Valentine & Kebartas Collections - Has anybody dealt with them?

I have been contacted by this company as a result of a dental bill from Dental Care Alliance. The crazy thing isthat I have been paying the debt and sending the checks to DCA, however I get this strange call from VKI saying that DCA sent my account to them, although my account has not been sent to collectioins or been placed on my credit report according to them. They however, were contacting me to settle the rest of the account and make payment arrangements. I only have a few hundred left on the account so they were willing to cut that in half which was fine. The problem came when I reqeusted for the agreement to be sent to me in writing prior to me giving them my information. I did and do not feel comfortable giving them my banking information. The guy Gary offered to email me the agreement three separate times, I have yet to receive the agreement yet they call me every other day. I am trying to research this company with Dental Care Alliance, they however are not responding to my calls or letters. Please advise.

Don't give them any of your financial information! If you do get a settlement in writing (which I doubt), send them a money order or cashiers check.

What happens when you go to court for not paying credit card debt?

I have been dealing with them for almost six months. I am tired of the threatening, the demoraltizing, and not to mention just plain rude attitudes that I get when I do answer my phone. It got to the point I stopped answering.
Now today, I got a phone call from them asking who my lawyer was. I haven't heard from them since the middle of september of this year, now they are going to sue me.
It is not my fault that they won't work with me. I made an offer to make payments in an amount that I know I could afford and still be able to keep a roof over my head and food in my stomach. My offer was not good enough for them. So they 'refused' to work with me.
If this whole thing does go to trail, I am thinking that the judge is going to laugh at someone and it is not going to be me. I have dates, times, names, and most of the conversation written down. They are not lawyers and they also have to get lawyers, which if I lose my case, I have to pay for. What?
But, I believe that the judge will side with me only because of how my situation came about. It hasn't gotten any better financially either. Sue me, the only thing that you are going to get is a laugh in the face. Harrassing phone calls several times of the day. And some of them before the time that is set forth by law. *Should have been there. It was funny when I told the agent that he called me too early per the laws of collection practices. It shut him up right away. HAHA dude, caught ya

Actually Krs, if it does go to court you will probably just have a judgement placed against you. You need to get proactive and take those facts to a NACA attorney and sue them first.

Dont deal with these people, they are currently in non compliance with me regarding a contractual payment plan, They are suppose to deduct a certain amount out of my account each paycheck, instead they double dipped leaving me with nothing and will not return my phone calls! I blocked them from being able to take out any more money (bet they will call then) and am reporting them to the BBB

When a collector takes on an account, they are required by law to send you notice within 5 business days. They are also forbidden by law from contacting family members or employers.

After they call the first time, send them a letter requesting validation of the debt and a cease and desist from calling you. There are numerous samples of validation and C&D letters available on the web that you can use. They are required by law to respond within 30 days to your request, and they have to prove that you agreed to pay them money (which you didn't), that they are licensed to practice collection in your state, and more. Naturally, they will fail to validate the debt. So if they call again or again attempt to collect, send them another letter telling them that they have violated the law and that they need to not only stop attempting to collect from you but that they need to remove and derogs that they may have reported to the credit bureaus. (The credit bureaus violate the law, too, and if they have derogs on your report, they need to prove to you that the collector or creditor has validated the debt, which they usually cannot do).

Tell the collector, too, that you are filing a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission, your state attorney general, and the American Collectors Association, and do so. This will definitely stop them without you ever engaging with them or paying them a penny.

There are so many things wrong with this that I don't know where to begin:

WRONG: They are required to send you notice w/in 5 days of initial contact:




There is no provision in the fdcpa for a "limited C&D", it's an all-or-nothing statute. Only calls to work if it "places your employment in jeopardy". Beyond that, it can be ignored or considered a full cease comm. That route normally goes to suit much faster.

Unless you live in TX where all DV's are timely (TFC Chap 392), they have no time limit to respond. If your DV was timely, then collection efforts must cease until valiation is provided. Ass far as providing the other things, the FDCPA has a narrow definition of validation minimally enhanced by the Wollman Opinion:

My boyfriend had a phone account with US Cellular that was pretty old. Valentine and Kebartas began calling to make arrangements, explaining that US Cellular sold the account as a charge off to them. My boyfriend made arrangments with them, and paid the balance off months ago. Today we got a message from US Cellular offering 60% off the balance to settle the account. I'm trying to figure out if this is somehow an honest mistake, or if Valentine and Kebartas are really criminals that mislead us into paying them what they were not owed. Anyone have any advice on how to prove that we paid the balance if US Cellular further insists that we owe it??

I've talked to Valentine & Kebartas, Inc. I don't think they are attorneys. They never told me they were.

One Catherine Seidman hungup on me while talking to me. Another one said, "Send the Money Now", these people treat you like if you were a worthless sack of money pooohhh.. I just hope that one day, just one day, the tides turn against them and they will regret the day they started their unethical business practices and service. Nevertheless, I'm monitoring any unlawful tactics on their behalf while negotiating so that I can sue their unscrupulous assssssss'.

I have also had issues with V&K. I recently disputed the amount I owed which they said was $2500, which was not true. When I had my computer sent to me I signed up for a 1 year no intrest plan, they charged my interest 5 months before they were suppose to. I send a letter stating the mistake and on the back of the dell statements it says while they investigate the claim they cannon report you as delinquent which they did anyway. I'm not denying that I owe them I do $645. I made them a $690 payment when I got my taxes back. I did have a payment arrangement set up for the 20th and then they call me today and say it declined. So I check my back account, what liars! I had over $400 and the payment was for $300. I then call my bank to see if they really did try to pull it and they didn't!! Now they are saying that I owe over $1800, because my payment declined and they didn't even really try to pull it. I asked if I could mail in the $300 and they said no, so does that null and void the debt?

I think V&K is a horrible agency, although we all legally owe our debts i think they need to lighten up and treat us like human beings, if they were actually polite about it maybe we would want to set something up for repayment. The way they operate will not get a dime from me

I don't owe them any money. Someone in my office does. I am sort of the gatekeeper of phones.

Usually, when i pass a phone call, I ask for their name, company if any, and why they're calling. He gives me a valid excuse of "personal business matter". I tell him, unfortunately, without knowing more on your "personal business matter", I can't forward you to him. This guy then got real angry and asked me how old i was and that this guy NEEDS to talk to him. He then asks me how old I am and if i understand that he legally can't tell me. I retorted that I totally understand his legal standpoint, and that's not my problem. My problem is that my guy wont' talk to anyone unless he knows why they're calling. I get a lot of solicitations and won't waste his time with the caller. He calls me an idiot and someone who doesn't know what they're doing and that since i work for a law firm, I should know the law. Well, he's right. I do know a LOT about the law. And i know enough how to piss him off which was exactly what i did. Next time, I'm going to bait him and see if he violates the FDCPA.

I did a little digging. These guys work on commission. They are not a law firm, but they insinuate that they are. They get paid on how much they bring in. Unfortunately, most don't know the rules and cross the line. Little does he know that my law firm...DOES collections and I intimately know what he can and cannot do. So i know he's trying to abide by the FDCPA and I'm frustrating the heck out of him by not letting him do his job. And because they're that rude to begin with, the longer he stays on the phone with me. The less money he makes, because, I don't owe him jack and i'm not even the guy he wants to talk to.

These guys also prey on the uninformed. They prey on your fears of your debt. Do not let them intimidate you.

Yes, V&K are very rude to people and try to scare you into paying big payments.

They called constantly and I finally decided to speak with them. One person at V & K, COLE, gave me 4 different payment options that would work to payoff the account. I called my wife to discuss what would be the best option for us. When she called them back, the guy denied that 4 options were given and that I was lying about the 4th option given. They are full of crap and I am going to call them back to make sure we receive in writing the payment agreement or I am going to stop payment before they try to withdraw the money. They bully and try to intimidate you into paying more than you are able to. Beware and stand up to these bullying assholes!!!