be an FDCPA violation for continued collection. They appear to be treating a consumer's dispute of a debt as if it allows them to continue collection even after receiving a request for validation simply by replying and requesting a bunch of information from the consumer before they can "investigate". There are a number of reports of accounts traced to phone numbers in areas where the consumer never lived, and several that report finding Afni's inquiry on their credit reports. Afni may be using SSN information obtained from credit report inquiries to attempt to convince consumers they owe a debt, as several consumers have reported that Verizon shows no accounts under either their name or SSN. Note that this batch of GTE/Verizon accounts appears to be long past SOL, and past the 7 year reporting period, making any threats to either sue or report on your credit reports illegal under FDCPA. In the mean time, keep alert both for attempts to collect (including phone calls), and to any attempt to post negative information on your reports, including inquiries. They have an outstanding validation request to which they have not responded, on an account that you have disputed as not yours, they have your contact information, and they have not validated. Therefore they cannot assume the account or identifying information is valid, and they have no legitimate permissible purpose to even be pulling your reports. If any of your current creditors notifies you of a change of terms due to changing credit report information, follow up promptly to determine the cause. In short, at this point you have requested validation within 30 days under FDCPA, and they are free to walk away. Any response will determine what action you might take.
Any account which is branded by any of the V predecessors would be more than 7 years old, since V was born in 2000. I wonder if I should call A corporate and ask their General Council "Can you hear me now?" "Good"...
Okay then, I understand. I don't know what I would have done without this forum and your replies. The next time you hear from me it'll be lawsuit time. Thanks a lot for all your help, guys.
Just a related note to bump... Ontrack & anyone interested in seeing the second draft of the pleading re: AFNI, can go through to the URL in my signature. I have 4 of my current suits freshly converted to HTML. (3 early in the process, 1 filed.)
I assume you are already aware of the wide range of consumer complaints against NME. There were even arguments between current and ex-employees on ripoffreport.com. What is also striking is how little of their actual practices is visible in the BBB report. You would think that everything is always "resolved" or "closed", or the only problems are some flakey consumer who failed to acknowledge or accept a "reasonable" settlement.
