Malcolm S Gerald & Associates

Malcolm S Gerald & Associates is a collection agency collecting debt of major retailers, manufacturers, service related organizations, hospitals and large municipalities.

They can be located at the following address:

332 South Michigan Avenue, Suite 514
Chicago, Illinois 60604
Toll Free 800.265.3796
Phone 312.922.6500
Fax 312.922.7869

Any collection agency is required to work under the set guidelines of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. If the said agency is holding your debt legally, they will be able to provide you the complete details of your debt and the calculation of interest.

Also, the collection agency should be licensed to collect the debt in your state and they should provide you a copy of the agreement deed that the creditor has passed your debt to the mentioned collection agency and they are further responsible for collecting the debt from you.

If you wish to gather more information on the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, you can check out the FTC site for more details on it.

Regards
Roxette

Hi, I am not sure what co they are working with but it must be some kind of collection co. I have received messages from them but they never say what ii is about just to call them back.

sumtimes collection companies dont leave the reason for the call. thy jst leave a msg.

I was contacted by this collection agency, Malcolm S Gerald. I believe they are located in Chicago and I am from California. The dunning letter that I recieved from them is typical for debt collectors, in that i mean, there wasn't a lot of detail. I kinda educated myself reading consumer boards and get familiarized with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act statues. So with in a few days after receiving their dunning letter, I sent them by certified mail a request for validations of debt. It is crucial that you request for validations within 30 days after receiving the first dunning letter. I got back the green card from the post office today and now the ball is in their court. I am not sure about the nature of this accoutn, but I have a feeling it is a credit card that was charged off in late 90s. In that case the debt is out of the statue of limitations and legally not collectible. I have credit monitoring services with all of the bureaus, and I am closely watching for any violations. If they report the account as "collection" I intend to write the collection agency, an intent to sue letter and mail to them by certified mail, with a demand for money. If they don't heed with my letter then I would sue them in my own city and state. Keep in mind fdcpa is stricktly a liability issue. Any violation by the debt collector can not be undone by further actions. Debt collectors break the law intentionally because most consumer don't even know that there are laws to protect them. Anways, I will closely watching them.

1st a clarification SOL does not invalidate a debt, it means that the CA can't use the court to collect the debt. As long as the debt is yours, it is a legal debt. Payment is now a matter of your choice. If you owe the debt you should make arrangements to pay.

Also Malcolm S Gerald is not licensed to practise law in California.

I don't think it servers any purpose paying an Out Of Statue debt. Why would anybody throw out money to a collection collector if the statute of limitation has been expired? It does no good to my pocket and certainly it does no good to my credit report. If anything, it will make my credit report worse, because my FICO will trigger this as a recent activity. Furthermore, the collection agency or the junk debt buyer most certainly bought the account for 2cents to the dollar, and wanting to collect 200% above the face value.

It is sad to see so many gullible debtors get fooled by these bottom-feeders. These scam bug collectors make debtors feel bad and make arrangements into paying debts that has been legally expired.

This is not a moral or ethical issue. It is about whether the account is legally collectable.

Never pay a debt collector a penny until they answer the following questions to your satisfaction:
1) What the money you say I owe is for;
2) Explain and show me how you calculated what you say I owe;
3) Provide me with copies of any papers that show I agreed to pay what you say I owe;
4) Provide a verification or copy of any judgment if applicable;
5) Identify the original creditor;
6) Prove the Statute of Limitations has not expired on this account
7) Show me that you are licensed to collect in my state
8) Provide me with your license numbers and Registered Agent

I don't think it servers any purpose paying an Out Of Statue debt. Why would anybody throw out money to a collection collector if the statute of limitation has been expired? It does no good to my pocket and certainly it does no good to my credit report. If anything, it will make my credit report worse, because my FICO will trigger this as a recent activity. Furthermore, the collection agency or the junk debt buyer most certainly bought the account for 2cents to the dollar, and wanting to collect 200% above the face value.

It is sad to see so many gullible debtors get fooled by these bottom-feeders. These scam bug collectors make debtors feel bad and make arrangements into paying debts that has been legally expired.

This is not a moral or ethical issue. It is about whether the account is legally collectable.

Never pay a debt collector a penny until they answer the following questions to your satisfaction:
1) What the money you say I owe is for;
2) Explain and show me how you calculated what you say I owe;
3) Provide me with copies of any papers that show I agreed to pay what you say I owe;
4) Provide a verification or copy of any judgment if applicable;
5) Identify the original creditor;
6) Prove the Statute of Limitations has not expired on this account
7) Show me that you are licensed to collect in my state
8) Provide me with your license numbers and Registered Agent

Not to mention that if they paid 2 cents on the dollar and try to collect the full balance plus interest and collection fees, it is Unjust Enrichment.

If they can't get you before the SOL is up, You snooze you lose.