they must offer incentives for how many times you can screw up when it comes to the law. Or maybe, the more you are recorded lying to a debtor on the phone, the more you get paid? Either way, who really cares? I make an honest living, actually helping people, and I make a higher salary than you do, but the little income you do have requires you to lie and break laws to get it.

nope doesnt work that way. who really cares anyways? i make an honest living. i help people settle/pay their debts. and i get paid mighty fine.

[cajunbulldog]

This topic has gone off into a wild tangent.Let's see if we can get back to discussing the topic of Encore and how they collect debt.

:P

[Lukeskywalker]

My botom line is "If you have a debt pay it and owe no man nothing" but no one needs burning coals dumped on their head to do it. We/I just need the tools and help to be able to do this and that is why many of us are here to do just that. I donkt need a collection agency to tell me that I am in debt, I know it and I am getting out of debt with the help of this site and my determination. I do bless all the good collection agencies that are out there that really want to help both the collector and debtor, but the ones that prey on people thinking they are god, well, you wonkt last long.


all the best

what encore is doing is helping debtors settle/pay their account and make it current for the lowest amount possible. if you cant come up with the amount due payment ( w/c is usually 3 - 4 mos of minimum payments ) then the best thing to do is make arrangements with us that will maximize your finances at this point.

[skydivr7673]

jeez, caps, you just keep spouting the company line of crap, dont you?

1--Encore helps people? HOW, exactly? When Encore hounded me over a fake debt, how exactly were they HELPING me? When I had to record phone calls, send out certified letters, photograph the caller ID to prove all the times they called each day--that was helping me? You really do have a couple screws loose, son. Especially since I made effort from day one to work it out, it isnt like I ran and hid, and refused to answer the phone. THEY screwed up, and here you are preaching the same BS line about how ERMI is here to help people?

2--I am not alone, there are tons of others that ERMI has gotten it wrong with as well. And in every case I have found, they handle it the same basic way--refuse to accept the fact that they screwed up and keep demanding money illegally. WOW, THANKS FOR ALL THAT GREAT HELP!!

3--Why didnt you inform our members about ERMI's history as a defendant in all the lawsuits? If all youre here to do is help, then you guys should not be doing anything that can land you in a courtroom, dont you agree?

4--just so you know, it is not physically possible to "make an honest living" by using dishonest and illegal practices, which is precisely what ERMI has been proven to use daily.

--refusal to honor validation request within the first 30 days, and also refusal to honor subsequent validation requests. ILLEGAL

--refusal to honor a cease and desist notice, in accordance with federal law this is also ILLEGAL

--refusal to follow fdcpa requirements for the allowable times of contact. ILLEGAL

--direct and intentional harassment, insulting language, and abusive telephone practices. ILLEGAL

--demands for payment or else they claim they will take actions that they cannot lawfully take. ILLEGAL

--refusal, after several notices, to properly report entries on credit bureau files as being in dispute. ILLEGAL

--refusal to remove illegally-placed information from credit files. ILLEGAL

Shall I go on? And this all was just my experience with them personally.....over a debt that was nowhere close to being mine! It took no less than four demands for validation, four cease and desist orders, furnished proof of their error at least three times, and finally the threat of civil and criminal legal action against them, before they would FINALLY stop calling. And that was just to get them to stop calling--getting them to clear someone else's debt from my credit report took even more. I jumped through every hoop they required of me, more than once....and the guy that supposedly had this debt didnt even have the same name as me!

Do yourself the favor and spare us the additional BS from you in here. You and I both know that ERMI is not there to "help" people, nor does ERMI act legally.

Good day.

[cajunbulldog]

DAYUM sky,you are certainly nicer than I could ever be.I would have filed suit and collected on all those violations.Sure fdcpa is only 1K,but Fcra violations are usually 1K per violation per bureau.

[skydivr7673]

cajun-who says I didnt? This is all recent stuff and the one year limitation hasnt even expired yet. Dont worry, I'll get them for it. right now I am working on one that is a bit more pressing in regards to time.

[cajunbulldog]

Good wouldn't want you to miss out on a little honey for your troubles! :lol:

sky diver i don't know what exactly happened or what your experience with encore WAS. but the way i see it you're just seeing the other side of the coin. flip it sideways pops. it's ok youre an fdcpa master you have the talent of copying and pasting fdcpa regulations here in this forum i have to give you credit for that.

when i said honest living it means that I AM following fdcpa law. i love my job so much now why would i do something stupid and harrass people to get ME fired??

now you say there are tons of hundreds of people who were screwed by my company.. but that's just their side.. you still havent heard the side of the original client, the collector or even the store/merchant/credit card etc.

the problem with collections and in this forum is lack of open communications. no one would listen properly. all they do is lambast and lambast ERMI.

now i dont have any problem with that since it's not my credit that's being ruined anyways but i love you guys so much that i am still wlling to help out.

[skydivr7673]

sky diver i don't know what exactly happened or what your experience with encore WAS. but the way i see it you're just seeing the other side of the coin. flip it sideways pops. it's ok youre an fdcpa master you have the talent of copying and pasting fdcpa regulations here in this forum i have to give you credit for that.

ok, now youre just plain being ridiculous. Why on earth would I, or anyone else who has posted negatively here about ERMI, even KNOW the "flip side of the coin"?? Here's a rather interesting thought--why dont YOU stop trying to sell ERMI like it is the shining pillar of hope when this many people are clearly saying otherwise? If a company treats you like crap the whole time you deal with them, HOW WOULD YOU EVEN KNOW THAT THERE IS A FLIP SIDE? The real answer is you wouldnt....next time, think about that before you think you've got a plan.

Flip it sideways....why? Why should I put effort into giving such credit to a company that tried to fraudulently steal thousands of dollars from me, harassing me the whole time, treating me like no dog even deserves to be treated? WHY? Here's a hint--you represent this company. If you want people to "flip it sideways", then cut the nonsense and through your work give people a reason to!! ERMI, over the course of several months, couldnt even put in the effort to treat me like a friggin human being--and yes, it was seriously that bad!--but now I am supposed to put effort into thinking about how they are a good company?!?!?

Man, are you actually serious? Did you hit your head on something? Sorry jack, no dice. And you would be quite ignorant to expect ANY PERSON to do something like that--I would bet my last nickel that if YOU were treated like this over a debt that was legitimately not yours, you would feel the same way, so get off it already.

when i said honest living it means that I AM following fdcpa law. i love my job so much now why would i do something stupid and harrass people to get ME fired??

well, lets talk about this. Someone came in here back around page 17 or so, with the screen name encore manager. This person, claiming to be a manager at your company, laid out more than a couple lies in the process of trying to explain to all the "lowly debtors" here how ERMI and the collection business works. Here are a couple of the false and illegal statements this person made:

1--we do not have to validate debts.
ANSWER--the FDCPA clearly states that you must, when it is requested, or you must stop all collection efforts on that account. There is no gray area in this law on this point.

2----"validation/cease and desist must be sent to the original creditor, not to us..."
ANSWER--section 805 of the FDCPA clearly states that the COLLECTOR is responsible for honoring those documents and that a consumer sends them to YOU, not to the OC.

3--"Encore is not a first party collector, so the FDCPA does not apply to us"
ANSWER--bullshit. It most definitely does because ERMI is NOT a first party collector. Even when collecting for Cap One, you are STILL a 3rd party under the law. read the FDCPA for yourself:

[img]/forums/attachments//bsm1_410.jpg[/img]

So, even if you want to push the affiliation with cap one, which is still only a contract deal with them and not because you are the same company, you STILL use a different name which points to the identity of someone else. And this is a MANAGER....now tell me, why would anyone in here think that ERMI didnt follow the law??

Go back to page 18 and read the last post on the page. You will find the complete rebuttal to his posts there. Nothing I posted there in response was false, made up, or just because "I dont like the company"....it came entirely from THE LAW YOU CLAIM THAT ERMI FOLLOWS TO THE LETTER....and if your MANAGERS dont follow it, how could you? If MANAGEMENT doesnt follow it, then they also most likely dont TRAIN YOU TO FOLLOW IT.

Now, go flip your own coin, and tell me why all the people here that posted negative experiences with ERMI went through this crap, if you guys REALLY do it all legally!!

And THEN, you showed up, and began posting false statements as well. So go ahead, wonder why we say you act illegally at ERMI....

now you say there are tons of hundreds of people who were screwed by my company.. but that's just their side.. you still havent heard the side of the original client, the collector or even the store/merchant/credit card etc.

A little history lesson is apparently needed. Why do you think the FDCPA and the FCRA even exist? Because companies just like ERMI abused the hell out of people. Now gee, I wonder, why isnt anyone in a hurry to pat a CA on the back?? Yeah, how bout the OC?? How many times on this forum have we seen people contacted by a CA, then they call the OC listed on that letter and the OC has no record whatsoever of ever having an account with that person?!?!? Happens all the time. Yeah, let me stop and consider the OC in my own personal case...let's throw all this harassment out the window, forget about it, and be considerate of a creditor that I have never done business with, dont owe one penny to, and now I am getting harassed illegally for months because of it!! WOW, WHAT THE HELL WAS I THINKING?

I think that about covers your warm fuzzy for the OC...

the problem with collections and in this forum is lack of open communications. no one would listen properly. all they do is lambast and lambast ERMI.

Read what I wrote above and get a clue. SERIOUSLY, what is the matter with you? "no one listens"?? Where was ERMI's listening when I was telling them for months that the person they were looking for didnt even have the same NAME as me?? Where was that listening when they illegally put this crap on my credit report? And finally, where was that listening when I went through months--MONTHS--of proving it to them? WHEN YOU INITIATE CONTACT WITH A CONSUMER AND YOU CANT LISTEN TO ONE WORD THEY SAY, TYPE, OR MAIL TO YOU, WHO THE HELL ARE YOU TO WONDER WHY NO ONE WANTS TO LISTEN TO YOU IN RETURN?? Why dont YOU have to listen, but you want everyone else to? I DID listen, I jumped through every hoop you idiots requested and EVEN THEN ERMI didnt know how to listen.

Let's get you back to reality, chief...

now i dont have any problem with that since it's not my credit that's being ruined anyways but i love you guys so much that i am still wlling to help out.

Well, my credit isnt getting ruined either--thanks to MY efforts because you numbskulls illegally put other people's debts on it! Seriously, you must have your head buried ina certain orifice if you cant put this together and understand why ERMI is in the hotseat for their own actions! Your company acted illegally, in a dozen ways. Your company harassed me for a long time, every single day, over SOMEONE ELSE'S DEBT. If you cant grasp what that means, that is your problem. This place is for people to relate their own personal experiences with CA's. It is NOT for me to "flip the coin" to give you morons credit that you didnt earn and certainly dont deserve. And looking at the number of others in this one thread alone that had similar experiences of being harassed wrongfully, I would venture a guess that your request for flipping that coin wont be too successful here.

pops you still dont make any point.

[good.nelly]

Its ridiculous...how can these people flatly say that we do not validate debts???????

Back in 2004, I had been an idiotic college student and opened up a credit card with Chase and was idiotic about paying it.

In 2005, I got a letter from Encore stating I owed the debt; I decided it was time to fess up and called Encore, gave them the information and attempted to make an arrangement so I could get the cash and pay them.

I had read the law on the subject and the next thing I knew, they called my neighbor...BIG MISTAKE, because my next call was to my attorney because I knew that I initiated contact with them, and they got me at a legitimate number and even divulged the collection matter to my neighbor who subsequently signed an affidavit for the summons and complaint I was to serve upon Encore.

I could never forget the guy's name, Brad Garrett, just like yesterday. I received validation and informed them I had an attorney and they were to communicate with my attorney and even included the retainer letter.

Next day, Brad's calling me...violation #2 and also significant legal problems because they were not to call me due to the fact that they're not allowed to do that...

I keep getting calls and my attorney's trying to get the situation under control and then it's just keep track of the violations in order to calculate damages, including call logs and phone bills with call logs...
This went on for 2 weeks when I paid my attorney and he paid to settle the account, as the supervisor Caroline Teeter indeed did say that the settlement offer was still good. My attorney and I decided that it would be a good idea to give chase a call and deal with an Encore liason who was absolutely horrified by the situation who stated the settlement offer was valid with all the violations that happened; we made a strategic move and added Chase into the lawsuit.

A month later we served both parties and waited for the time to tick for their motions to dismiss to be denied, then their answers come and it's time to talk settlement.

Chase proposed an amicable settlement that they would fund the difference between real balance and settlement amount, we accept for a paid in full rather than legally settled amount, they also agree to remove encore from credit report which is another key to the spectrum. Chase in turn, moves to sever me from the action as I was disposed and SUES Encore for what they had to fork over and for my attorney's legal fees that they were awarded, Encore had to pay legal fees as well.

I check credit reports with all three bureaus and chase not only had it paid in full, they also removed any and all adverse information from the report. A month later, a credit card offer comes from Chase!


Thank you Encore, your egregious violations of the fdcpa turned out well for me as it got that nasty gunk out of my reports!

[cajunbulldog]

Congrats hockeyman. This is what should be done when a company is so blatantly walking on a consumer's rights.