NCO FINANCIAL SYSTEMS INS threatening and harassing by phone on my job and at home Horsham Pennsylvania
This collection agency claims to collecting my debt owed to Capital One. This lady from NOC-Jeanette Hall,for the last2 months has been calling me on the job threathening and harassing me about paying this debt off. When she calls my co-workers think she is my family because she doesn't idenify her self.
I work at a hospital and yesterday I was working ICU,one on one care, and got called to the phone. I told her that I was in a crisis that I didn't have time to talk to her and I hung up. She left a message on my answering machine stating"Etta,hanging up the phone won't get rid of this. You need to call me back tonite or I will be calling your boss and I'll make them get you on the phone to talk to me." Three years ago I had a stroke so due to my health I had to drop down to 3 days a week. I am not married and I have no children.
I don't own my home,Ilive in a apt. I don't own my car, it belongs to dad and mom. She has asked me all these questions. This is the first time I have heard from anybody for 3 years on this account. I haven't paid on this acct. for 3 years due to the hardship. My medicine is $200.00 per month. She told me she want to hear about my sob story.She said she lost both of her feet in a auto accident. Two weeks ago she called me at work and I was very busy trying to get a couple of admissions filed into the computer.
When I answered the phone she said "Etta, good I caught you in time I am in the process of filling out papers to take guarna. my wages. Unless I can come up with $500.00." I her that I didn't have it that I had to pay my rent. She told me to borrow it or let my rent go or have a garage sale or do what ever I had to do to come up with the money. Everytime she calls me I get upset and end up with a migraine and end up numb and confused at times. I have had 6 headaches this month alone where I usually only average 1 or 2.
I called in sick today at work because of this . I feel numb all over and have a headache.She also wanted payment by checks over the phone. I told her I was not going to do this. I asked her for there address she would not give it me the first time.She said I didn't need it. She asked why I needed it. I told her that
I have a doctors statement to send her stating about health and being upset. She said it would do no good. At that time I never received a letter from them and a few days later one appeared.
Yesterday she said I had until noon today to respond.
Etta
Chillicothe, Ohio
U.S.A.
3 Updates & Rebuttals
Mike
Radford,Virginia,
U.S.A.
Some moral support. ..Their threats of legal actions are idle and illegal.
#4Consumer Comment
Sat, October 11, 2003
Maybe the editor rejected my previous response to this as it was a little over the top. I find it upsetting that you are becoming physically ill over this, and I wish you well.
1) Know the laws and use them. There are mumerous powerful laws on the books to protect people like you from vermin like them.
2) Don't let them get to you. When they call you uninvited, you have no obligation to talk at all, let alone be polite. When they call, do anything *except* talk about the alleged debt. Don't even listen to them; of course NEVER call back. Do all business by certified mail.
3) They're calling you begging for you to send money voluntarily because that's the only way they'll get any. The callers are paid on commission. Their only hope and purpose is for you to send money.
4) Their threats of legal actions are idle and illegal. No one can garnish wages by merely filling out a form. If that were true, don't you think they would have done it a long time ago? Even if they were to sue you and win (it may be already illegal for them to sue because of the SOL), you can still keep them from getting any money because you basically don't have any that the laws will allow them to take. That's why they just keep calling. Think of them as toothless little cube rats yipping at your feet hoping for crumbs. Kick them in the head a couple of times with well-placed letters (see (1) above) and they will sulk away.
5) Do not pay ANYTHING. Not $10.00. Not $0.10. Nada! If they get anything from you, they will just redouble their efforts trying to get more.
6) Their ultimatums about you having to respond immediately are not true, and just designed to stress you out. This has been going on for years, and time is fully on *your* side.
NCO may try to play a game by saying that you have some moral obligation to pay Capital One for the account you allegedly defaulted on. Consider these points:
* You have no proof that they have any rights to the Capital One account, or the exact amount owed. Do not admit anything about it. The laws require them to prove that there even *was* a Capital One account, and that you did not pay, and that NCO now has the rights to ask you to pay it. Often the companies cannot produce this proof. In this case, they must leave you alone.
* Research Capital One a little, and realize you shouldn't be crying any tears for them. Capital One got their money back a long time ago by writing it off of taxes and overcharging other customers.
* It is unlikely that *anything* you pay NCO will go back to Capital One. Companies like NCO typically buy the debt for a one-time (very low) price, and keep everything they collect on it.
Chloe
Spring Valley,California,
U.S.A.
Don't let them get away with that!!!
#4Consumer Comment
Thu, October 09, 2003
By law if you tell them to quit calling your place of buisness they have to stop or they are breaking the law, also they cannot call your home more then once a day, AND if you tell them you don't have the money it is harassment if they continue to call. They have to accept ANYTHING even if it is $10 a month.
Good Luck!!
Jeremy
San Jose,California,
U.S.A.
Creditor's may not abuse or threaten...
#4Consumer Comment
Thu, October 09, 2003
Well Emma,
I do feel the pain that you are going through. I to have dealt with many Collection lackeys in my time. With that said; I do hope that you have documented and saved these messages. All of this documentation is very important. When you send your doctors note, you should also write a letter to Cease and Desist any further contact to your WORK and home. This will stop the phone calls but not the debt. Remember the saying "out of sight, out of mind". This could present a problem for you down the road.
I HAVE COPIED AND PASTED THE LINK TO THE FTC'S WEBPAGE FOR FAIR DEBT COLLECTION. TAKE A LOOK AND LEARN WHAT RIGHTS YOU HAVE. KNOWLEDGE IS POWER AND IT SOUNDS LIKE JEANETTE HALL HAS LEARNED TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THOSE WHO ARE NOT QUITE CLEAR ON WHAT STEPS TO TAKE. KNOCK HER DOWN A PEG AND REPOND BACK WITH AUTHORITY.
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/fdc.htm
THESE ARE JUST A FEW OF THE TOPICS REGARDING YOUR RIGHTS... TO ME IT SOUNDS LIKE SHE HAS CROSSED THE LINE IN MORE THAN A FEW OF THESE TOPICS.
May a debt collector contact anyone else about your debt?
If you have an attorney, the debt collector must contact the attorney, rather than you. If you do not have an attorney, a collector may contact other people, but only to find out where you live, what your phone number is, and where you work. Collectors usually are prohibited from contacting such third parties more than once. In most cases, the collector may not tell anyone other than you and your attorney that you owe money.
What types of debt collection practices are prohibited?
Harassment. Debt collectors may not harass, oppress, or abuse you or any third parties they contact.
For example, debt collectors may not:
* use threats of violence or harm;
* publish a list of consumers who refuse to pay their debts (except to a credit bureau);
* use obscene or profane language; or
* repeatedly use the telephone to annoy someone.
Debt collectors also may not state that:
* you will be arrested if you do not pay your debt;
* they will seize, garnish, attach, or sell your property or wages, unless the collection agency or creditor intends to do so, and it is legal to do so; or
* actions, such as a lawsuit, will be taken against you, when such action legally may not be taken, or when they do not intend to take such action.
Debt collectors may not:
* give false credit information about you to anyone, including a credit bureau;
* send you anything that looks like an official document from a court or government agency when it is not; or
* use a false name.
Unfair practices. Debt collectors may not engage in unfair practices when they try to collect a debt. For example, collectors may not:
* collect any amount greater than your debt, unless your state law permits such a charge;
* deposit a post-dated check prematurely;
* use deception to make you accept collect calls or pay for telegrams;
* take or threaten to take your property unless this can be done legally; or
contact you by postcard.
Good luck