does anyone know..

It's a collection agency called I.C. System, they're based in Minnesota. B. Brown is the "Collections Manager." I recently dealt with them for a medical bill, and they're not very pleasant to work with.

I.C. System is one of the oldest collection agencies in the business - it was founded before two months before the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.

My suggestion . . . Go over B. Brown's head with your complain. Ken Rapp is the CEO. I don't have a number but his address is:

KENNETH RAPP
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
444 HWY 96 E
VADNAIS HEIGHTS, MN 55127-2550

I was just about to call these fools up and give them one of my patented earfuls. Forget that! collection agencies arent going to get my number. Even if you aren't the person they are looking for they harass you constantly. Then they treat you like its your fault they have the wrong number. Bunch of nut-cases.

Dealing with collectors over the phone is not an easy job. Hence it is advisable to keep a record of the name of the person you spoke with, date, company name, time, phone number and the content of the conversation.

You can report them to the Bureau of Collections and Investigations. There are rules they have to follow. Educate yourself so that they can't take advantage of you. You do have rights even if you legitimately owe the debt. Just because you happen to owe money and can't pay it as quickly as they want, doesn't mean that they can degrade or harrass you. They must treat you with respect. If the debt is older than the law allows, don't return the call or answer the letters, you will reset the time. Learn your rights. Report their violations.

I agree with you Trinity. Education is the best weapon against these pestering collectors. If you are aware of your rights, then no one can bully you.

I got this email today as well. GOOGLED it and found this place. Useless efforts on their part cause im broke.

Hi, I was just reading through the posts that everyone else has written when I came across one by Trinity Charity. They were a guest on August 24, 2007. In their message they wrote the following:

"If the debt is older than the law allows, don't return the call or answer the letters, you will reset the time."

My question is this, is it true that if you return their call it resets the time? I'm a little confused because someone else told me earlier that that's not true. Could someone please help me with this? Thank you for any help that is given. :)

I heard of this happening many times. I would for sure find out before you are anyone calls or writes, etc. them. Someone here will know, just hang on.

thanks

hi--

the SOL is not something that a collector can restart. It is governed by laws, not by the collector. SOL begins when the debt is first charged off, and the SOL is different from state to state. Contacting them about the debt does not reset the SOL. Check your state's SOL to see how long they have to sue you. If the debt is outside the SOL, then nothing they can do will change that. The only exception to this lies in the laws of some states. For example, some states allow that the SOL is halted if you move out of state. If you leave the state and the debt is a year old, it will remain that old for SOL purposes, and not expire the SOL. If you move back to that state again, the clock then resumes where it left off. But that is not most states, as far as I recall only a couple do that.

Dont let this kind of bad info keep you from clearing your debts, or addressing those which may not be yours.

Now, there is another issue, called "reaging". This is specifically in regards to how long they can report a debt on your credit file. A lot of CA's illegally reage a debt by providing false information to the credit bureaus. This is against the law.

skydivr7673:

Thank you very much for the information. It was very helpful. The reason I asked to verify if returning the call really resets the SOL is because one time I fell into the "trap" of calling the CA back after they left a message saying that I needed to. Since then I've answered one time and was threatened and harassed so bad that I no longer answer their calls. Believe me, I've definitely learned my lesson for that!

I live in Texas and the SOL for my state is 4 years. The CA that I'm having to deal with is trying to collect on a debt from 1998 that the SOL expired on in 2002.

I finally found out who this CA is. I'm going to work on getting a copy of my credit report so I can see if they've put any false information on it. After that, now that I have their address, I can send them a cease and desist letter.

Thanks again. You're help is appreciated.

~*Tweety Gurl*~ :)

I never new that. CA's can give the " Credit Bureaus false information?" If you look on your CR's, will this 'false information be posted??..I mean...will u beable to see it??

I received a call from 888-241-8960 today on my cell phone advising they are a collection agency. I called the number back. They asked what number I was calling from & asked if I was 'Michael Baker'. I said no and gave her my name. She thanked me and told me to disregard the call.

i do not pick up any 800 #'s on my cell and have been seeing this number for a couple of days now. well tonight i got a call on my house phone from i.c systems and spoke with "chris". he wasn't all that bad to deal with....at first. soon enough he had an attitude over a measly $54.00 which i don't even know how is in collections anyway..only 3 weeks old...i found the best way to deal with them is break them to their nothingness. i began to question him if he was happy with his job which entails everyone elses dirty work and if it was really worth it to him to spend his time calling all day and on top of it..sending out collection letters;waste of paper. it is a legitimate debt and i TOLD him when and how , and how much he will be paid. the key to these guys is that they will accept offers as if you can haggle the crap out of them. go ahead and try it. take the upper hand and only end up paying $35 as opposed to $54 that they were claiming against them.
p.s. keep them on the phone as long as possible especially for smaller amounts.. makes them less productive per hour and will have their managers up their butts.
p.p.s. these people record your every word as they are also recording their own.... before you even start talking to them DEMAND the voice print I.D.# for the call as it will likely tone them down before they even have the chance to get hostile. thanks for listening to me babble on
jimmy c

If the debt was only 3 weeks old, why did it get turned over to them in the first place? I would be contacting whomever you had the debt with and give them crap for turning it over to collections that early in the game.

What is the Voice Print ID ?

i used to work for ic system as a collector for two different departments, and each department has its own number. the one you have listed is for "paypal" and i actually used to sit right across from chris, he is an extremely nice guy. we got paid hourly, so the amount of time on the phones was really no concern to us. and breaking us down? you really think we cared what some joe shmoe thought or had to say about our personal lives?? we wouldnt be in the business if every comment made effected us emotionally like that. all we look for is a payment. simple as that. balance in full is great, but usually not realistic. we "sell" the debt. so some real advice... bargain back with them. they aim higher than what they expect you to pay. so you need to aim lower than what you are willing to pay, and you'll meet in the middle and both be satisfied. simple.

Thanks for that info, guest. It is always beneficial when a collector/former collector participates in the forums and offers some insight and advice.

I hope you'll continue to post.

I called them.
They would not reveal who they were without my personal information?
I am not stupid. VERY RUDE.

i've been getting two calls a day every day for over a year now
tonight i finally looked up the number 651-204-1341 on the internet and found out about the great ethical ic system.

this is all because i owe ebay about $40.

here is their info

IC System Inc.
444 East Highway 96
St. Paul, MN 55127-2557

Administrative Contact : Henderson, Kerry
khenderson(at)icsystem.com
444 East Highway 96
St. Paul,, MN 55127-2557
US
Phone: (651) 481-6327
Fax: (651) 481-6516

Technical Contact :
Halfen, Charles
chalfen(at)ICSYSTEM.COM
444 E Highway 96
St Paul, MN 55127
US
Phone: (651) 481-6309
Fax: (651) 481-6516

here is what you can do

from the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
Section 805(c) -- Ceasing collection calls and communication

Once debt collection agents receive written notice from a consumer that he or she refuses to pay the debt or wants the collection agent to stop further collection efforts, the agent must cease any further communication with the consumer except

"(1) to advise the consumer that the debt collection agency's further efforts are being terminated;

(2) to notify the consumer that the debt collection agency or creditor may invoke specified remedies which are ordinarily invoked by such debt collection agency or creditor; or

(3) where applicable, to notify the consumer that the debt collection agency or creditor intends to invoke a specified remedy."

1. Communicating
For purposes of this section, the term "communicate" is given its commonly accepted meaning and includes phone calls and messages. Thus, the section applies to contacts with the consumer related to the collection of the debt, whether or not the debt is specifically mentioned. [53 Fed. Reg. 50104]

2. Request for payment.
When responding to a "cease communication" notice from you they may not include a demand for payment! Their response is limited to the three statutory exceptions outlined above.

First and foremost, for a debt collector to cnotact you via email-- you must contact them first and give them permission to communicate with you via email.
I used to be a debt collector and some customers wanted an email record. I advised them to emil my company with their reference # and state that they would rather communicate about the debt via email. This is part of the fdcpa.

Today, I got an email from IC systems in an email address I use for private reasons. They must have skip-traced it. They also called me yesterday and their rep stated that my $167 dental bill would go to the 'legal department'. Dept collectors are not allowed to say 'legal' or 'garnish' or anything similar unless they are 100% certain this will happen. Each infraction is a $5,000 fine. I pointed this out to her and she quickly shut up.

I always followed the rules and there are some good debt collectors out there. You can get payment arrangements. You can now get settlements (as little as 30% on the dollar, depending on the original creditor) that improve your credit rather than hurt it.

If they email you without permission or threaten legal action, ask for their compliance dept. If they have none, report it on a form at ftc.gov

Keep in mind, they can call you once a day even if you ask that they don't. They can call you at work- even if you ask they not do it. Some states allow you to write a letter asking you not be called at work- but it only is in force for 10 days. There are a few other state exceptions- but in general- they can keep calling you. If you simply state 'I have no money and am not paying YOU" they likley will stop. Don't get dragged into a long conversation. Simply hang up.

Tracy, why don't you join our forums? Tracy is a good, law abiding collector. Unfortunately, many collectors, who work for firms we all know, have no difficulty mentioning the terms "legal" or "garnishment, among other things.

Some of this info is incorrect. If your employer forbids personal calls and they continue after being informed,it is a violation of the fdcpa. This is spelled out clearly in the laws.

I also thought that if you issued a written request for a collector to cease and desist telephone communications, that it was in effect indefinitely....

You are also correct Tiffany. A C&D stops communications.

Does anyone know anything about Forster and Garbus law firm in Farmingdale,NY? They just froze all our bank accounts because of a debt owed. Now they are taking our money in order to unfreeze our accounts? A lawyer told me they can do this. I live in New York state.

D. McCormick - can you provide us a little background on the debt owed? That will help us give you some advice.

The type of debt, how long ago the debt was incurred and when you last paid on it will be helpful.

If you get any calls from them and it the name is the same as your PayPal name you have registered with them, PayPal basically handed you over to IC Systems for collections regardless of what it is. They are the biggest scum bags ever.

I have the reaged information on my report and have tryed to remove it by disputing it and they verified it so it remains and i have tryed ti dispute it again and was told it has already been verified and they will not reinvestigate. what do you do in this situtation?

My Experience with this Paypal/Ebay debt has been very bad. I just don't pick their calls now. But I am surely going to pay off the debt in next two months.

I'm sure you'll be relieved once you take care of it.

I also am receiving phone calls and emails from IC systems. I have yet to return the phone call, but judging from this thread it is due to paypal. I am currently in a battle with paypal. I sold an item(first time ever) online and shipped it without tracking information. The buyer filed a claim with paypal saying he never received the item. What a bunch of b.s. Now I'm not sure what to do. I will not refund the money as he already has the merchandise.

Is there anything I can do?

Its not a matter of being educated- its a matter of being responsible. Dont make excuses and quit running away!! you know you owe the money!! Pay your bill!!

I had a problem with a vendor on e bay and lost over two hundred dollars . I refused to pay them 25 and change . they kept calling and calling . at almost ten at night local time . I called and stated I was the owner of the phone and that employees were not allowed to use the phone for other then company business. I went on to explain how my bill reflected several calls a day including many after 9 pm my local time . the person claimed i was in error about the time and i continued to explain that if i saw another call on my statement from them I was filling in state court and they would have to defend the case here localy and that the thousnad dollars per call after 9 would end up costing them close to ten grand after expenses. I also told them earlier to have e bay resolve the issue and i would be happy to pay them.. ebay is a scam they own pay pal and lock you in to pay pal .i will never use ebay or pay pal for any reason ever again as they do nothing to protect any one buyer or seller only them selves...
so having some one call and threaten them with a costly court case and see if they dont stop.
to all that read this beware of e bay and pay pal .read the terms and conditions carefully and then go to paypalsucks dot com and read some real horror stories about pay pal and how they rip people off..