[Brooklyn Girl Fl Trnsplnt]

Hi all. I have been gone for awhile trying to straighten out my messes financially and having to start home schooling my oldest son. Anyway. my boyfriend had two Capitol One cards which we were making payments on up until about two months ago. We were just getting ready to send out a payment this week again to them when we got a call on Saturday from a guy claiming to be from a lawyer's office representing Capitol One. He said his name was Mr. Kalogeras and that he was from the Attorney Network, phone number 866-742-5318. He wanted to set up immediate payments ..... you know the way they work .... no payment plans .... pay in full or it goes to court etc., So now an acount which currently has a balance of about $4,000 has gone up by $2,400 - for their fees - BUT if we make the agreement with them immediately they will knock of 25% of the original debt owed to Capitol One("which we don't have to do". We told them that if we had that kind of money we would have paid them already. I asked if they had sent us any documentation sayinfg that they owned the account because as of the April statement it still said that Capitol One owned the account and nothing of it being turned over to anyone for collection. He said they are representing Capitol One ...yada yada. So I said well I have nothing in writing... etc. THEN he said he could do 3 payments of $1,000 each and trake that as settlement. Again we said if we had that money we would have paid Capitol One already. Finally he agreed that I should call Capitol One and speak to them but they will not be willing to work anything out with us. Remarkably when we did call them, they knew who my boyfriend was right away and that they were waiting for his call??? We offered to pay no less than $25 a week but the man he spoke to there said that they would not stop the fees and that the interest fees were over $150 a month alone. Actually the late fee is $35 and the interest is only $76. But he did not say he would not make an arrangement.

So today we went to call back Mr Kaligeras and see if we could set arrangements for $200 per month minimum. SURPRISE when the call went through it said "Thank you for calling NCO Services" So I hung up and started writing here.

First of all, we have to have something in writing correct? Secondly, calling and while he did not say that he himself was a lawyer he claimed to be from the Attorney Network - allowing me to believe that he was indeed from a lawyers office or a lawyer himself, isn't there something illegal about that? We want to pay the debt off but we just can't pay it all at once. As of today we have not gotten anything from the in writing saying that the account has been turned over to a collection or Lawyer. Help please.

[Gretchin]

Here is one more example of the scary collection tactics used by NCO collection agency. They tried to hide their actual identity and presented as lawyers. This is indeed illegal and must be reported to the AG's office. Next time, if you get a call from them, get a recording device for legal use. Check the state laws before you do the recording.

If Capital One has your accounts, you don't have to work with any CA. Try to work out a payment plan with them and stick to it. Have everything in writing so that no other company tries to intimidate you.

Here are some of the discussions picked up for you to get a better understanding about NCO

http://www.debtconsolidationcare.com...about6873.html

http://www.debtconsolidationcare.com...o-finance.html

http://www.debtconsolidationcare.com/forums/nco-ca.html

http://www.debtconsolidationcare.com...out6156-3.html

This company has been harrassing this number for months. When finally got to speak to someone, they were very rude and would not listen. A couple of days later, the same called and still would not listen to the fact that being off work on disability, there is no $$$ coming in enough to pay everyone. Now the "threats " are there with implications.

[texaslawyer]

Ward, it sounds like they acted like most debt collectors. Depending on the threats, you could have claims against the debt collectors.

[skydivr7673]

Hi brooklyngirl...

Wow, this is strange....two months behind and it goes to NCO that quickly. That seems fast...anyways, here is what you need to know.

1--under the fdcpa(federal law), it is 100% illegal for ANY debt collector working as a third party to claim or imply that they are an attorney. It is illegal for a collector to represent themselves as working for any company other than the one they actually work for. he claimed to be calling from the "attorney network"--this is a direct violation of the FDCPA. here is the statute for your reference:

FDCPA, section 807

[img]/forums/attachments//bsm10_194.jpg[/img]

Further down in the same section, this is also illegal:

[img]/forums/attachments//bsm11_150.jpg[/img]


Second, the rather large increase is something you need to address. You stated that the balance went up from $4000 to $6400. This is not legal. Well, let me clarify this--they can legally charge you any interest and fees that are permitted in your original credit agreement that was signed when the account was opened. But there is no way possible for that much interest to accrue in two months time as far as I can tell. Check the original agreement to make sure you understand exactly what charges they can legally tack onto your balance, but I think that this amount is very suspicious.

Third, your account is two months behind. Demanding immediate payment in full right now or you will be sued...well, there is a provision in the FDCPA that does not allow false threats....in the same section as used above--

(5) The threat to take any action that cannot legally be taken or that is not intended to be taken.

I have severe doubts altogether that any creditor is going to immediately sue you for being two months behind. I would check further into this--unfortunately I am not certain about the law and how it relates to that, but I think that you might find a provision in the law that sets up a timetable of sorts. For example, with a car loan in my state(Louisiana), a car cannot be repossessed until after the consumer has fallen more than 60 days past due. You might find something there that will help on this one, you might not.

Ok, the bottom line in all of this. I would immediately look into your state laws. You are looking to see what your state law says about recording telephone conversations. Last I knew, twelve states required that all parties involved in a telephone call needed to be aware that the call was recorded, while all the rest of the states only required one party to be aware. If it is legal in your state, record the phone calls. Put a recorder on your phone, then call the guy back at "attorney network". Play dumb a bit--ask him about the original information he told you. Ask him why he called his company the attorney network when the number belongs to NCO. Get all of this on tape. Then, agree to nothing--NOTHING--with this person. End the call. Then, call Cap One. Inform them that you have recorded evidence of major FDCPA violations committed by the CA they are using. Inform them that you are considering a lawsuit against NCO because of it. You might see them immediately pull your account back from NCO because they want to avoid the damage.

You will then be able to file your own suit--against NCO. You will have all the proof you need on tape, and you can recover money from NCO because of this.

[good.nelly]

Under fdcpa a collection agency is prohibited to use any false or misleading representation to collect debt from consumers. So, gather all the evidences against NCO collection agency and file a suit.

[sullivana]

You know, I just posted a post about NCO before I found this one.
I did not realize that NCO collection agency did collections for credit cards, I thought only for medical facilities and medical treatments. Here in my state, that is the only thing I've ever seen them associated with.

[cajunbulldog]

Nco are a collection company that also sometimes purchases bad debt.The important thing to remember is that they must follow the fdcpa to the letter.I would first of all send a dv/limited communication letter to them certified return receipt mail.Review the first two hyperlinks in my signature and use the letter in the third one. I would also inform them of how they wish to settle the violations already committed in that phone call. Lastly if legal record in your state as they are known to violate.If you cannot record start a communications log for these phone call violations.

[dalfire497]

Just as a side note - I have my own company, and I get sales calls from CA's looking to "help" my business collect past due's all the time. According to them they will use "specific proven collection tactics" to collect my money fast! Of course there is NO way I would do business with them EVER - but that is how they describe the horror they put people through. Just thought you all would find that interesting

[atruefamilyx6]

I have an outstanding bill with a creditor (2 months past due) and I called to see about making some kind of payment arrangments with them and they explained that I would haev to call the outside collection agency which they told me it was OSI but when I called the 800 number I was given the recording said NCO financial services so I hung up. I am pretty new to this forum and have read about NCO that is why when I heard the recording I just plain hung up, I don't even know if I shoudl try to deal with them or not after everything I have read on here.....

Any opinions???

Any debt has limits after so many years they can't do anything 6 is the number here ....Dont admitt debt,or it can start all over.

[SOAPLADY]

OSI was bought out by NCO.

I have two Capital One credit card debts that have gone over to collections -- one to NCO and one to ACF. I have lost a couple of jobs in a row and am in extremely hard times financially. Last night when I got home from work, there was a woman sitting in a car across the street from my home. She got out of the car and approached me, then followed me to the door of my home using threatening language and when I got inside my house, she yelled "you have been served!" and left some bogus legal papers on my steps. I was so scared, my heart was palpitating so hard, I thought I was going to have a heart attack. Please help! Who do I call? How do I get them to leave me alone?

Ellie, check with the county clerks office to see if the papers are real. Find out who the person was and have them charged with trespassing.

[unclewulf]

Ellie, speak to your local police department about this immediately. That is not proper service, regardless of whether the papers are bogus or not. You may well be able to press charges against that person for this, starting with tresspass, and working up from there. In my state [Vermont] she'd be looking at Criminal Tresspass and Simple Assault, for starters. Simple Assault is a felony, BTW. People go to jail for that.

[atruefamilyx6]

So I sent a certified DV letter to NCO collection agency since they were on the credit report and low and behold I get a response letter in the mail and all it says is that they have no record of me having an account with them and that as of right now there are no accounts in their office pertaining to me.

What is this??? I was waiting to get the debt verified and this is all they sent. So what would my next step be???