I did send a letter via certified mail with return receipt requested. I did that last week. I haven't received the receipt back as of this date. I didn't get any calls on Wednesday. Of course, today is a different day. I would be surprised if I didn't get any calls.

[roxette]

Debt collection agencies are required to follow the federal and state laws while doing collections. There are several consumer protections laws that ensure your safety and restrict any of these agencies to continue bad activities.

A cease and desist letter should be sent to the collection agency for putting a stop to these calls. After receiving your letter which you should send through certified mail with return receipt requested, they should not place a single call except to inform you about any kind of legal actions.

If this federal law is violated, you are in charge of taking legal actions against them with the help of your attorney. Also, you should file your complaints at the FTC, BBB as well as the state attorney general office. The legal facet will keep them in the best of their behavior.

[Not so Lucky]

Encore called our home 27 times from 11-24 to 11-28. We were back at a funeral and when we got home they had filled up our machine with messgaes to call them immediately or further actin will be taken. They have no regard for the law. The messages will be forwared to the attorney today and I can't wait to get htese jerks in court.

message to all.....

you MUST advise the collection agency that you are not the debtor, nor do you know them, nor is your # a good contact # for the debtor. if you simply say 'that person doesn't live here.' or something vague like that - of course they will keep calling!! it is perfectly legal for an agency to call someone until they either id themselves as the debtor or state they are calling a wrong #. some agencies are very large and collect for different creditors, so it is possible more than one department within the same collection agency also has your # by mistake. just because that company calls again, it doesn't mean it's from the same department in regards to the same debt.

[Not so Lucky]

Encore is collecting for Capitol One and has violated several fdcpa laws. They have received 3 certified mail with return receipt cease and desist and debt validation letters and also 3 faxed letters. They are not returning answers to our attorneys questions. A collection agency is SUPPOSE TO CEASE & DESIST once they receive the letter. Encore loves to ring the phone off the wall. That is why there are laws to protect us from people like Encore and other law breaking collection agencies!!!!!!

Hi Ms. Mom of Twins,

I've been following your history of posts with great concern. Like I stated in all of my previous posts, I am an honest fdcpa abiding third party collector who enjoys building rapport and earning the trust of borrowers who feel like they are backed into a corner.

I can't help but wonder, as I've been following your forum history, why you are getting all these creeps. To date, I see you've heard from First Credit of America, Asset Acceptance I believe, and now Encore Recievables, all who are charlatans if they liberally violate the FDCPA. There are stiff penalties for FDCPA violations for both collector and agency. These clowns really shoot themselves in the foot, don't they?

When my husband and I had a run in with First Credit of America, what stands out the most was the fact that they were collecting on something completely penny ante that my husband didn't even owe. It was for some credit report website that stipulated "cancel within five days and you will not be charged" he cancellled within five days, and three months later, recieved that call from this 'tard who completely bumbled his way through the conversation. What really cracked me up is that the guy said that there was a five dollar charge for pay-by-phone and a fifteen dollar charge for all mail-in payments. How farcical is that???

Bottom line, I want to help you. I'm very disturbed by the fact that all of your past due accounts are going to these unlawful agencies. There are some pieces of advice I want to share with you about how you can handle this without talking to them. When they call, just state that you will respond by mail and hang up. Also, if possible, get call intercept or privacy manager service from your phone company. These services screen your calls for you by not allowing unidentified calls to go through, it was originally designed to impede telemarketers but they also do well to let you know that there is probably another insane collector calling.

If I can think of anything else I will post it with one of your topics.

Good luck and take care of those twins!
Ari

[roxette]

Hi Ari

Thanks for the suggestion to mom of twin in this forum.

This forum is coming up with an exclusive log in ID for our members. This registration will be apart from the normal sign ups for debt consolidation programs.

The whole community will appreciate your signing up in the forums and offer further help.

Regards
Roxette

[Not so Lucky]

Ari,
Our whole problem started when we had 2000.00 stolen out of our checking account. When this happened, we fell behind on all bills including payday loans. We are finally getting back on track and all hell breaks loose with the scum sucking collection agencies. It is hard to bounce back from losing $2000.00 and the bank was no help at all because the stated we were careless with our account number. I use to pay everything online, but know it is paid my money order. Some of the creditors have no feelings for people in our situation. We sent all creditors and payday loan places a copy of the police report, FBI report and some were fine and worked with us. The rest said it was an excuse and the reports were fradulant. This is a summary of why we are in the shape were in and why we were turned over to Encore, the worst collection agency around!!!!

I received a letter from Encore stating that I had been turned over by Texaco/Shell for a balance of $33.00. I was so shocked so I immediately called Encore and paid over the phone with a check. I googled them and it said if you have received correspondence from them to call. That seemed a little weird to me so affter thinking this over (fraud went through my mind) I put a stop pay on the check. I called Texaco this morning and they said yes that it had been turned over to Encore so I called them back and told them what I had done because I didn't feel they were a legitimate firm. "Michelle" was rude from the get go. In a very condescending tone she said "As a mother and grandmother I don't work for a backyard firm." So we both started to talk at once and she said "I will not talk over you either you will talk or I will talk - what will it be?" I said just let me explain. I kept trying to pay but it was useless - she told me I had to go to a Western Union and wire the money then she said I won't talk to you while you are angry and I said I wasn't angry and that normally I don't get angry and in the most condescending manner said "You've never gotten angry?" Anyway I said I would call the bank and take the stop pay off. She said "Oh yes we need to take care of this big $33 debt." I did call the bank and get the stop pay taken off and I called Encore back and told them and she said it would be fine if the check cleared!!!!! Needless to say by the end of this I was getting pretty bent out of shape.

[roxette]

SueSue

You might have realized the attitude of Encore by now. Since they were holding your debt account and you have paid the required money to them, it is their responsibility to update your CR with the bureaus. Do check your file and see if the said account has been shown as 'paid'. As long as the account is not updated, it will not give a good view to your future lenders and you will not be sure whether the money has actually gone to your debt account. So, request Encore to update your account if they have not done it so far.

Regards
Roxette

Dear Mom of Twins,

My heart goes out to you in this most dreadful situation. It is in it's most true sense an injustice. Overall, I'm so sorry you're under seige by all these creeps.

I hope you have contacted the Attorney General of Massachusetts concerning the disgusting behavior of the Encore people. Here's some info that I found for you:

http://www.ago.state.ma.us/sp.cfm?pageid=1569

Good luck and take care

Ari

Hi again,

With your situation still weighing heavily on my mind, I thought of something.

You seem to be writing an endless amount of cease comms. You are writing and writing until your arm practically falls off. Yet you still get calls. Since we are talking about a couple of agencies who don't follow federal laws, I don't think your cease comms are making any headway.

Time to think about your own peace of mind, rather than throwing the book at them because from what you are posting, it looks like the cease comms are egging them on. What I suggest is that you call the phone company, and change your phone number to an unlisted number, also request that the phone company does not give out your number under any circumstances. Also, tell your friends and family to keep your new number secret. This way, your unlisted number will never be revealed in any skiptracing effort. Websites like Accurint.com, SearchAmerica.com, and SearchBug.com, can't make unlisted phone numbers available.

Take care,

Ari

[ben]

Ari, that's a good suggestion. Maybe Mom of Twins will like to change her phone number.

Once you have changed your phone number, and apply for new credit, try to pay to your creditors without letting it go to any collection agency. Otherwise, these same dirty tricks will start again.

[Not so Lucky]

Encore has finally quit calling and now the phone doesn't ring off the wall. THey sent a letter to our attorney that they have decided to cease phone communication and send account back. They apologize for any inconvience. They need not apologize to me for the hell they have put me through. It is sad that people have to take extra steps to protect themselves from ca's like these people.

[roxette]

mom of twins

I am happy to hear the good news.

I know you had to go through so much of pain dealing with this company but at the end, you feel happy that you had been successful with your moves.

Cheers !!

[Not so Lucky]

Roxette,
There are times when I just want to give up and say the hell with it all. Then I look at my 4 kids and think, you have to keep fighting and get myself out of this mess. Both my husband and myself have learned a valuable lesson. Stay away from payday loans, they put you deep in debt and stay away from things that seem to good to be true. I have learned alot from these forums about how to deal with the ca's. We are beginning to see daylight and it feels pretty good. I am not afraid to answer the phone anymore. Thank you to all who have helped me with advise on how to handle things.