Complaint Review: NCO Financial Systems - Horsham Pennsylvania

NCO CONTINUES TO VIOLATE THE FDCPA. WE NEED TO TAKE ACTION:

I worked for NCO for several years and have read several of the Rip-Off Reports on this company. I have always tried to assist those who may not be fully versed in debt collections laws. Several of the consumers appear to have legitimate claims against NCO Financial Systems and its subsidiaries. What is important for you as a consumer is know your rights. Under the FDCPA and FCRA, you have the right:

1.To dispute the validity of a debt

2.Request licensure information regarding the debt collection agency

3.Request that the collection agency limit or stop all communications with you whether the debt is valid or not

4.In many states, there are state laws that limit the amount of contact the can be made by the debt collection company to an alleged debtor

5.As a consumer, you have the right to be protected under the FCDPA laws and regulations as any violation by a debt collection company could result in punitive damages

6.As a consumer, you have the right to credit reporting data to be accurate or removed within the time requirements as outlined by the law (Fair Credit Reporting Act - FCRA)

Therefore, some consumers have expressed concerns as they may or may not owe the alleged debt. The FDCPA protects you regardless of whether the debt is valid.

There have been so many questions as to NCO's ability to continue doing business in the face of tens of thousands of consumer complaints and federal and state investigations. In some states, Offices of the Attorney General have investigated the collection giant and based on their findings filed lawsuits against NCO. A few years ago, the company paid $1.5 Million dollars in fines (the terms of this settlement can be found on the internet).

Unsuspecting consumers are not the only alleged debtors affected by NCO's abhorrent violations of the law. As an employee of the company, my credit was adversely affected when there were multiple erroneous entries made by NCO/Medclear. I disputed these entries only after my overall credit score suffered. After another NCO colleague of mine requested that the a collector cease and desist contact with her, the collector first badgered my colleague then unlawfully threatened to report her to Human Resources in an attempt to collect the alleged debt. This harassment lead to my colleague filing an in-house collector complaint which was handled in the same department in which we worked.

Since my time at NCO, I have visited websites and read so many complaints from consumers who really are unaware of their rights under federal and state law. Any shrewd, unethical or undisciplined debt collector can use an alleged debtor's lack of knowledge to consciously harass, intimidate or otherwise badger that consumer without any fear of reprisal.

The only way for this to stop is if this company is held liable for the vast number of violations committed and even reported on this and other websites. Many on this site want to know how NCO can be stopped. They can be stopped by government agencies demanding adherence to the regulations outlined in the FDCPA and FCRA. Federal and State lawmakers will have an interest in protecting the public from this type of barbaric, overtly-aggressive and unlawful business practices, but only though the diligence of those who are aggrieved.

I uploaded a story about several unlawful and questionable business practices that are being conducted in NCO's home office in Horsham, Pennsylvania. These actions have lead to investigations in Pennsylvania, Texas and California. If you believe you have been aggrieved by this company, you can fight back by joining the growing number of consumers that are fed up with NCO. If your rights have been violated, you are protected under law and have a right to seek punitive damages to make you whole.

If you believe you have been injured by the abuses of NCO, I ask that you feel free to contact me to discuss what you can do to be made whole. You don't have to be subjected to further harassment, embarrassment or intimidation. The law will protect you and, as previously stated, you may be entitled to punitive damages and other monetary awards as determined by the law. Please contact me through this website and I promise to do whatever I can to help you. NCO is not above accountability for violations of the law. Together, state and nationwide, we can make certain they are held responsible for the myriad of violations discussed on this board. Please contact me with your story so we can move forward to stop these unlawful debt collection tactics and abuses. This website is very useful, but what will get also get results is litigation the only true deterrent to NCO's conduct. As a former employee, utilizing the legal system to resolve these disputes proves the most effective way to fight this company.

MY ORIGINAL RIP-OFF REPORT

NCO Continues to Violate the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act

NOTE TO ALL CONSUMERS REGARDING NCO FINANCIAL SYSTEMS ARE YOUR RIGHTS MAY HAVE BEEN VIOLATED:

A man in Texas is suing NCO Financial Systems Inc. under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), claiming in his suit that NCO representatives called his place of employment and informed the man's boss they were calling for a debt he owed. The alleged debt was for a $47 unauthorized, fraudulent charge made by someone else on the plaintiff's Wal-mart credit card.

In Donnie Schakosky v. NCO Financial Systems, filed in the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Texas, on Aug. 30, Schakosky claims that his boss told the NCO representative that Schakosky was not allowed to receive personal calls of that nature at work and asked that NCO not call Schakosky at that number.

NCO completely ignored these requests and continued to call Mr. Schakosky at this workplace, the lawsuit charges. NCO's calls were repeated and harassing. These calls have affected Schakosky's job performance and caused him to suffer a loss of reputation with his employer.

The suit claims NCO's representatives told Schakosky that it would report the debt to the credit bureaus, making it impossible for Schakosky to buy anything in the future, and told himit would garnish his wages if he did not pay the debt.

NCO's activities violated nine sections of the FDCPA regarding unlawful communications, harassment and abuse and false or misleading representations, according to the suit.

The lawsuit also claims that NCO's conduct violated sections of the Texas Debt Collection Act and Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act and that, under state common law claims, NCO invaded Schakosky's privacy by way of intrusion that was unreasonable, unjustified or unwarranted.

Schakosky is demanding a jury trial and is seeking actual and punitive damages, litigation and court costs, and attorney's fees.

Stories like this are becoming wide spread. The problem is, as a former employee of NCO Financial Systems in Horsham, Pennsylvania, I received an education on how this debt collection giant violates the FDCPA and several state statutes. You may have already been a victim.

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act protects consumers from collection agency misconduct including harassment, abuse and false reporting of credit information. Unfortunately, NCO has been found liable for their abhorrent abuses and violations of the FDCPA. A few years ago, the company paid estimated fines totaling $1.5 million and has been the subject of investigations by several states including Pennsylvania, Texas and California. Reports of collector abuses are becoming more common as this giant continues to acquire smaller collection agencies and firms.

Among some of the questionable collection practices was NCO Portfolio Management's purchase of Chase Providian debt. In many cases, these debts were not valid, released in a previous bankruptcy or fell into federal and state statutes of limitations. Yet, only paying pennies on the dollar for the debt, NCO quickly began to collect on this old debt regardless of its validity. While acting as a correspondence analyst for NCO, I notated several accounts where the company illegally attempted from consumers who had declared bankruptcy over a decade earlier. Chase Providian was unable to provide NCO with bankruptcy information, but senior management still proceeded with debt collection practices even though there was reasonable evidence that the Chase Providian debts were not valid. Several consumer complaints and disputes poured in by the thousands, but NCO in many cases maintained the unverifiable debt was valid and continued its pursuit of invalidated debt that in some cases was two decades old.

NCO's violations did not stop with purchasing old debts and illegally attempting to collect on them. In the fall of 2005, in order to circumvent FDCPA statutes, possible legal action and fines, top executives in the Horsham, Pennsylvania office made the decision to store nearly 25,000 consumer and attorney letters and correspondence with Iron Mountain, a third party vendor, rather than respond to the disputes and complaints. The efforts were thwarted when security was alerted only hours before the correspondence was to be shipped. The decision to silence consumers by storing outdated mail could have resulted in thousands of disputes being ignored.

Recently, in December 2007, the company stored another 20,000 consumer letters on their electronic imaging system. You could have been one of these consumers who suffered higher interest rates, the reporting of incorrect and damaging credit bureau information or illegally subjected to collection activity as your request for a dispute may have not been handled in a timely fashion.

Earlier this spring, top NCO executives met with management and supervision to discuss the increase in legal action due to violations of FDCPA committed by NCO employees. Again, if your requests for harassing phone calls to stop or demand that incorrect credit bureau information not be removed have been ignored, you are most likely a victim of NCO and you have a right to have your grievance heard. Therefore, you need to educate yourself regarding your rights under the FDCPA. Not only was I an employee of NCO, I too suffered when I learned the NCO Medclear Division was reporting erroneous information on my credit bureau file and that information was listed three separate times. Their actions lead to my credit score being lowered.

If you believe NCO has violated your rights under the FDCPA or any related state law, you may have a right to seek damages. As I am a former employee of the company and witnessed many of these egregious violations of the law, I may be able to answer questions you may have regarding NCO's collection practices and if they violate the FDPCA. As more and more consumers educate themselves and seek legal action against the world's largest collection firm, you too may be able to seek damages for illegal acts committed against you.

Together, we can make collection agencies such as NCO accountable for their actions. The time has come to stop the harassment and illegal collection activities that could affect your financial stability and future.

Contact me your complaint or post it here as possible class action is being considered against NCO Financial Systems. You have a right to be heard and have your concerns addressed should any action be brought against the company.

John

Horsham, Pennsylvania

U.S.A.

Click here to read other Rip Off Reports on NCO Financial