Complaint Review: Allen Lewis And Associates - Jacksonville Florida

Go to (((link redacted))) under fact sheet 27 for additional detail ... Fair play under the FDCPA also means a debt collector owes you the truth about who it is and what it intends to do. False statements and deceptive practices like the following are not allowed. A collector cannot: Claim to be an attorney or government employee when it is not. - Send you documents that look like legal papers when they are not. - State that forms sent to you are not legal documents when they are. - Say that you committed a crime. A debt collector threatened to sue me. Can it do that? A collection agency can file a lawsuit to collect a debt. However, among the many things a collector is not allowed to do is threaten you with a lawsuit just to get you to pay the debt. Examples of threats and deceptive practices prohibited by the FDCPA are when the collector: - Says it will garnish your wages or sell your property if it is not legal to do that. - Says it will sue you, if the collector doesn't intend to sue. - Is not truthful about the amount of money you owe. - Says you will be arrested if you don't pay the debt. - Threatens you with violence. CLICK here to see why Rip-off Report, as a matter of policy, deleted either a phone number, link or e-mail address from this Report.

Make sure that you file a complaint with the Florida Attorney General's Office! The following is a copy of what is posted on their web site: Case #: L04-3-1054 Subject of Invesitgation: Allen Lewis and Associates; Richard Steele Subject's Business: Collection Agency Allegation or issue being investigated: Collection agency employees identifiying themselves as attorneys. AG unit handling case: Economic Crimes Division in Jacksonville, FL Telephone: Voice: 904-348-2720 Fax: 904-348-2783 For Florida government agencies, SunCom Voice: 870-2720 For Florida government agencies, SunCom Fax: 870-2783 Mailing Address: Economic Crimes Division 1300 Riverplace Blvd. Suite 405 Jacksonville, FL 32207 Location: 1300 Riverplace Blvd. Suite 405 Here is the link to this investigation by the FL Attorney General's Office: http://myfloridalegal.com/lit_ec.nsf/investigations/99F86EE79CC3B41E85256EC3006699EF You should call them to find out what is going on with their investigation especially since it's a couple of years old.

Here is the owner's (Robert and Jeannie Hecht) e-mail address: [email protected] Their office phone number is 800-733-5322 and fax number is 904-265-8168. Here is their address: 1185 Lane Ave., Suite 5, Jacksonville, FL 32205 There is another address for them: 4040 Woodcock Drive Suite 132 Jacksonville, FL 32207

This is not an attorney's office! They have a pending license with the MN Dept. of Commerce for a collection agency's license. "ALLEN LEWIS ASSOCIATES INC Collection Agency PENDING". Attorneys do NOT need to obtain a license in MN to collect debts therefore; this cannot be an attorney's office. Mr. Donald Robertson (not Don Roberts as he told you) also has a pending license as a collector with the MN Dept. of Commerce. ROBERTSON , DONALD R Debt Collector PENDING This also means that he is NOT an attorney because individual attorneys do NOT need to register with the MN Dept. of Commerce to collect debts. Call the MN Dept. of Commerce at 1-800-657-3602 and let them know about this company's violations of the FDCPA and more specifically the threats from Don Robertson. Maybe they will decide not to grant this company's license thus saving MN citizens from this kind of abuse. FYI: It's a misdemeanor in most states for a person to pass themselves off as an attorney if they are not in fact a licensed attorney; it's called the unauthorized practice of law. You might want to file a complaint with your state Bar Association who may want to investigate this matter. Also, file complaints with your attorney general's office and continue to follow up with the FTC and your local State Attorney's office. They, especially should be upset that this collection agency has fraudulently tried to pass themselves off as an attorney with their office (which is criminal behavior as well as a violation of the FDCPA). Call your local Sherriff's department or police department and ask them if they have issued an arrest warrant against you; I bet they haven't. Then tell them why you need them to run your license and name for a warrant check and ask if you can file criminal charges against this guy and the company. FYI: Google the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). Read the part where it says that it's illegal for them to threaten you with imprisonment and to say that they are the States Attorney's office or any other governmental agency. Then Google "verification letter" and "cease communications letter" and send them one of both and send it Return Receipt Requested. If they continue along this course, find an attorney and sue them! Finally, if none of this works, you must have a local T.V. or radio news station who likes to do stories about these types of abuses; GO PUBLIC! Good Luck!