ok, I have read along on this one. For those people that work for Encore, allow me to set things straight. I appreciate your intentions, and in most cases, agents of a debt collector only know what that collector has told them, so please pay attention.
First, Encore is NOT a first party collector. It is that simple. Encore is a collection agency. They handle many different accounts from many different places. I see a lot of people talking about Cap One, but Encore also has accounts assigned from all kinds of other places, such as Zales jewelry stores. If I recall right, Zales uses Citibank for all of their issued cards. This means that Encore is NOT THE FIRST PARTY. At least not for all of their accounts. Unless, of course, encore manager is now going to tell me that Encore is also part of Citibank as well?!?
Ok, that being the case, let's review a couple points based solely on the law itself, and compare them to statements and claims that the Encore folks in this thread have made.
1--"we dont have to validate debts"....YES, YOU DO. Here is the law that says so:
Section 809
So, you see, you MUST validate debts if a consumer requests it. This is federal law. This isnt me talking--that is precisely what the law states. And for each and every person you contact that requests it, you are violating federal law when you refuse to do it.
2--"validation/cease and desist must be sent to the original creditor, not to us..."
Section 805:
--before we bring out the old "third party" argument again, this is also part of the law:
See that part in red?? You have claimed that Encore is a separate part of Cap One. THE LAW clearly states that using a different company or entity name as identification presents you as a third party and you SHALL BE TREATED AS SUCH. That is found in section 803 of the same law, by the way.
3--"calls are made early because it is legal to go by the time zone we are in, not where the consumer lives..."
Section 805:
About the way you treat people on the phone--while I agree that people should just pay their bills, that does not mean anything in this context. That is because this is a federal law, and your particular opinion about some deadbeat on the phone does not supercede that law.
Two other interesting things about this law, encore folks:
--did you know that, in addition to federal fines for breaking any portion of this law, the debt collector can also be sued by the consumer? Did you know that each offense can cost you up to $1,000?
--Did you also know that ANY AGENT OF A DEBT COLLECTOR can be sued AS AN INDIVIDUAL for violating any portion of this law? That means if you call my house and break this law, I can go after YOU for up to $1000 per violation....are you prepared to risk that when calling my house??
I eagerly await the reply that is sure to come, telling me about how I dont know anything, etc etc etc