You know what actually I apologize it’s been a long day and it’s actually 1:30 in the morning here believe it or not I just got off (ah yes the joys of salary)

I think first I will try again to explain the Capone/encore relationship. Capone is too large to have an internal group handle there in house collections. Basically there are to many accounts for them to place calls and ask hey why haven’t you paid your bill, your such and such days past due, your apr has now increased to this amount, and if you want to stop everything from getting worse you need to make a payment or your balance is due in full. at my location alone we have an average monthly inventory of around 150,000 Capone accounts....now for the confusing part...we did not purchase your account, nor did Capone ever sell there client rights or responsibilities to us...what capital one does is pays us a dollar amount per account we are successfully able to contact in our inventory basically

$---- X number of accounts in monthly inventory.

the misconceived idea of we purchased your account is inaccurate, if you had a balance of 500.00 dollars we did not purchase the account for 300.00 and then try to settle with you for 400.00 nor did we come to an agreement that if we collect 500.00 Capone gets 400.00 and we receive 100.00 no matter what the size of account is whether its 500.00 dollars or 150,000 dollars (you would be surprised how many of these I see in our small buis dept.) its the same flat fee per account.....

To give an example and keep in mind this is just an example, and not accurate. lets say that Capone pays us $1.00 an account that means that if we have an inventory for the month of 100,000 accounts Capone pays us 100,000 dollars which means if we do not get a single payment for Capone in an entire month they still pay us $100,000.00. If we collect 5,000,000.00 dollars Capone still pays us only $100,000.00 basically whether your account is 500.00 or 50,000 it doesn’t matter if you pay the balance off on both. We're only going to get 1.00 for each account...Now lets say your account charges off... at this point there are 2 routes Capone can go
1. they sell the account to an outside agency AT THAT POINT they turn over all information and at that point your validation/cease&desists need to go to that agency.
2 they take legal action on the account internally

Tammy, I feel we have gotten off on the wrong foot however everything on this forum throws a red flag that you are responisible for the bill and that your just trying to avoid it… in earlier posts you stated “I’m not going to call the agency back because there was no one on the line” you’ve stated that the we HAD told you (BACK IN NOVEMBER!!!) the same as I am now send your cease and desist to Capone…. You’ve stated you had received statements from Capone telling you your account was past due… Never once have you said THIS BILL IS NOT MINE!!! Maybe we can come to some sort of common ground if you can explain your situation to me.

[Not so Lucky]

I have never received anything from Capone. Never heard of Capone. My problem is with Encore and the way I was treated. I have no need to send a cease and desist letter, the card is in consolidation and almost paid in full. Encore didn't get my money, the proposal was agreed upon from Capitol One and they are the ones receiving the money. I have never tried to avoid a bill, and never will. I never denied being responsible for the credit card debt.

[Not so Lucky]

Also, this is the first I have heard of Capone. My whole dealings was with Encore. From August 2005 thru the early part of this year was really tough on us and we almost lost everything. Not one of the creditors or collection agencies would listen and we were treated very rudely. We have been dealt with the worst of the worst regarding collection agencies. I guess I really didn't give you a fair shake on coming here to the forums and trying to explain what is happening. If you go through the forums, you will see that alot of us have come under attack by certain collectors.

Encore Manager....

This is your answer in response to my question....."i've already answered that question...maybe you need to read the last few pages of posts... once you can inteligently explain what part you do not understand i'll attempt to explain it a diffrent way..."

I am done asking you any questions. Your arrogant remark is typical of a collector.

[billyandstarlasmom]

I was given a phone number for capones recovery dep. yesterday when I called about my account, which was not of course closed out yet since the - balance is only 2 days old. Then when I called the recovery dept. They told me they couldn't talk to me untill my account had been closed out, I just love the run around, and from what it looks like either the collectors trained the ppl at the bank or the bank trained the collectors one. Cause all I see from encore is the same type of run around.

Guest, take it or leave it buddy, I apologized and re-explained your question thoroughly if that’s not good enough for you that’s not my problem...

Tammy, correct me if I’m wrong but I believe reading this forum someone stated your screen name was previously mom of twins? Am I correct? If so...

On page 1, post 5, you stated “I have never received a letter from them. They just keep calling and when I answer, no one is there. I'm not going to call them back because I feel that they should at least talk to me when I answer.”

On page 1, post 7, you stated “I received a letter in the mail from Capitol One on wanting to set up payment arrangements on the past due account.”

On page 1, post 12 you stated “Encore the famous collection agency just informed me that they don't validate debt or abide by cease and desist letters that I am to contact Capitol One and issue them the debt validation letter and cease and desist letter.”

On page 3, Post 3 you stated again “We have sent validation letters and cease and desist letters and they have ignored them and stated we had to send them to capitol 1.”

On Page 3, Post 13, you stated “Today was 15 times. They keep stating that these notices have to go to capitol one. Our attorney questioned why does capitol one have to be notified and they stated that the original creditor gets these notices not the collection agency. They are sadly wrong.”

billyandstarlasmom, i would call the phone number on the back of your card, this should get you to capone customer service if you call from a deferent number then we have on file we dont use numbers you call us on as good numbers to get ahold of the card holder but if your worried about this use a pay phone... customer service will be able to give you the correct number and department for you to contact in regards to your account i hope that what your saying is not true because it sounds like it charged off 2 days ago if thats the case you may have to wait while another agency is in the process of purchasing your account and collecting all relevant information from capone : (

[LCW]

[img]/forums/attachments//bsm1_145.jpg[/img]

The relationship between Capital One and Encore is this.
Capital One DOES NOT do any of their own collections. They contract Encore and Asset Acceptance to do that for them under their own name(Capital One). Have you ever noticed no matter HOW hard you press they will not confirm they are with Capital One, but also will not tell you who they really work for, they just keep saying "collections" over and over.

In this instance they are basically contract employees of Capital One, working under their name, as such in this particular instance the fdcpa does not apply to them, as they would be considered "Original Creditor". It is not right but it is a loop hole in the laws that has been allowed to remain.
Note to Encore manager: Don't get into the "first party, third party" thing. The laws do not recognize 1st and 3rd partry. The FDCPA defines only "Original Creditor" or "collector". Saying, 1st party, 3rd party, etc is an attempt to blur the lines and skirt around the intent and spirit of the law, especially considering Encore does both for the same client (however when they send account to Encore's 3rd party collections , then they ARE governed by FDCPA).



[img]/forums/attachments//bsm2_261.jpg[/img]

I agree with you assertion that this has been used by some as a stall tactic, however, if collection agencies would actually comply with this important step, rather than play games, not validate, or send accounts off to another CA, then you could get past this point and right to doing what your are hired to do, collect the account. The truth of the matter is most collection agencies can not validate, and are reluctant to go to their client and request this information, as it shows they cannot necessarily perform the service they were hired to do without taxing the resources of the client. Eventually the client may figure they could do it them selves and enjoy all the money they are entitled to rather than having to split it with the CA.

AS for you comment about a Cease and desist letter not being honored because it is sent to the wrong office, this is the exact reason Collection Agencies establish multiple offices. This is also a stall tactic on the part of the CA to prevent consumers from exercising their legal rights within the 30 days as allowed under the FDCPA. The office actually handling the debt should be CLEARLY listed on the Dunning letter, not jumbled with two or three different offices.

Encore (or any Collection agency) should readily give that information with out hesitation, however most won't hopeing the consumer sends their dispute or validation request to the wrong office so they can turn around and say "we never received it" or "it went to the wrong place, send it again, but your thirty days is past, we assume the debt is valid". Nice games.

I also notice you never explained how I could go about getting a zero balance letter form Encore? The office collecting on my sprint bill was the Olathe Kansas ( and where I sent the payment) but when I call back to get the letter, no one know anything and tells me to call the Las Vegas Office, I call there, they don't do that. I paid what I was supposed to, why wont Encore put it in witting?

You have shared a wealth of information and your participation here is always welcome.

Wow, i have to say im very impressed, your right that is used as a stall tactic on both ends... however we will freely and without heisitation give you capone's general correspondance address...

Furthermore, i appoligize about not answering your question... first of all was this a recoveries account being that you sent the payment directly to us i have the feeling that it was but im not certain... call us back and ask to speak with a supervisor and explain the situation... just tell them you would like a payoff letter for your recs more then likely one was sent however it was lost in the mail...or its possible that they didnt send one at all i dont know because i do not work in that department unfortunitly encore has over 40 diffrent clients right now and each client has different standards, rules, and regulations again im not sure how they operate so i cant give you a definit answer... However your best bet is going to be to call and speak with a sup.

Encore Manager----"Guest, take it or leave it buddy, I apologized and re-explained your question thoroughly if that’s not good enough for you that’s not my problem..."

First of all, I see an apology that was from a "guest". My crystal ball is broken and I was not aware that was from you. Second, don't call me buddy. Very unprofessional. Third, one of the members of this site (LCW) has answered my question. Your explanation even after it was re-ex-plained was still very vague.

Guest, apparently your common sense must be broken too? your the only person who wasnt able to put A and B together... however, i did not come on this forum to bicker, or argue, with anyone. i came to provide information, some you probably already knew, and some you didnt, some you'll use, and some you wont, eitherway its free advice from someone on the inside.

LCW, please try to contact encore today, or monday, (weekends are typically ran by our part-time staff and i would rather you speak with a full-time supervisor to insure your letter is mailed off correctly and when its supposed to be not shuffled from one desk to another because that part-timer wont be back until next wensday..)and let me know how it goes, if all else fails i'll go over and speak with them, and see what i can do as far as getting you your payoff letter, or no bs/runaround and tell you the right channels to go through to get it...let me know

I live in Haverhill, so I am going to take a trip to Lawrence(right next to Haverhill) and I am going to ask to speak with a manager. I will be bringing these posts with me.