Nco

I am coming off a BAD experience with NCO. I settled on a Cap1 account and was told it would be deleted and paid check by phone.

They didn't delete and now will not do anything.

I consider it a learning experience. DV (CMRR) them and hope for the best. They are scum.

 

You will not get it. Jamie may tell you he personally sent it out.

I am battleing them right now and dont want to discuss it on here but trust me -they suck.

They are the only bad mark on my credit since I started cleaning it up. I have them a little scared becasue they're now sending my letters to the legal dept so I think I am getting somewhere.

I owe them nothing now so I am having a ball harrasing them and they dont like it!

NCO collection agent ' I dont have time for this'. I just keep the convo going. My plan is to take so much of the workers time they delete.

 

If they claim they sent their letter 2 days ago, then it is not validation in response to your request. They are required to send you a letter including your rights to dispute and request validation within 5 days of their first contact. Often CAs claim to have sent you the letters they are legally required to, when no such letter has been sent, or it has been sent to some other address.

Make your request disputing the debt in its entirety, and requesting validation, in writing, CRRR, and timely (now), to preserve your rights. If you wait more than 30 days, they may assume the debt is valid and continue to collect, report, etc, while if you send it now, they must stop collecting, including verifying to CRAs, until they provide validation.

If you believe this is not even your account, request additional information to determine this such as when the account was opened, name and address provided when opened, list of all orders shipped, including titles, dates shipped, amounts, addresses shipped to, etc. The account may be erroneously identified as yours, or be a result of id theft. See FDCPA. You also want to check your reports to see both if this account is showing up, and if any addresses or name variants that are not yours are showing up.

Did you have a Columbia House account? See the FTC site for their recent settlement over violations of the Telemarketting Sales Rule and the Do Not Call List, for the sort of activities they have been involved in.

http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2005/07/columbiahouse.htm

Also be aware that companies that do not adequately supervise their telemarketers or customer service people, may also have telemarketers or customer service people falsely opening accounts, placing orders, failing to close accounts when requested, etc, particularly when excessively "incentivized".

http://www.infoworld.com/article/05/08/24/HNspitzeraol_1.html

 

http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/ripoff154577.htm
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/ripoff150765.htm
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/ripoff149631.htm
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/ripoff148724.htm
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/ripoff148701.htm
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/ripoff147503.htm
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/ripoff147288.htm
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/ripoff140623.htm

and so on...

bbb.org seems to think their level of complaints is normal for their size.

 

Have you ever had an account with Columbia House?

In your dispute to NCO, be sure to send it CRRR. You want proof they received it, and when, to prove violations of FDCPA if they continue to collect, report on your CR, or sue without providing validation of the account. 2 weeks or so after your returned green card indicates they received your validation request, you will want to dispute any of their TLs on your credit reports with the CRAs. Obtain printed copies from the CRAs now.

If the account is not yours, dispute it as such. Request all information on the account including all orders placed, what for, amounts, and shipping addresses and dates.

 

Membership companies make it too easy for people to agree to "contracts", and get "free" stuff, in other people's names. Their offers have also been used for harassment, such as by ex-spouses and others. For example, see how little initial id checking Columbia House did in this case:

http://www.crimes-of-persuasion.com/Crimes/Business/against_business.htm

If you wanted to open a credit account with a bank, they would require your name, SSN, DOB, address, annual income, etc, and would pull a credit report to check it against, before opening an account and running the risk of loss if you aren't you. It's real money they may lose, and a substantial amount at that.

On a CD contract, the initial risk exposure is limited, and can be viewed as a marketting cost to reach people who may have little credit to verify anyway. There may be a problem, however, if the customer "defaults" after the loss leaders are sent, and the company tries to enforce a termination clause for failing to buy the agreed follow-on orders.

Now there is a claimed debt for, say, the remaining $80 of CDs not ordered. But is the company out that $80? Did they follow due dilligence to determine identity of the "customer" as if they could lose $80? Why should they? Those CDs were never shipped. This is a "debt" created by the contract terms. Just sell the "debt" to a JDB, for pennys on the dollar, and move on. The JDB can now "assume" that the debt is valid, and try to find someone to pay it. Of course the"debt" is not legitimate if the contract is fraudulent or forged, but for $80 how much interest would anyone get from law enforcement?

In effect, loose consumer contract verification policies encourage fraud. The CD house, and the JDB can both deny any knowledge that the account was fraudulent, so why should they have any liability for damages when they try to collect?

Pure junk.

 

Real simple, never talk to a C.A. If they are calling you, they should have sent a dunning notice. If they sent a notice, it must state your right to request validation. Therefore, request validation in writing. If they are calling,and they sent you a letter, tell them in your validation letter not to contact you by phone. Lastly, if possible, you might want to check with the original creditor and clear it up with them.

 

Since you have an account with CH, verify with them that they show no amount due. Get them to send you a letter or statement in writing to that effect. They may have screwed up and sent your account to collection in error.

 

Also be aware of this settlement made by NCO with FTC:

http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2004/05/ncogroup.htm

Although this involved claims of "re-aging" delinquent accounts reported to CRAs, the consent decree also included specific requirements to comply with FCRA, and maintain records to show that they are in compliance:

" 8. Defendants, their successors and assigns, shall within ninety (90) days of the date of entry of this Consent Decree implement a program, and maintain the program in place for five (5) years, to monitor all complaints received by defendants, either directly or by referral, regarding the alleged inaccuracy of any information reported by defendants to a consumer reporting agency, so that errors in reporting delinquency dates may be detected and corrected promptly. If this program reveals delinquency date reporting errors, defendants shall cease reporting the identified account or accounts to any consumer reporting agency until any errors are corrected."

If you find that they are not complying with law in any respect, or are failing to respond in a timely fashion, removing CRA entries when required, or even marking them in dispute, etc., you might send a complaint to FTC, along with a copy of your dispute with NCO, and a copy of your CRRR docs to show they received it.

FTC depends on NCO's own complaint collection records to audit and verify compliance. If NCO is not accepting, tracking, and correcting disputes under FCRA or FDCPA, they cannot comply with their settlement terms. For example, if NCO were "discouraging" consumers from disputing, such as by verbally telling them it was too late to dispute, that NCO had no obligation to respond to a dispute, that it could take months to get the records during which time the negative account would remain on their reports, by refusing to provide an address to dispute to, or by replying to disputes requesting validation with, say, an affidavit of fraud, or telling consumers they had to prove a debt was in error, NCO's complaint files would not accurately reflect actual consumer complaints, or NCO's handling of them.

The key phrase above is:
"Defendants, ... shall ...implement a program... to monitor all complaints received by defendants, either directly or by referral, regarding the alleged inaccuracy of any information reported by defendants to a consumer reporting agency,"

That is not limited to just the original "re-aging" complaint, nor does it require that your complaint to NCO be through their "official" address, that you may not know, or even that it be in writing, although you will want to send it CRRR, referencing any verbal dispute you made by phone. It also includes disputes thru CRAs forwarded to NCO for verification ("by referral").

To comply completely, they would have to educate ALL of their employees to route diputes, regardless of form, to a designated department or party who could ensure that adequate record of the dipute and its resolution was maintained for audit purposes. Existing likely employee behavior aimed at meeting collection goals by diverting consumer disputes to pressure for payment would likely undermine compliance.

 

CH is also under a stipulated judgement regarding "Do Not Call List" violations. Note that even if you are a customer, which allows a company to call you if you are on the national Do Not Call List, they must still maintain a list of numbers that consumers have specifically requested they not call, whether they are customers or not, under the TSR.

http://www.ftc.gov/os/caselist/0423078/050715comp0423078.pdf

If the problem is with CH, or CH has erroneously sent your account to collection with NCO, they appear to be a BBB member, with some record of resolving complaints. See www.bbb.org, and their NY address.