- Report: #1037971
Complaint Review: Upstate Debt Management - Depew New York
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Upstate Debt Management
http://www.upstatedebtmanagement.com/ Depew, 14046 New York, United States of America
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Upstate Debt Management Unusual collection practices Depew, New York
I can't speak to the legitimacy of the debts this company is attempting to collect, but I can share some factual information that I've acquired from interactions with them in my professional capacity:
They are not a law firm. They were using "Brown, Andrews, & Scott" as a DBA until the New York State AG's office cracked down on non-lawyers representing themselves as attorney collectors. There are no attorneys named Brown, Andrews, or Scott working there. Based on documents I've seen, there's nobody named Brown, Andrews, or Scott involved in the operation, period. There are no lawyers there, period.
They are effectively a successor to Quadrant Acquisition Group, which operated out of the same address with a number of the same principals. I am not 100% sure about this, but it is my understanding that QAG stopped operating under that name because of the arrest of Cosimo Lanzetta, who was a principal there. Mr. Lanzetta had previously been barred from operating as a debt collector after allegedly defrauding his business partners. It appears that he's on his way back to jail for different white collar offenses.
The only investor I have been able to identify is Jeff Basil. I do not know how involved he is with the day-to-day operations. The ops manager was, at least as recently as last fall, Andy Palumbo. Mr. Palumbo is a well-known figure in the Buffalo area debt collection scene. I'm not aware if he has any criminal history, but from my own personal interactions with him, I wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him.
I absolutely believe the stories about some collectors there impersonating law enforcement, although I wouldn't know first hand. This is a very popular tactic in the Buffalo school of collection. Don't be impressed when they know things about where you live or who your neighbors are or what kind of vehicle you drive. Nobody is watching you, let alone a deputy sheriff or process server. They get this information through Accurint, which they use as a skip-tracing tool. I am absolutely sure that they employ a number of people who have gotten into legal trouble in the past for using these tactics; I can't say for sure if they're in use there.
Even you believe the debt they are contacting you about is legitimate, I suggest that you go back to the original creditor and try to deal with them. I would not want to give many of the employees there access to any more of your personal information than they already have, let alone bank accounts. I am aware of a number of employees there with alarming criminal records, including at least one former employee who was arrested for identity theft. I've also heard rumors of employees walking out of there with "paper"--the debts owed, in other words--and using the information for their own illegitimate purposes.
Good luck and be careful.
They are not a law firm. They were using "Brown, Andrews, & Scott" as a DBA until the New York State AG's office cracked down on non-lawyers representing themselves as attorney collectors. There are no attorneys named Brown, Andrews, or Scott working there. Based on documents I've seen, there's nobody named Brown, Andrews, or Scott involved in the operation, period. There are no lawyers there, period.
They are effectively a successor to Quadrant Acquisition Group, which operated out of the same address with a number of the same principals. I am not 100% sure about this, but it is my understanding that QAG stopped operating under that name because of the arrest of Cosimo Lanzetta, who was a principal there. Mr. Lanzetta had previously been barred from operating as a debt collector after allegedly defrauding his business partners. It appears that he's on his way back to jail for different white collar offenses.
The only investor I have been able to identify is Jeff Basil. I do not know how involved he is with the day-to-day operations. The ops manager was, at least as recently as last fall, Andy Palumbo. Mr. Palumbo is a well-known figure in the Buffalo area debt collection scene. I'm not aware if he has any criminal history, but from my own personal interactions with him, I wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him.
I absolutely believe the stories about some collectors there impersonating law enforcement, although I wouldn't know first hand. This is a very popular tactic in the Buffalo school of collection. Don't be impressed when they know things about where you live or who your neighbors are or what kind of vehicle you drive. Nobody is watching you, let alone a deputy sheriff or process server. They get this information through Accurint, which they use as a skip-tracing tool. I am absolutely sure that they employ a number of people who have gotten into legal trouble in the past for using these tactics; I can't say for sure if they're in use there.
Even you believe the debt they are contacting you about is legitimate, I suggest that you go back to the original creditor and try to deal with them. I would not want to give many of the employees there access to any more of your personal information than they already have, let alone bank accounts. I am aware of a number of employees there with alarming criminal records, including at least one former employee who was arrested for identity theft. I've also heard rumors of employees walking out of there with "paper"--the debts owed, in other words--and using the information for their own illegitimate purposes.
Good luck and be careful.
