Complaint Review: NCO Financial Systems Inc. NCO Group - Horsham Pennsylvania

A quick internet search reveals that I am among hundreds of consumers contacted by NCO just within the last 30 days. Another quick search provided me with a plethora of information about NCO and its illegal, unfair, deceptive and misleading debt collection tactics, as well as the federal and state sanctions that have been levied against NCO for violating federal and state law. NCO entered into an Assurance of Voluntary Compliance agreement with the Pennsylvania Attorney General's office in January of 2006, in which they agreed to terminate their deceptive and misleading collection practices, as well as "discipline" employees/representatives who violate state and federal law, the FCRA and the FDCPA. Clearly, this is a minor and irrelevant blip on the NCO radar, as they are obviously continuing to deceive and intimidate consumers into paying tens of thousands of dollars on expired, discharged, resolved, or, as in my, case non-existent debt. It is illegal for a creditor to sell old debt (beyond the statute of limitations for legal action - check with your state for this information) and/or debt that is no longer legally collectible to collection agencies. Further, a debt CANNOT BE RENEWED unless you make a payment on an account or enter into a new agreement to begin making payments. The purchasing of old debt (a common practice among collection agencies for pennies on the dollar) does not renew the debt, and letters and phone calls do not renew a debt. Many times collection agencies attempt to renew a debt effective with their purchase of the debt or from making contact with the consumer. This too is illegal. The statute of limitations begins to run thirty (30) days from the DATE YOU BECAME DELINQUENT with the original creditor, as does the seven-year period for posting this information to your credit report. If you make a payment or agree to make payments, the statute begins to run all over again, as well as the seven-year period of time for posting collection activity to your credit reports. Once this time has passed, they can no longer post this information to your credit report, and must remove it if they have.

I received correspondence from NCO on December 14, 2007, in which they informed me that they are "attempting to collect a debt" of nearly $13,000. The interest alone on this account (5%) exceeds $5,600, which tells me that the statute of limitations for legal action most certainly expired many years ago, as did the seven-year period of time for reporting it to the major credit bureaus. The "former creditor" that NCO alleges I owe this money to is "Chase/Assignee of Providian", and it appears, based on the account number, that this is some type of Master Card account.

It took a couple of hours on the phone with NCO, including being hung up on when I refused to give my social security number. I finally reached a woman in the "Chase/Providian Department" who tried to convince me that this was an account that had not been included in bankruptcy proceedings. Of course, this is false and I told her so. She insisted that the account was legitimate, but, not surprisingly, when I asked for evidence of this debt - which under federal and state law a collection agency MUST give you or they cannot move forward with any collection action - she said they could not provide me with that information. She eventually, very reluctantly, admitted that the letter I had received was sent "in error", and that there is no such debt in my name owed to anyone, including Chase/Providian.

I do not believe that this letter was sent as the result of so-called "error". In my opinion, and in violation of the law, NCO attempted to elicit a very large sum of money from me, even going so far as to make a special "offer" to repay "only" 50% of the amount due in three installments, knowing that no such debt or account existed in my name. The collective minds of those who oversee NCO's collection activites clearly believe that the risk of violating state and federal law, as well as disregarding their Assurance of Voluntary Compliance agreement, is low compared to the potential benefit of intimidating and deceiving thousands of unsuspecting and uninformed consumers into paying tens of thousands of dollars that they do not owe. Of course, were NCO to take the necessary steps to verify the validity and legality of any such debts before sending out these "erroneous" collection letters, it would seriously damage their profit margin. Sadly, there are many people who will be frightened enough to pay some amount of money to the crooks at NCO.

I would also strongly suggest that consumers get a copy of all three of their credit reports. You are entitled to one free report each year from all three major credit bureaus. There is only one website that is endorsed by the Federal Trade Commission for providing credit reports - www.annualcreditreport.com

Thoroughly check your report for any suspicious activity and any unauthorized "inquiries" on your credit reports. You may dispute what is incorrect with each credit bureau and they will conduct an investigation and advise you of the results. I discovered an unauthorized inquiry conducted on one of my credit reports by NCO in August of this year. Consumers must authorize or give consent before anyone can access or obtain their credit report. A business must have a "permissible purpose" for viewing, accessing or receiving your credit report. In my opinion, NCO conducted this unauthorized review of my credit report to see how "collectible" I might be.

Educate yourself with knowledge and information. Always take notes, record dates and times, and get names of whomever you speak to from a collection agency or any other business. Document, document, document everything. It is my hope that all the information that is available on the internet, and that which has been provided on this site, will help others stand up to NCO, to hang tough and not be intimidated or coerced by their deceptive and misleading collection tactics. DO NOT PAY THEM ANYTHING AND DO NOT AGREE TO PAY THEM ANYTHING!!! Do not give them your social security number, and only use the account number they have assigned to you in their correspondence. Be vague when responding to their questions: You do not have to respond to their questions, they, however must answer yours and they MUST provide you with DOCUMENTED EVIDENCE OF ANY DEBT THEY ALLEGE THAT YOU OWE. If they do not provide you with this information, they cannot legally go forward with any collection actions. Check the Consumer Protection Agency website for more information on your rights at www.ftc.gov/credit. Send a letter to NCO telling them to terminate any and all contact with you by mail and/or by phone, and they must comply under federal law.

Good luck - I was fortunate to get my issue resolved. very quickly. However, I was told that I had to send a written request to NCO in order to receive written confirmation that the debt they were trying to collect is non-valid and that NCO has deleted and removed all of my information from their files. Sending your complaints regarding NCO to:

Lisa Signore, Vice President

NCO Group Legal Compliance

507 Prudential Road

Horsham, Pennsylvania 19044

Additional company contacts at the same Prudential Road address are:

Michael Barrist, President, NCO Group

Joshua Girdin, Senior Vice President, General Counsel, NCO Group

Include a copy of any correspondence they sent you. I also filed complaints with the Attorneys General in Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey and Michigan, as well as with the Federal Trade Commission, and the Better Business Bureau in Pennsylvania. Be sure to include a copy of NCO's letter to you with your complaints. Most of these agencies have a system for online complaints as well.

KLF

Westland, Michigan

U.S.A.