Complaint Review: Nco Collection Agency - Philadelphia Pennsylvania

I'm complaining that NCO Financial's automated system keeps abusing me and calling even after I sent them a certified cease and desist letter. I asked them to stop calling me and they don't seem to care or listen so the certified letter didn't help at all! I should change my phone number if this continues they are very abusive and ruining my life! This abuse and harrassment is illegal and has to stop immediately! someone please file a lawsuit now and put these creeps out of business now!!

Steve..I understand you weren't picking on me or insulting my intelligence. I'm a big girl. As to what I've done to protect us from these scum suckers. 1.)Closed our checking account..2.)Sent resistered letters to all NCO addresses on the letter we finally recieved from them. Stating they cease collection, "request verification of this debt or a copy of a judgement with a name and address of the original creditor, and a copy of the contract my husband 'supposedly' signed." I also demanded they 'cease communications'. 3.)Notified my husbands employer of the harassing phone calls from NCO. He called them himself and said if they didn't comply..he would block their #. Don't know if he can do that, but my husband hasn't heard from them since. This may be the calm before the storm, but I'm not going to lose any sleep over this. I've heard too many times that the burden of proof is on them. Let them prove to me this is a bona fide debt first..before they attempt to take us to court.

I was hoping there was something she could do with the OC ..... Hey while I got you on the horn here, have you ever seen or heard of a credit bureau using permanent black marker to block the cert number on the receipt receipt? i sent a couple of things to equifax and when the green card comes back the cert number is blacked out on both sides (the area where the post office puts the cert number AND on the opposite side with the machine hash marks) Equifax is the only one that does that ....

P, The fact that she made a payment supercedes all of the trivial FDCPA violations on the part of NCO. She still affirmed the debt by making that payment. She can still persue any avenues she wishes in respect to any FDCPA violations, but that is a totally separate issue from here validating the debt by making the payment. I hate to see her stuck too, but now all we can do is minimize the damages. For example, any bank account that was used to make a payment to them should be closed IMMEDIATELY and a new account opened at a DIFFERENT BANK. This is VERY important, as they will clean her out as soon as they move for a summary judgement and get it. And they will.

Is it possible for her to say she received new information from the provider and then dispute it since the provider states SHE DOES NOT OWE??? It is probably a technicality but would something like that work ... NCO is so very sleazy I hate to see her stuck .... wasn't NCO supposed to follow up with written documentation within 5 days? Unless I missed that and I may bave - they didn't follow up with ANY information to her and that is supposed to be a violation, correct?

Lindy, I was just informing you of what the law says, and what I know NCO will do. It makes no difference if you like it or agree with it, under the law, when you made that payment, you legally affirmed the debt. This is a fact. It is the law. Now, with that law in mind, NCO now WILL sue you. Count on it. I was trying to give you a heads up on what IS going to happen. That was all. I was not picking on you or trying to insult you.

Lindy, I was just informing you of what the law says, and what I know NCO will do. It makes no difference if you like it or agree with it, under the law, when you made that payment, you legally affirmed the debt. This is a fact. It is the law. Now, with that law in mind, NCO now WILL sue you. Count on it. I was trying to give you a heads up on what IS going to happen. That was all. I was not picking on you or trying to insult you.

Lindy, I was just informing you of what the law says, and what I know NCO will do. It makes no difference if you like it or agree with it, under the law, when you made that payment, you legally affirmed the debt. This is a fact. It is the law. Now, with that law in mind, NCO now WILL sue you. Count on it. I was trying to give you a heads up on what IS going to happen. That was all. I was not picking on you or trying to insult you.

Lindy, I was just informing you of what the law says, and what I know NCO will do. It makes no difference if you like it or agree with it, under the law, when you made that payment, you legally affirmed the debt. This is a fact. It is the law. Now, with that law in mind, NCO now WILL sue you. Count on it. I was trying to give you a heads up on what IS going to happen. That was all. I was not picking on you or trying to insult you.

PUT THE CERTIFIED MAIL NUMBER ON THE LETTER ITSELF AND DO NOT SIGN THE LETTER OR YOUR SIGNATURE MIGHT APPEAR ON DOCUMENTS YOU NEVER SIGNED .... ***** BY THE WAY, i RECENTLY HAVE SENT TWO THINGS TO EQUIFAX CERTIFIED RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED AND EQUIFAX IS USING PERMANENT BLACK MARKER TO MAKE THE CERTIFIED NUMBERS TOTALLY UNREADABLE ***** WITH THIS I WOULD SUGGEST PUTTING THE CERTIFIED NUMBER SOMEWHERE ON THE GREEN RETURN RECEIPT OR MAKE A MARK ON THE GREEN CARD, MAKE A COPY AND THEN SEND IT ...... I may try to acid wash Equifax's permament blank ink to show the cert number ..... 1. Send a letter to the allegedly OC (the hospital, doctor's office who ever) and have them answer IN WRITING what the bill is for and ask for specifics (time, date, procedure, individual etc). When they say, what bill?, you now have ammunition against the agency. Since the medical facility has stated you owe nothing you might want to put in the CERTIFIED letter to them that NCO states they are collecting on their behalf and probably advise them if this is incorrect, the legal authorities of the state need to be alerted. 2. you need to send a CERTIFIED validation request to both of the NCO places advising them this is not your bill (per the hospital) and for them to supply you with signed admission papers, all the doctors involved, etc etc etc. you may be hosed because you validated the debt (without knowing it) by making payment arrangements. after documentation has been supplied to you then validate the dates, times with a know hospital or doctor's office visit ...

As I stated..other than phone calls, we've never recieved anything from NCO in the mail with a return address. I'd like to be able to send a 'cease communications' letter to the correct office. And I'd also like to see something in writing that this is a valid debt, as my husband has free medical coverage. Also, when I called the hospital where this bill originated, they had never heard of NCO and stated they don't do business with them. I don't give a darn if I made payment arrangements..this whole thing smells like a dead rat to me

Lindy, First of all, I am confused as to why you say " A cease communications letter is impossible at this time". WHY?? Do you not have the 5 bucks and the 15 minutes? I cannot see why it would be impossible, please explain. Now for your real problem. When you made that payment and/or agreement to pay, you affirmed the debt and reset the SOL. That debt is now legally collectable, and they can and will sue you for it. Guaranteed. I am very familiar with NCO. Get a lawyer immediately. Find a way. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> "I have called my bank to do a 'stop payment' on the check. And informed NCO of the fact. The harrassing phone calls have not stopped, and are getting worse. I have no address for NCO, as we've never recieved anything from them thru the mail. A'cease communications' letter is impossible at this time, otherwise I would happily send them one. All we can do is hang up on them. I do appreciate all the feed back I've gotten. Very useful information. Thank you. Lindy" Lindy - mcloud, Oklahoma U.S.A. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

NCO Financial Systems**** ( Also goes by the name of NCO Portfolio Management) 507 Prudential Rd Horsham, PA 19044-2308 Phone: (215) 441-3000 Fax: (215) 441-3923 Web Address: ncogroup.com Other Offices: 150 Crosspoint Pkwy CrossPoint Business Park Getzville, NY 14068-1602 Phone: (716) 404-2100 Fax: (716) 404-2120 And many more... Bud Says... We Date Stamp Every Time an Agency Gets a New Consumer Complaint; We Need to Set This One on an Automatic System to Save Our Web People Some Wear and Tear... ONE OF AMERICA'S WORST COLLECTION AGENCYS! ******** CONSUMER ABUSE ALERT ********** NCO Group to Pay Largest FCRA Civil Penalty to Date One of the nation's largest debt-collection firms will pay $1.5 million to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) by reporting inaccurate information about consumer accounts to credit bureaus. The civil penalty against Pennsylvania-based NCO Group, Inc. is the largest civil penalty ever obtained in a FCRA case. According to the FTC's complaint, defendants NCO Group, Inc.; NCO Financial Systems, Inc.; and NCO Portfolio Management, Inc. violated Section 623(a)(5) of the FCRA. The law specifies that any entity that reports information to credit bureaus about a delinquent consumer account that has been placed for collection or written off must report the actual month and year the account first became delinquent. In turn, this date is used by the credit bureaus to measure the maximum seven-year reporting period the FCRA mandates. The provision helps ensure that outdated debts debts that are beyond this seven-year reporting period do not appear on a consumer's credit report. Violations of this provision of the FCRA are subject to civil penalties of $2,500 per violation. The FTC charges that NCO reported accounts using later-than-actual delinquency dates. Reporting later-than-actual dates may cause negative information to remain in a consumer's credit file beyond the seven-year reporting period permitted by the FCRA for most information. When this occurs, consumers' credit scores may be lowered, possibly resulting in their rejection for credit or their having to pay a higher interest rate. NCO is so bad, that in 2003, they have been sued 40 times for violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). These suits are usually filed when consumers are abused in violation of state and federal debt collection laws. NCO is a money-mill, gobbling up competitors, buying portfolios of old debts for pennies, and expanding globally. These money-beggars are making their bottom-line profits at the expense and abuse of consumers. One wonders how many lawsuits are NOT being filed because consumers do not know their rights or that NCO CAN be held accountable for their illegal debt collection practices. Apparently, NCO is not spending enough time and money to properly train their debt collectors in accordance with law, the FDCPA. Do they hire any derelict that may be in-between court and treatment dates simply to harass, abuse, and oppress consumers? There is no mention of drug testing at their web site, so can you be hired at NCO if one has bad habits and a need for fast-cash. This must be a 'dream-job' for anyone with a prison record, drug habit, or any con artist out to defraud some fast money off unsuspecting consumers. Are you aware of the personal consumer information these money beggars have access to? I shudder to think how much information is being illegally used at agencies such as NCO. You should be VERY nervous about the type of individuals who have this unprecedented and open access to ALL of your personal information. It's just a matter of time until collectors start calling with accents from countries like India, Pakistan and....(ooohhh my gawd!!) NCO's CEO, Michael J. (kinky) Barrist seems to be astonishing Wall Street (NASDAQ:NCPM) with his financial wizardry. He certainly appears to be pumping up the bottom line. (One lawsuit at a time?) In my experience, this type of greed and consumer abuse will catch up with NCO, just as it did with Commercial Financial Systems (CFS) and Outsourcing Solutions Inc (OSI). Both operations were out of control just prior to their filing for bankruptcy protection. CFS's top brass is facing federal criminal charges in highly anticipated court proceedings scheduled for later this year. If you are receiving abuse from NCO, contact me for referral to a local consumer law professional in your area. NCO, with $800+million in revenues last year, has more money than a South American drug cartel, so use the law to make them pay when they violate the laws and your consumer rights. Do not let NCO's under-trained, uneducated and FDCPA lacking debt-collectors make a paycheck at your expense. Big agencies pay big salaries to their ego-driven brass. NCO should spend a lot more time training their collectors and dealing with consumer complaints, in this case BIGGER does NOT mean BETTER! (Except for Kinky and his top brass team of money beggars) budhibbs.com

I have called my bank to do a 'stop payment' on the check. And informed NCO of the fact. The harrassing phone calls have not stopped, and are getting worse. I have no address for NCO, as we've never recieved anything from them thru the mail. A'cease communications' letter is impossible at this time, otherwise I would happily send them one. All we can do is hang up on them. I do appreciate all the feed back I've gotten. Very useful information. Thank you. Lindy

Lindy, Are you crazy? WHY would you pay something that you don't even know if you owe or not? And, this will not stop the calls, it will make them worse, and even after the debt is paid off, they will "find" another old debt of yours for you to pay, as you are now tagged as an easy mark. NEVER call, or speak to ANY debt collector on the phone! NEVER! It will never do anything positive for you. It will ALWAYS make things worse! Immediately upon the first call from any debt collector, send a CEASE COMMUNICATIONS letter to them as per your rights under the FDCPA. You DO have a LEGAL RIGHT to stop collections calls! Also, paying that old debt can actually hurt your credit score as you just made the negative more recent. NEVER pay an old debt without getting full DEBT VALIDATION from the collection agency.