A highly discussed collection agency of DebtCC forum is asset acceptance llc. Main complaints against them are:

• Contacting wrong person
• Trying to collect debts occurred in ID Theft.
• Collecting debts as old as 20 years.
• Reporting to CRA (usually TransUnion) without informing consumers.

Physical address as posted in the forum:

Asset Acceptance LLC
P.O. Box 2036
Warren, MI 48090-2036

Asset Acceptance LLC
28405 VanDyke Ave
Warren, MI 48093

They also operate from Ohio, Texas, Virginia, Arizona, Florida, Illinois and Maryland. See their report with BBB.

They buy accounts from creditors like Providian, Citibank, Household Credit, Bally etc.

Here is a story: Asset brought legal action for the debt not owed by the consumer (Sandy)

Asset contacted Sandy for an old visa card debt that belongs to someone else. Asset did not send any bill, instead they send summons. Sandy was sure that he did not owe nothing. He answered to the court notice immediately and appeared to the court hearing. When Sandy denied the responsibility of this debt, Asset brought a Mediation hearing against Sandy. Surprisingly, when Sandy appeared in the Mediation hearing, no one from Asset was seen there. Sandy was informed that the case was ‘Dismissed with Prejudice'.

Read the full conversation with angelblue_34205 (Sandy) and community members.

Some other stories on Asset Acceptance LLC:-

• Asset Acceptance LLC did unauthorized debits from bank account.
  
• Asset Acceptance LLC / Bally's account – collecting and old, already-paid debt.
  
• Asset Acceptance LLC / Bally's account – re-aged the debt.

A list of debt collectors and few successful strategies of dealing with them

Thanks for the awareness about Asset Acceptance, David. You are doing a great job in uncovering all the collection agencies doing illegal practices. It will be of great help to everyone and know about their dealings.

Personally speaking, I also didn't have a good experience with Asset Acceptance. They were looking for someone similar to my last name. Despite showing them proof about the wrong contact done here, they were forcing me to make the payment. They even went to the extent of insulting me. Sadly, I was not aware about recording the phone calls. I live in Texas where recording collection calls secretly is allowed legally. I would have used every piece of information against them to file charges for fdcpa violations. Those who are dealing with Asset Acceptance regarding disputed account, be careful. Chances are that you hold the legal grounds in the first place. Be aware of your legal rights while dealing with Asset and you will be in the safe side.

I recently received a copy of my credit report and I show an outstanding debt that Assett Acceptance is trying to collect. I don't know what it is for. Should I try to contact them to inquire about the debt?

Go ahead and talk with the collection company. The debt must be given to you in writing as per the fdcpa laws. If they have hit your credit report with wrong information, it needs to be corrected immediately. Talk to the CA and ask them to validate the debt.

I just discovered your site and still reading some of the post which are very helpful. I would really appreciate some tips to help me get through the next steps. I received a collection letter from Asset Acceptance. I sent them a validation letter. I've been getting calls at my house (unlisted), my cell phone (blocked w/ caller ID) and my work (not sure how they found out!). I think this is harassment. I've heard horrible things about them.

Thank You in Advance for the help.

You can stop the collection calls of the debt collectors by sending a cease and desist letter to their mailing address. The FTC website has complete information about the process on how the collectors should contact the customers. If you send a cease and desist letter, they are bound by laws to stop all communications with you in the future. You can ask them to do all the contacts in writing only, but no phone calls. Read this link

http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fdcpa/fdcpact.htm#805

Template of the cease and desist letter is put in the link below. Send the letter through certified mail/return receipt requested.

http://www.debtconsolidationcare.com...-cdletter.html

Hi, I'm new here, but I just had to write about a recent tangle with this terrible company,

Two weeks ago, Out of the clear blue, I got a phone call at work from AA saying they were beginning garnishment of my wages for two debts from 1996. They said I had a Marshall Field credit card, and a bank loan from a bank in Toledo. I never had either and told them they had the wrong person. This person was very rude and nasty with me, and after finally making them realize they were wrong by noting that my last four SS# were different from the one they were looking for, the woman hung up on me.

Two weeks later, my boss recieved court orders to begin garnishing immediately for $4000. The SS# was not mine and neither was the address. I called them
immediately demanding to know what this was about.
They sent it anyway after they were told it was not me!!!!
I called the court, and caught them in a lie about when they filed the order. They said it was filed several weeks before they ever talked to me, and court said it was just acually last week. ( So you file garnishment orders without ever checking to see if you have the right person?????????? What's up with that?)
The court said to report their attorneys to the Bar ASSN. and file a complaint against them. They also said this outfit was famous for thier antics.


I have been humiliated at work and even though everyone knows I'm innocent, it still will be remembered by everyone. It is very embarrassing.

My boss is going to send a letter of proof to them, but who knows if this will clear it up. They are like vultures and don't care where they get their money from, they just grab the first person of a given name with a job, and target them.
They sent out a garnishment order and never investitgated. This is unethical practice by their lawyers, and I am considering filing a complaint against them throught the Ohio Supreme Court. I may even pursue defamation of character charges against them. I am very upset by this.
Would I have a case?

KAREN!!!!

I would fight this as far as you can! You have alot of proof and they were stupid enough to contact your employers who are now witnesses. GO FOR IT!! Let us know what happens. Im not a lawyer, but I would say the ball is in your court. Ill bet it will be worth your money!

The reason that this wasnt investigated is because its probably an account that was created by the agency. Its a scam attempt.

Hi--
My husband is also trying to deal with this company. We sent a certified return receipt validation letter to them on August 9th and as of today have yet to hear anything back. We haven't even gotten the return receipt back. We sent out letter to the Van Dyke Avenue in Warren, MI address, is this still the correct address? What should we do now? Should we send another letter with "payment enclosed" on the envelope, just in case they refused the first letter? I don't know what to do and our 30 days is up on September 1st. Help please. Thanks.

got an email from BudHibbs.com and they gave me address for Asset Accept. attorney. So we sent another validation letter to them we'll see what happens. Still would like to hear any advice anyone would have. Thanks.

In the state of Maine, there is an Office of Credit Regulation who assists consumers in the process of dealing with abusive CA's. Check it out at:

http://www.state.me.us/pfr/ccp/ccp_index.htm

In my battle with AAC, the state of Maine has sent a letter directly to AAC requesting validation on my behalf since AAC has refused my requests to this point.

If Asset does not provide the State (and me) with proper validation within 21 days, the state will take punitive action (i.e. license suspension or revokation, fines, etc.).

It would also serve to establish a VERY authoritative paper trail for my pending lawsuit.

This is a great and free service provided by the state of Maine...all of you should check if your state has such an office, and if not you should talk to your legislators about creating one.

There's nothing like having your state government go to bat for you on your behalf. It is like having a free attorney who also has the power to punish the collection agency!

For the record, AAC has a false installment account on my Experian and Equifax files, in addition to numerous other fdcpa and FCRA violations. They have refused to respond to my letters, and have "verified" the debt to all 3 credit bureaus several times.

If they don't respond to the State of Maine's letter, I expect to be filing a substantial lawsuit soon. I also expect the State will take action.

I will update when there's more news from here!

I have been harrased by these folks for some time now, phone calls at 6am local, calling work, calling work cell etc. The original debt was with Providian I didn't use it for some time after I got the dang thing, but I started when I lost my job and still had to pay bills. The problem was that I never payed anything on the card.

I checked my CR today and found that they have placed 3 seperate marks with each different agency. (Experian, Equifax, TransUnion) The funny thing is that all of them have different names of the company and different dates on when they were reported open. Experian has it as asset acceptance llc, Equifax has it as Asset Acceptance Corp, and TransUnion has it as Asset Acceptance.

Since the date of the original debt has passed the SOL (6/1/00) either by a few months or 3+ years is there a way that I can have them remove the marks on my CR?

I've been trying to get a new car, but my credit union won't have anything to do with me untill I pay these idiots off or have it removed from my report.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Update on my previous post:

Asset Acceptance actually ignored the letter that came directly from the State of Maine...unreal. Now, the State is VERY interested in what is going on, and is taking further action.

It turns out that Asset Acceptance does not have a license to operate in Maine, which is a CRIMINAL offense here. That's right...CRIMINAL.

That also means that they can't legally have this item on my credit report...but it was updated just this week.

They've gone out of their way to make my lawsuit very easy, which I appreciate. I'll be filing in State and Federal court next week for at least 25 violations of the federal fdcpa and FCRA and the Maine equivalent laws. That's $50,000.

The State of Maine is actively investigating and I'm hoping they file criminal and civil charges against this despicable company and go after them where it hurts: in their wallet. At the very least, I hope that AAC is permanently banned from operating in Maine.

In addition to the pending lawsuits, I have also filed complaints with the Federal Trade Commission and the Better Business Bureau, and have prepared letters to the Maine Governor, Maine legislators, both my US Senators, and my US representative explaining the situation and requesting that bills be introduced to increase the maximum civil penalty to $10,000 per violation to deter these abusive practices.

Another update:

AAC is on the run, now! They deleted the bogus account from Experian and Equifax today. Seems maybe they figured out that they are in a heap of legal trouble. But alas, it is too little, too late for me. They had plenty of opportunities to come clean and avoid a lawsuit, but they failed.

They deserve to be punished, and I will do everything within my legal power to see to it that they are.

More to come...

I received a bill from AA at the end of August for an apparent unpaid telephone bill in the State of Ohio. LDA is 1997. Both my name and address on the bill are incorrect. I called AA to tell them this was not my debt. When I asked to speak with the reps supervisor, the supervisor got on the phone and screamed at me when I mentioned both debt validation and SOL, demanding to know if I was going to pay the debt or not. I refused to give an answer until they could validate the debt and prove that it was within the SOL.

I sent a debt validation letter to AA, which is identical to the samples on this website. Within a week, I received a form letter response that was IDENTICAL to the first bill, except this one thanked me for my debt validation request and broke the total amount due out into principal and balance. That's it.

No reasonable person would give me money if I walked up to them on the street and told them they owed me money without some kind of proof, so why am I legally obligated to pay a company money they can't proove I owe and I have no record of owing them.

I have checked my credit report and they haven't posted anything. Yet. I have not paid them anything, and I refuse to do so until they adequately validate the debt.

Here is my question: I am about to send a follow up letter, and I want to know what constitutes adequate validation? Also, what if they respond with the same generic letter? What do I do if they post to my credit report before the debt is validated? I have worked extremely hard the last 7 years to achieve a wonderful credit rating. I'm concerned these jerks to whom I owe nothing have the power and ability to hurt my credit.

Should I get an attorney? What do I do next?

Miss Meg, This happens all the time and chances are they know its not your debt. It might not even be a real bill. I would file complaints asap!