Commercial Investigations Debt collection scam RUN don't walk away! Van Nuys California
A fellow business owner was having trouble collecting outstanding checks and invoices from some of his clients. When we began having trouble collecting a check from one of our clients, this business owner gave us the information about this company that he would be using in the future to collect his debts. The company name is Commercial Investigations Inc.
My first contact with this company seemed on the up and up. Spoke to a nice young man named Bruce, who would be handling my case. I sent him the documentation that he requested, including a contract allowing them to persue the collection of this debt. I faxed the invoice, returned check for NSF and the banks statement to such. While I was on the phone with Bruce, he received the fax and told me some information about the client we were trying to collect from. I was impressed. Bruce told me that he would have some information for me as early three days from our initial contact. At the close of business on the day Bruce was to call, he hadn't so I called him. I first got suspicious when no one that answered the phone knew a Bruce person, but I was transferred to "Ed". Ed then proceeded to tell me that because the check came back to us NSF, and they had the client on the phone stating that he never intended to pay us, that we could now file charges and receive 3 times what the check that bounced was for, plus attorneys fees, and plus this company's fee of 20% of the judgement.
Ed was going to fax to me an affidavit, help me fill it out, then fax that, and a check for $750.00 for "good faith attorney's fees". NOW I am really feeling something is amiss.
I told Ed that I was not comfortable sending a stranger a check for this, or any amount of money. My husband entered the room, and picked up his cell, called our friend who is an attorney who told us that this was indeed a scam. Any law firm that feels that they will win a case for a client will NEVER take the money up front. They take their money when the judgement is awarded.
My husband then gets on the phone with "Ed" and my husband tells him that he is not comfortable sending him any money, and wants to wait till tomorrow to send the affidavit, etc. Ed then tells my husband that perhaps the law firm will only take $600 instead of the $750. My husband hangs up, I fax the company to the two fax numbers that I had, requesting that they NEVER contact us again.
Folks, if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck....IT IS a duck! Beware of this company. They are slick, and have a good answer for all your questions. I will be talking with our business friend who recommended this company at the start, and warn them as well. I can't believe that it almost sucked me in too.
Valerie
Charleston, South Carolina
U.S.A.
2 Updates & Rebuttals
Valerie
Charleston,South Carolina,
U.S.A.
maybe so, but I am wary
#3Author of original report
Thu, October 04, 2007
Thanks for the comment, but I am very wary of sending ANYONE $750 for "good faith" money for a lawyer. I know how much it costs to file the paperwork, etc. to get one of these judgements. What topped it off was the message left on the business answering machine after my husband and I decided not to proceed with litigation. It boardered on being threatening. A reputable company would NOT threaten another company. It just solidified in my mind that we did the right thing and didn't waste more money. But thanks for your reponse.
Tim
Valparaiso,Indiana,
U.S.A.
Not sure about your conclusions
#3Consumer Comment
Thu, October 04, 2007
I'm not sure if I agree with your conclusions, Valerie. But I can certainly see why you got a bad feeling about things, and why you came to the conclusion you did. You may well be right.
I don't find anything odd with you being transferred from Bruce's care to Ed. While it would certainly be ideal for them to have one person deal with your account, it may not be logistically possible.
When they told you that they could get you three times the amount of the debt (technically referred to as "treble damages") plus their attorney's fees, they were implicating that they intended to file a lawsuit. You can't get treble damages without a judgment.
Your husband's lawyer friend, who told you that no lawyer would ever ask for payment up front if they felt they could win the case, was wrong. First of all, no lawyer is EVER entirely confident that they will win any case. And few lawyers, outside of personal injury attorneys, will work on a contingency basis. I've in fact NEVER heard of a lawyer doing a contract/conversion case on contingency.
Further, lawyers are forbidden from "advancing funds" to a client. This means that all those little costs, such as filing fees, deposition fees, etc., have to be paid by the client prior to a judgment being rendered. So, to initiate litigation, they needed some money from you.
Ideally, the result of litigation would be everything this company claimed it could be. Three times the original debt plus attorney's fees. If such was the case, once your lawyer's received their attorney's fees from your opponent, you would be reimbursed for everything you paid in.
Nonetheless, I get a bad feeling from every collection agency. It's an industry filled with dirtbags. So I can see how you got a bad feeling, and you may have made the right decision.
Best of luck!