Complaint Review: Cross Country Bank - Boca Raton Florida

EDitor's Report: Unfortunately, Rip-off Report is seeing this as a disturbing trend among several companies, including insurance companies, credit card companies, mortgage companies, bank auto loans, but more distressing is the inclusion of banks, which are governed by the Treasury Department. This is a newly discovered revenue stream that more and more of Corporate America is discovering they can get away with! Ask yourself, "If the shoe was on the other foot and consumers had figured out a way to take money from corporations, they would have their huge legal departments harass and otherwise take punitive actions against the culprits. This is no different than consumers who steal from companies, except the companies are bigger, have more resources, and hide behind their attorneys. It's time to hold BIG BUSINESS accountable and not let them get away with their amorality, fraud, and theft from hard-working Americans. WHAT CAN I DO? My payments are always made on time, but when I get my next statement, ..it's always marked like I made the payment late and I am charged additional Late Payment fees SOLUTION TO YOUR PROBLEM About 7 days before your payment is due, take your payment stub and your check already made out with your account number on it to a BIG law firm in your area. Definitely take this to a large law firm.. When you get there, ask to see a lawyer. Ask them to do you a simple favor that might be a very lucrative case for them. Tell them, here in my right hand is a stamped, addressed envelope and in your left hand is a check make out to the company that you owe the payment to. Simply ask the firm to mail this for you 7 days before your payment bill/stub says it's due. Then, ask them to mail it for you again if you come back the next month with late payment fees marked on the bill. During the following month, return to the attorney's office with your next envelope, check and, the late payment fee. Ask the lawyer if their office would be willing to sue them for you, because a class action lawsuit is a definite possibility. Then, notify the attorney about all the Rip-off Reports on this company. Explain that if the attorney would like to contact us here at the Rip-off Report, we will make arrangements with them to contact additional victims. They should also know that we would notify the victims to contact the lawyers with their sworn affidavits as to what the company has done to them, so that they can join a class action lawsuit if one is filed. Additionally, any attorney who is interested in suing a particular company on this website may contact us directly. It is generally inappropriate to solicit business using this website other than through prior arrangement. This is largely because we need to ensure, the best we can, that our readers are not being taken advantage of, once again. If you see a company with a good number of reports, we have the database of contact information for those victims. Often we have additional information which does not appear on the Rip-off Reports. We are anxious and willing to join forces to stand up for the rights of consumers and help them get justice. ED Magedson [email protected]

I HAVE SOME HELPFUL ADVICE FOR YOU, DIANE, AND FOR ANYONE ELSE USING AN ACCOUNT ASSISTANCE PROGRAM SUCH AS A CONSOLIDATION OF THEIR DEBTS.

First thing's first, Diane. I don't understand why you would have received a call from CCB if you were not delinquent at the time. It is impossible, our dialer system will not allow us to contact a "current" account.

I was also wondering if you took the time to call the "877#, blah blah blah" the reps, or automated system leaves on your machine, or with your children or co-workers to understand WHY your minimum amount for the proposal kept rising? Because it looks like the only reason you called was to complain of the calls...

It is because you didn't make a payment, therefore causing a late/and/or/overlimit fee to assess on your account, thus causing the balance to rise. The policy here is that a proposal must be at least $35 or 3% of the current balance to be accepted. You were told to send a couple dollars more each time, because of the ever rising balance, due to the non-payment fees, and or others being added on, not to mention the interest, and the slow delivery of the proposal.

The best way to submit a proposal is to have the account assistance program FAX over a copy of a proposal to ensure timely receipt...then send in the proposed amount to make sure it will be accepted, by the agreed upon "due date."

Finally, about the "third-party" contact about the account you state some of our reps made with your children and co-workers, of course we are not to disclose the fact of a debt being owed. It is perfectly legal to call you at work, or at any number you provide on your application. The FDCPA is a set of laws designated for "Third Party Collection Agencies" ... which CCB is not. The reps calling on your account to collect on your debt are a First Party, therefore, the FDCPA do not regulate us...however we do try to abide by these laws as much as possible, to keep good faith with our customers.

Please do everything you can to contact the correct agencies regarding Cross Country Bank. I have seen friends be treated wrong by this company and I was harrassed because a friend called them from my cellphone and they kept my phone number on record, but this is against the law!! Below is and excerpt from the Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act

805. Communication in connection with debt collection [15 USC 1692c]

(a) COMMUNICATION WITH THE CONSUMER GENERALLY. Without the prior consent of the consumer given directly to the debt collector or the express permission of a court of competent jurisdiction, a debt collector may not communicate with a consumer in connection with the collection of any debt --

(1) at any unusual time or place or a time or place known or which should be known to be inconvenient to the consumer. In the absence of knowledge of circumstances to the contrary, a debt collector shall assume that the convenient time for communicating with a consumer is after 8 o'clock antimeridian and before 9 o'clock postmeridian, local time at the consumer's location;

(2) if the debt collector knows the consumer is represented by an attorney with respect to such debt and has knowledge of, or can readily ascertain, such attorney's name and address, unless the attorney fails to respond within a reasonable period of time to a communication from the debt collector or unless the attorney consents to direct communication with the consumer; or

(3) at the consumer's place of employment if the debt collector knows or has reason to know that the consumer's employer prohibits the consumer from receiving such communication.

(b) COMMUNICATION WITH THIRD PARTIES. Except as provided in section 804, without the prior consent of the consumer given directly to the debt collector, or the express permission of a court of competent jurisdiction, or as reasonably necessary to effectuate a postjudgment judicial remedy, a debt collector may not communicate, in connection with the collection of any debt, with any person other than a consumer, his attorney, a consumer reporting agency if otherwise permitted by law, the creditor, the attorney of the creditor, or the attorney of the debt collector.
(Taken from the full text of the law at http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fdcpa/fdcpact.htm)

PLEASE, contact the Better Business Bureau (CCB is a member, so chances are just by contacting the BBB they will resolve your issues.) Also, contact the FTC, the governing authority of the Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

Since I am not a consumer of CCB, I feel as though there is not much I can do but educate others. This will never stop if people don't report this behavior to the proper authorities. Alert the right people and this company and their immoral and illegal practices can be done away with once and for all. I am more than happy to help with links and phone numbers on the law and to help get the ball rolling. Just post your questions below and I will respond so everyone will have the answers.