Vandenburg Chase & Associates, LLC
Date: Thu, 07/02/2009 - 14:17
These people impersonated lawyers and told me I had a warrant for my arrest and the sheriffs office was going to pick me up if I didn't pay them right away. They actually wanted me to "verify" my social security number for them over the phone and give them bank account info. First of all I did some investigating and they are not attorneys nor do they have a legal department or attorneys working for them. Also there have been numerous complaints with the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) against them for violating debt collection practices. Now, more to the point. I DON'T OWN ANY LEGITIMATE DEBT WITH THIS COMPANY OR ANY OTHER FAST CASH PAYDAY LOAN PLACE. In case some don't know this Payday Loan places and Checkmate loan places DO NOT use the credit bureau's to verify a persons credit worthiness or identity. If they did they would have seen the FRAUD ALERT on all three of my credit files because a family member with a gambling addiction has been using my identity for years and police reports have been filed. Bottom line: So if you have been a victim of identity theft the "fraud alert" you placed on your credit file DOES NOT stop these fast cash places like ACE Fast Cash. Instead they call your employment and call two reference people you suppossedly gave them. All someone has to know about you is where you work and two contact people that will verify you are a responsible person. (Three phone calls and all three can be made up and staged by the thief if necessary.) Then WHALA Payday will hand out a loan and deposit it into any bank account number given them not necessarily yours. The perpetrator has the money and the victim does'nt even know what happened until years later when they try to collect the bad debt. This is exactly what happened to me. Be Aware - Legally they don't have a leg to stand on because YOU never gave them your social security number. That's why they want YOU to verify your social security number over the phone so they can later say YOU gave it to them and YOU verified it was YOU. They already have your social security number, they just didn't get it from you they know it and they need to trick you into verifing it. They keep their fax number on an answering machine and refuse certified mail so your only recourse is to file a complaint with the FTC or sue them yourself. PAYDAY LOAN verification practices are the root of the problem. Someone needs to shut them down altogether. Anyone can get a loan in your name with very little trouble.
These creditors threaten us with arrest warrant because they thi
These creditors threaten us with arrest warrant because they think that the debtors will pay them off in fear of arrest. But the truth is that, they threaten because they do not own the debt and they cannot collect the debt legally by suing you to the court. Defaulting on your debt is not considered a criminal offense and so you cannot be arrested for it.
Quote:These creditors threaten us with arrest warrant because th
Quote:
These creditors threaten us with arrest warrant because they think that the debtors will pay them off in fear of arrest |
Only a handful of people actually verify such statements, and of this handful, only a handful of *those* actually stand up for their rights and collect their $1000 according to the FDCPA.
These companies wouldn't get away with this for 5 minutes if more people sued them because it would get far too expensive for them to be paying out $1000 and attorney and court fees for those they have wronged.
Send Vandenberg a Cease & Desist letter (Certified Mail, Return Receipt Requested).
Also, even though PDLs don't usually check your big 3 credit reports, they often *do* check Telechek or Cheksystems, etc. to validate whether you have a bank account and whether you have bounced any checks.
