A.S. and Associates-please help

Hi hk22

Welcome to the forums.

Please don't get scared from the collection call otherwise you won't be able to manage it properly. Please follow the steps required to have a proof of everything.
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Roxette, thank you so much for your message, it helped ease my mind. If anyone knows how I can get an address or fax number for A.S. and Associates, I would appreciate it so I can send them copies of what I have, I don't think this man I spoke with will give me any information. Thank you again Roxette, it is so good to know there is a forum like this to get information to help us know our rights.

If I make payment arrangements with this company, does anyone know if they have to accept mailed payments, when I talked to this man yesterday he kept saying it had to be on a credit or debit card, I do not want to do that, I don't trust them to handle it correctly, if they say they won't make arrangements or take payments by mail it is advised to go ahead and do that anyway? I can't find any info on my rights as to form of payment. I appreciate any help anyone can give, thanks

HK 22

I searched in the internet to get an address of A.S. Associates, but I have not been able to find till now. I will post it here as soon as I get some information about them.

If the collection agency is insisting on a payment from a credit or debit card, tell them that your bank account is frozen and you won't be able to make payment through that account. You will be able to pay them only though money order.

Send them a payment plan along with the money that you will be sending later through money order. As you are willing to pay it, they should not have any reason to deny it.

Ask the representative to give you an address where you will be sending your letter about payment. Otherwise, you won't be able to send money to them.

Also, you can see in your credit report if you can find the address of this company.

Regards
Roxette

Roxette, thank you SO much for all the info, I feel so much more prepared to talk to them now without being intimidated. I will ask for the address and am documenting everything, I am really grateful I found this forum, I feel like there is some hope now. Thank you!!

hk22, stay strong! Learn as much as you can before you approach this. This is a great place to learn with many people going through the same thing! Learning about this will help boost your confidence and ease a lot of your fears. There is hope!!!! check out AOC website as well as the credit forums as well, they all helped me out as well as this one!

hk22

Please let us know if you go through any problem while negotiation. A.S. Associates won't be able to recover money from you falsely. :)

Regards
Roxette

I received a call from these nasty people today, how do I get them to stop calling my job? Also they would not give me an address.
Thanks

16350 Park Ten Pl Ste 100-1
Houston, TX 77084

They are going to try and scare you with the police will be at your place of employment in 20 minites routine. Just stay calm

The cease and desist letter is a powerful tool that can be used to stop all the collection calls coming your way. Mention in your letter that you prefer to be contacted only through mail. This option is necessary to be left open so that you can be informed in case any legal actions are taking place against you. Send your letter through certified mail with return receipt requested and keep copies documented in a file for records.

Thanks, and yes they did threaten me with the police...the lady called me a theif, and said alot of nasty things. Once I took out the loan, the company gave my information to another company that took money out of my account, so my bank advised me to close that account and get another account number. These people are crazy, I would not mind paying the money back, I was simply asking them who they were. I didn't want to send money to a company I had no idea who they were. She stated she was going to call my job and let them know "I was a thief." WOW....

I received a call from Karen Lee at A.S. Associates; she advised me that I was in breach of contract with a payday loan company and I have until noon today to come up with at least 50% of my debt. I asked if she can provide me w/a written statement and she refused and told me I will be facing criminal charges with the felony court. I am currently unemployed and cannot come up with the money today...what can I do???????????

I have a question about this company. They threatened me the same way, however I gave them a payment because the said they would call the police and I am in the military and did not need the drama. If you can assist me in letting me know was I wrong to give a payment.

You were not wrong to make a payment. You should request something in writing from the company. Do you currently have an arrangement with them or was this a one time payment? You need to ask them to send you a written statement showing how your payments are being applied so that you know where you stand with your account.

I searched and found this #,(281-579-7950). You can try that and let me know if it is them...

Thank you for your response to my question. I am actually call the original company tomorrow. So how do I handle that company in the future. Do I make the payments that are available on a payment plan or do I give them 50% like they ask for in the beginning. Do they have the right to contact the authorities or was that just a threat that had me worried about my career in the military. What exactly are my rights in this matter.

First, it is not a criminal offense to write a bad check now and then. If you make a habit of it, or say, buy a new car with a bad check, there can be criminal liabilities. But writing a bad check to a lender (who is probably not even legal or licenses) will not get you jail time. The police department would laugh in their face if they tried to have you arrested.

Second, it is not "theft" to take out a loan and then default on it. They gave the money to you willingly; you did not coerce it from them. That makes it merely a civil liability.

For them to even threaten to get the police involved is against the law. You should use the same tactics and threaten to call the police on them. If that guy called me and threated to arrest me, I would say "go ahead and do it you son of a b****, you probably don't even pay your bills either."

They also cannot call your employer and tell them you are a thief, or that you owe them money. They are not supposed to discuss your debt with anyone except you or your attorney. If he calls again, just say "I am dealing directly with the lender, thank you for your concern, it is well noted." and hang up.

If he calls back, hang up again. And if he keeps calling, tell him you will file charges for harassment.

Now...

Viola, your are protected by the Serviceman Civil Relief Act. They couldn't sue you even if they wanted to, so long as you are on active duty. And they are not allowed to contact your military chain of command to try and collect a debt.

You can tell the man to get lost too.

Also I found this...

A. S. & ASSOCIATES RECOVERY EXPERTS, INC.
16350 PARK TEN PL STE 100-1, HOUSTON TX 77084-5147
Phone - (281) 579-6161
Phone - (281) 579-7950

Contact Name - JEFF MEGHANI
Contact Title - MANAGER

Contact Name - ANTHONY NORRIS
Contact Title - OWNER, REGISTERED AGENT

Contact Name - S MOORE
Contact Title - DIRECTOR

I just got a call today from a Ms. Lee informing me that I was going be prosecuted in my county for writing bad checks and then she named two companies that I taken payday loans through PAA or Mario and National Money Store. She told me that one of my claims was processed on December 7, but if I paid the total amount over 864.00 right away she could get my charges dropped. Then she told me that they had two different ss# for me and that I would be looking at over 4000.00 in court fines and fees if I was prosecuted and that it was in my best interest to pay the money. I told her that the companies probably processed my ss# in human error, and that I had not previously received any written information from either of these companies and that I wanted written proof. She said she would fax it to me right away and that I should call her back and inform her of what I want her to do either take payment from me or send my case to the county for charges to be made. Can they arrest me for this, I don't want to be embarrassed or bring embarrasment to my family over something like this. Please reply what I should do asap. I am nervous that the cops are going to show up at my house any minute now.

Relax, there won't be any cops in your house. They are just passing on hot air. Did you check if A S Associates has your debt from your credit company? Call your creditor for more information on this account and if possible, pay them so that you don't have to deal with this company.

Even if you send 5.00 a month

I am so glad I decided to research this company. Some man left a message on my mailbox at work saying he was an 'investigator' and that he is calling me due to a situation that will be coming up tomorrow and to prepare me. I don't owe anything that I am not aware of so after putting the phone # in Google and reading all the informnation everyone has put on this site...I am very relieved. I look forward to him calling me back. Where can I look up the FD rules or someting thing that someone mentioned. If this is regarding an unpaid PayDay loan -- do I bring up the fact that I am a NY resident and these type of services are illegal in the state of NY.

Your post tells me that your company has very lax security to allow a person claiming to be an "investigator" leave a written note on your mailbox.

Find out whom allowed him access & why. Ask if he presented proper ID to them, ect. If he's an investigator, then his/her credentials should be in order. If someone flashes you a badge & ID throb fast without letting you read it in it's entirety don't hesitate to call 911, you got a real problem.

no - they didn't leave a note on my mailbox - they left a note in my voice mail box. sorry i was more clear on that...but thank you. my building wouldn't even allow this person entrance even if they claimed to be an investigator - it is a very secure location and you can't get anywhere without a badge or ID. i just don't know anythign about them or what they are claiming i owe. as far as i am aware - everything i owe is paid to date or paid off. but thank you for the feedback. if they do claim i owe a company - i want it in writing and the companies name and will deal with them directly.

Maria G? state your in? Is it Texas? The name of the agency contacting you & PayDay Loan company. email 'em to me here. Same for the rest of you......

No - I am not Maria G. :) The PayDay company is NationalMoneyStore.com and the debt collecton agency is A&S Collection Associates. I spoke to the person from A&S and I can agree with the woman who began this chain - they are rude and crude and he threaened to file fraud charges against me. I explained to him that on the $600 loan I took - I paid back $1064.50 and not only that - they stopped their normal deductions informing me the loan was paid in full. I am considering closing my checking account and opening a new one. He was extremely rude. His voice messages alone were totally uncalled for.

He's here in Texas? I don't recall dealing this operation....

One of them left a message on my phone last night claiming his name was "James....errr I mean Greg Patton from A S & Associates" and that they had a serious matter they needed to discuss with me. Before calling them I looked them up on these forums and found they are the CA of choice for PAAdvance. Naturally, I once had a PAAdvance loan that I paid in full (a few times over I might add).

So, before I even call this guy back I know the following:

1) what PDL he represents
2) what state he operates in (TX)
3) I have documentation of all my payments to PAAdvance

I'm going to immediately notify him that I'm recording the conversation and then ask for validation of the debt.

Since I know he's going to refuse and then proceed to harrass me, I will then call the TX AG's office and file a complaint.

In the meantime, I'd like to get ahold of PAAdvance and try to resolve why they've passed off a paid account to a CA. Unfortunately, I can't find a phone number or mailing address for them. The phone number my bank has for the company that debited my account for payment is a dead end.

Does anyone have this contact information?

Thanks!

So I reached PAAdvance over email and got the following reponse:

"Sorry but we are unable to accept payment arrangements anymore, all arrangements have to be made with them, sorry.

Mario
USAdvance "

Laughable. I'm going to be stuck dealing with A S & Assoc.

Send them a debt validation request, certified, return receipt, and have them validate it, if they can. They are supposed to cease all collection efforts until it is fully validated.Keep us posted on your progress...Karen

Send it to the CA, or send it to PAAdvance?

Send it to the Collection Agency that is trying to collect the debt..KAren

Thanks. I'll get one sent out tomorrow and keep y'all posted.

So I just got off the phone with the CA, and after immediately making it known that I was very familiar with fdcpa laws the guy was very cooperative. He went over all the dates of charges, and pointed out that the amount forwarded was due to 2 NSF's returned to the creditor from my bank. I am going to verify the dates of the NSF's with my bank and contingent upon that will pay the amount owed, which is roughly $100. For such a small amount, it's really not worth it for me to hassle with them.

I am also looking for any information on PAAdvance. Mario apparently is the one that called A&S for my account. I am in the process of writing A&S a letter asking for debt validation but I would like to get any information on the apparent company that gave the loan. Any help greatly appreciated. I can't believe they are so awful to this many people.

They also harrassed me and I live in GA where PDLs are prohibited. I turned them right over to the AG and I was given this link at to someone who might be able to help me again the CA because they had told a co-worker why they were looking for me, which is illegal as well. I never used the below link because the AG handled them for me, but it seems like they are harrassing you and you might be able to get them to stop.

houstonconsumerlaw.com/en/cms/?207

I received a call today and was called a lier, theft, etc. What are my rights

Well, like many of you guys i got a call from Ms Lee. i am suppose to call back by tomorrow or else charges will be filed. she actually sounded very nice but yes threatened criminal charges. no offer of payment plan - -all or nothing.

I also just got off the phone with Ms.Bach, a terrible woman who yelled and accused me of being one of those kinds of people who make it bad for others. My original debt was $850, I made payments to the loan company until a month ago when I could no longer do that because my spouse is unemployed due to illness. I too was threatned after I told her I cannot come up with the last $281 to payoff this debt. When I offered $50, she laughed and said the authorities would be contacted. I have no one to ask for this money as we are strapped and trying to survive with 6 children on my income. They won't listen. I am thankful for this website. What should I do next. As another payment can't be made until 2 weeks.

Well first of all, what authorities are they going to contact? you cannot go to jail for being in debt...and she was in violation of laws by threatening that. Someone should come along to better assist you with your next step...but I didn't want you to sit around thinking that you were going to jail or something of that nature!

I just got a call from them today stating that papers where being processed and that i needed to call her back befor it was to late and the cops would come and get me. i am on probation for something now and i cant get into anytrouble. what are my rights and can i get arrested for this? i lost my job and i just had a baby and i do not have the money to pay for this right now, but i cant go to jail eather can anybody help me? i am very afraid

some lady named karen le called and saiD that AS & ASO THAT THEY WOUD GIVE MY INFO TOMORROW BY NOON TO THE POLICE IF I DONT COME UP WITH 50%THEY ARE GOING TO ARREST ME I TOLD HER IM UN EMPLOYED AND SHE IS STILL PUSHING DO I CALL BACK? THEY ALS CONTACTED 2 RELATIVS CELL PHONS STATING THEY WERE CHEIF INVESTEGATORS ARE THE JUST COLLECTION AGENCY ? PLEASE HELP

oa, you can't be arrested, tell them you'll be waiting for the police at the door; they are lying to scare you.

Please calm down. You can't be arrested for debt, police won't be coming to arrest you. What these collectors did is not only unethical, it is illegal. Inform them that you are tape recording the call and that YOU will be filing charges with the police for harassment and the fact they are misrepresenting themselves as federal agents. THAT should give them something to chew on.

hi they did the same thing to me yesterday and called my job and told me that it was a invesgation due to a payday loan i took out back 7/2008 the lady was very blunt and she let me know that if i dont take care there matter right way before she goes to on thursday there was going to be a warrant out for my arrest for fraud and when the cops pull me over the are going to run my name in system and i will get arrested and if my husband is driving then the same applies i mean she knew what kind of car i had and so on she really made me think but reading this it makes since....thanks

I also got a call from A.S associates. I took a loan out from Fast Cash Inc. for $500.00. They took one payment successfully from my account for $125.00(which was just the interest). Then I closed my account and I told Fast Cash what happened so they let me make payments via Money Gram. I made two more payments to Fast Cash via money gram and then I got hard up and was not able to make payments. So then they tried to pull payments from my checking account that was closed so they obviously got returned. So the person from AS associates said that Fast Cash filed a complaint against me for 4 returned NSF transactions, and that I was going to be charged for a Class B misdemeanor. This is the first call I have gotten from any collection agency for this loan, and no letters or emails. So they said by thursday July 9th is when I have to pay them $950.00 to clear this matter. Im in California, do they really have the authority to try and get me arrested? Please let me know. I don't know what to do, after reading most of these posts' it looks like a scare tactic. I called a Bankruptcy lawyer today just to ask a general question about Debt Collection agencies, but haven't heard back from them yet. Please help. Thanks.

You can't be arrested period. Plus, them trying to draw money and it not being there is NOT a bounced check....you wrote no check. The next time they call tell them you are recording the call so that you may turn it over to the police. Trust me, they won't want to be recorded and will hang up quickly.

Ok guys, listen up. It is illegal to do ALL OF THE ABOVE to collect a debt! PERIOD!! You need to find an fair debt collection attorney. Do a google search to find one in your area. Every state has them!

Contact one IMMEDIATELY!!! They work for free for YOU the consumer. They go after these scambags for illegal tactics. I used one is Florida, and I got a $550 settlement for the harrassement!!! YES!! I got money back! Once they agree to take your case (document ANY calls/voicemails) and they send the letter out representing you, THE CALLS STOP!!!! No more worries!!

Guys, there are people who are debt collectors, and then there are scumbags out there who get away with this stuff. Only we, the consumers, can fight back against them!!

CALL AN ATTORNEY ON THE ABOVE LINK IMMEDIATELY!!!