Bass and Associates FL AG complaint

JCEMT, your link was bad for me. Try this one instead.

The suit is a darn good start, but I don't think it goes nearly far enough. The victims ought to get a little $omething for stress, mental anguish, etc.

I don't know about you, but this seems like a lot of money:

Impose penalties of ten thousand dollars per violation of the deceptive and unfair trade practices act and fifteen thousand dollars for per willful violaiton which victimized, or attempted to victimize a person who is sixty years of age or older.

Award consumer restitution and damages in an amount to equal the amounts each consumer paid in excess of an amount allowed by law.

[quote=JCEMT]I don't know about you, but this seems like a lot of money:[/quote]

Oh, it seems to be a princely sum, right enough. $1.2 million just in fines, plus restitution and damages. That's a heck of a slap on the hand. But here's where I had a problem with it: [Not that my opinion matters a lot. I live in Vermont...]

[quote=JCEMT]Impose penalties of ten thousand dollars per violation of the deceptive and unfair trade practices act and fifteen thousand dollars for per willful violaiton which victimized, or attempted to victimize a person who is sixty years of age or older.[/quote]

This is a fine. It goes to the state, not the affected consumers. While it may make them feel better, I'd rather see them get a little $$$ ahead on the arrangement.

[quote=JCEMT]Award consumer restitution and damages in an amount to equal the amounts each consumer paid in excess of an amount allowed by law.[/quote]

They get their money back. That's all they get, unless I misread it.

These are to be imposed as civil penalties, which means if your under 60 and they ****** you then you get $10k, if your over 60 and they ****** you then you get $15k. Plus whatever you overpaid, also the AG is seeking perm. injunction against them collecting in the state of FL. Basically saying your shut down, now GTFO

Ahhh....... Better.

1.2 million isn't even a full months worth of money even a partially successful company makes.

I don't think I will ever be a favorite of class action lawsuits because to the general media it isn't a big deal. However if a single consumer sues a company and gains a large settlement out of it, then it becomes headline news and I wish I saw more of that. You never hear about the big battles anymore because it's all class action now.

The agency I work for is not very big, 2 main offices, but they make huge bucks. I want to say that the office I work in made around 2 million in Dec and that doesn't include what the other office made.

You get paid on commission FYI? LOL I wish I made that kind of money, (just kidding). You're very right. Usually if these law suits are reported at all, it is a microscopic paragraph in the business section of the newspaper.

GREAT JOB!!!! HOORAY FOR THE FLA. AG!!. Now, if ALL the other AG's in this country would get off their a$$es and do the same to these scum suckers there would be no place for them to find work and they would have to get a real job!!

I agree...with Law Student as usual
always the statement that it's not a lot of money and that company represented makes sooooooo.... much money but posting in other statements that hello.... she still owes others money..!!!! ooops!
okay.fyi...if your company made more than 2 million in one single month? ....and you are a manager with this company ?....like I am thinking I read in one of your previous statements( could have misread your intentions and statement tho)..why are you still suffering and in debt fyi? ..and needed family members to donate to your kids THIS Dec in order for you to get them their wish list of presents? Your agency who is not very big (according to your statement )should indeed reward employees in upper management ... if your company made THAT much money in one month.. you yourself should have bought gift cards for your entire family members not only for xmas but for entire year!!!!!!!.... if your company made that much and compensated you accordingly...
there is no reason for you to be posting about debts you still owe..no way JOSE!!!!!!(just kidding) NOT!!!!!!!! If you are still in debt you refer to on other posts and company you work for and say they make this much money a month...RUN FYI RUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I luff ya bunches Law!!!! keep it up!!!

As much as I dislike certain agencies, Bass needs it done to them more than anyone else.

Socks...I am not answering for FYI..but from my own experience. I worked for a resort for over six years.
I worked directly with the owner. During that time his company grew from making about 3 grand a month to over a million a month. I did everything there was to do there from bookkeeping to cleaning toilets. I received one Christmas bonus of 200 dollars. I did not expect to received any commission or bonuses it was his business. They were good people to work for..that's just one of the reasons why I stayed.

I don't really feel I should have to answer your question Socks but I will. I make salary plus commission, my commission is based on my groups performance and not the company wide performance, while I receive a decent bonus it is also shared with another manager on this project so it isn't as big as you might think it is. If you know anything about collection agency owners you should know that they like money and they like to keep as much of their money as they can.

In August my sister in law and her 3 kids moved in with us and that totaled 10 people in our 3 bedroom apartment. She was unemployed in her last 2 semesters of nursing school. I don't know if you have ever had to feed 10 people without any assistance but the monthly grocery bill was almost 1k a month.

I signed up for Christmas assistance because I simply couldn't afford to buy presents for 4 extra people. She did move out in November and I made sure that she did receive the presents for her family that we were given as well as a few more that I bought for her. You see, she couldn't afford to buy anything for her kids this year. Everything that she has now has been bought for her by me or her mom because her ex isn't paying her hardly any child support. Thankfully her divorce was finalized yesterday and now the child support will be coming directly from his check and she will graduate from nursing school in May so that she can start making a good living for her little family.

My old debts are almost all paid. I am taking care of them one by one and I am doing a pretty good job of it. I will have one small limit credit card and a vehicle as current and good standing debt after next month. I hope to be buying a home this summer.

Frankly that is all I feel like explaining to you and it is certainly a lot more than you deserve.

That seemed like a personal attack Socks, please refrain from that in the future. Otherwise people will start thinking your Hankey.

Well since the cat is out of the bag,per my request of admin their ip matches the user id of our late Hanky.I ask that this user id follow our rules and cease the personal attacks or this id will be banned too!

Oh wow :shock: I was kinda joking. Guess it was true. Oh boy...

You know, this lawsuit is a good start, but I guess I'm just cynical. I think that Bass' days in Florida are probably over, but what's to stay they won't cross state lines and set up shop somewhere else? I mean, how long will it take before it happens to them again, right?

They've already started setting up in GA I think. :(

I did read an article that Bass had crossed over the Fla border into GA to set up shop and to try to avoid prosecution in Fla.

Doesn't matter, they cant run from that. They are gonna get it one way or the other.

Soap Box:
This site is very informative & the old timers (dont take offense - Im not referencing age) ROCK !! It's disconcerting when one blogger wants justification from another! Direct your anger or skepticism towards the creditors & collection agencies !!
Regardless of reason - we all need help every now and then !!

you know what fyi I do appreciate your response and answer

I don't have a lot of experience with collectors mostly what I have read and been told..I assume people in this industry do all the violations and treat people horribly because of commission based pay..why else would they act the way they do? And I never accused you of that. I guess my anger that seemed to be directed directed at you should have been directed at company you work for for not compensating their employees..how can they make that kind of money and good employees like you are still financially hurting? It's not right..I mean you expect that from big corps. like Wal-mart etc..but not these kinds of jobs..

and caj I'm not sure what you are talking about? I didn't think the attack was a personal one when posting and I respect fyi opinions

also my ip is different everytime I get on computer so I'm quite comfortable knowing it should match no one elses here

and what is banned? and where are the rules? I signed on to this sight and starting reading posts and later began posting ..I wasn't aware of rules and guess I should read those before posting further..it's not like anyone gets paid to do this..it's not worth sticking around if I'm upsetting anyone or whatever it is you are saying about me

what cat is out of the bag caj?

above post was me thought I was logged in thanks

Here is a link for all applicable rules:
http://www.debtconsolidationcare.com/forums/about27.html

thanks jcemt you are always so kind

also kind of off topic but a while back you responded to a question i had about Ip address
I later asked my husband to show me how it works and he showed me how we have anonymous proxy servers on our puters who send out different ip addresses than our actual ones
and tells me it is for further protection against anyone who may be trying to find out information on you (my ip address people see is actually anonymous proxy servers' address)
I won't promote any business on this sight but if you google "anonymous surfing" you can find out what I am talking about
thanks again

I'll be sure to check it out.

I won't add anything futher considering ip matching except to say our master server logs ip vs user id's and assigns unique ids to each person. I would not put this info out without full proof from our admin. team. I could care less if they changed their name.All I concern myself with is that our rules are followed 100%.

Second!

From what I have read about companies in Florida and Georgia using almost identical tactics, Bass is only one tenticle of a slimy multi armed creature hiding behind multiple co-owners and DBAs.

Is there a known parent company? The head of this hydra as it were.

From street rumor,the owners at Bass were once employed by Ellis Crosby & Assoc,another trainwreck.

Ok, do they own one business to which all these companies stem from such as "A company DBA B company"?

Ellis was shut down by Florida AG,but in my opinion still probably has his paws in some of these companies.I posted a investigation I did for another ag in this forum with my research results.Search my posts for it. if you desire a monster migraine,head over to sunbiz.org and start researching jacksonville companies. :lol: :shock:

"Anonymizer is the global leader in online privacy and identity protection solutions and secures your financial lifeline against would-be identity thieves using the latest and most advanced technology. Anonymizer Anonymous Surfing combines the protection of rotating anonymous IP addresses with the security of 128-bit SSL technology. Our Anonymous Surfing product will protect you against Phishing, Pharming, Spoofing, or anyone looking to "piggyback" on your Internet connection. Anonymizer identity theft protection solutions give you the peace of mind you deserve by protecting your identity with the best privacy protection on the market today"

didn't want to promote a product here but just had to provide a link for others here who may have been accused of same thing I have been and anyone who doesn't believe it actually works needs to give it a try in my opinion! thanks!

Don't post that in the forums socksfullofrocks, it's a violation of the TOS and is considered spam. Not trying to be a jerk or jump down your throat about it. I'm just giving you a heads up.

sorry can someone remove it? I read the link you gave me guess I missed a big one

also jcemt you have never been a jerk and I wasn't trying to be either

don't like the spammers here and wasn't trying to promote anything just figured that copying explanation of what I know for a fact this service actually does do would be better than me trying to explain it

my intentions are not to break any rules here and once again I do apologize but just wanted to state why I questioned the ip accusation to begin with thanks again jcemt and now I will leave this subject to rest

As it should be left at that.

I realize that big money is at play here; but how can a business be shut down by the AG in Florida -- only to pop up under a different dba later? I dont want to believe that the loop holes are that large !!

It will catch up to them. The sole reason they set up so many DBAs were to act as scapegoats. One branch gets shut down they still have others. What needs to be done is to have all their business licenses pulled in that state. I think they are still in court, the AG for Florida is seeking permanent injunction on their ability perform any type of collection activity in Florida.

Is it a true statement that a collection agency has to be licensed in the state in which they attempt to collect a debt?

Most certainly so, they must have a business license, in many states they also must have a surety bond, and if they are an out of state agency (meaning they have no physical locations in that state) they must also have a registered agent.

Some states require it,some don't.

Some states observe the licensing of another state (reciprocity), others require to be licensed in that state, others require no license but the collector must post a surety bond.

Ummmm . . how do I find out how my state views this issue (reciprocity) . . .(I reside in Illinois).

You should be able to look it up on the web with your state's legislation website. You'll need to look up legislation regarding taxation and business. It's worded differently from state to state. This is what it was in my state for instance:

WEST VIRGINIA STATE TAX DEPARTMENT
INTERNAL AUDITING DIVISION
INFORMATION RELATING TO COLLECTION AGENCY ACT, 1973
(Chapter 47, Article 16, Code of West Virginia)

JCEMT is right, try to look up Illinois state regulatory agencies, or the Illinois Secretary of State. As to your question about DBAs, I've read the Florida AG's petition. This case is different. He is seeking to have all the individuals named (associated with Bass) banned for life from ever working in collections again, as he did with Crosby. So, if he wins (and he will), a new DBA won't do them any good in Florida.

I understand that Bass & Associates is also being investigated by the authorities in GA (in conjunction with the Fl. AG's office) for possible unlawful flight to avoid prosecution by setting up shop across the State line in nearby Folkston, GA and harassing people from a call center there.

My hope is they get permanently shut down and the key to their jail cell(s) thrown away!

Then what's to stop them from going to yet another state--like Alabama, or Texas?? I really hope that this puts them out of business, but I guess I'm just cynical...

kscornell, I understand your cynicism. However they will eventually be shut down. It seems Georgia is already on to them. If they jump state again how quickly do you think people will start seeing the pattern? How quickly do you think more reports will come again? How many states will start denying their applications to setup a business there as a preemptive strike to keep them out?