NCO being sued

Probably true. They were recently given the largest fine ever to a collection agency by the Pennsylvania Attorney General for violations of the fdcpa. If any indication of their stability, about a month or two ago, they said that they would be closing their Houston office, and leaving about 250 out of work.

I have also had that kind of message on my machine before.

I too have had this message as well. It will be interesting to see what happens.

Really! That's bad now? Per the fdcpa collectors can't say anything except "business matter" for the privacy of the debtor. They certainly can't say "delinquent account" or else they've just buried themselves. I used to think "business matter" sounded stupid and generic anyway. I used to say "important business to discuss" or "something inportant to discuss" I always deviated from the script, it was so two dimensional.

I'd like to hear it from you; Aside from nothing at all, what would you prefer to hear on your answerers from collectors? Decent ones anyway...

They should just state their name, the company they are calling from and a phone number to reach them. Why do they need to make it sound intimidating or urgent?

They don't. They most definitely shouldn't create a sense of urgency because that's pushing it! Things that are urgent are injured kids and housefires, not silly bill collectors. But while they do give it some degree of importance, do keep it simple while giving an understated clue.

Name, Company, and phone number only. I've had quite a number of companies leave messages with far to much detail. How do they know who's listening?

They don't. For all they know, they could have the wrong number.

Or the wrong person..wrong account..wrong ammount..wrong SSN...

Glad to see NCO got sued. The individual collectors should be sued as well - they knw what theyre doing is illegal.

NCO is the biggest collection agency worldwide so I've heard, yet their productivity and reputation are as low as could be. That's sad. Looks like the bigger they come, the harder they fall.

Yes Jedi Mistress Ari,

NCO's days are probably numbered, as well as most debt purchasers. If you read their industry "insider" news, they all brag about how the industry is growing so fast, and even how Hurricane Katrina is going to creat billions more for purchase, etc. The only trouble for them is that this is drawing attention to themselves, by persons who formerly never thought of junk debt buyers, namely, the government.

I've long though about these junk debt buyers from a tax stand point. I wonder how much they "cook the books" on earnings and loses etc. I wonder how many of them claim a large portion of their "face values" as a deduction?

they probably claim they whole thing.. thats how they get the money to buy more...and they probably write off the face value as bad (when they have to ) rather than what they actually paid for it.

I've seen their comparisons to the productivity of even little tiny rinky-dink agencies like Protocol, and NCO is lagging badly, but seems to use the usual threatening tactics in their "rapport". I don't get it. I thought these monsters were living life large on the backs of the struggling with their threats, but the biggest gun in the industry is apparently starving! What's the deal? Are they all retarded?

Jedi Mistress Ari

It has been my experience that, yes, they are incredibly stupid. Most of these junk debt buyers such as NCO have a huge turn over of employees, and those are mainly college students looking for beer money; not experienced collectors. Some don't even know what the fdcpa is.

Also, it reminds me of the junk bond and penny stock purchasers of the 1980s. It finally all caved in for them, and many were sentenced to jail terms.

Bingo mwtx, that makes perfect sense to me! The people I worked with at Protocol weren't such bright stars either! And most of them were doing squat with their lives. I guess it's just a loser complex.

hello all on this matter my in laws recived a call from someone stating that they a filing a 1099 from on a answering machine call right away.. made i sound like an IRS agent where can i sign up and get this jerk in trouble..

I had a message on my answering machine for my husband to call their 800 number (no company name, mind you) regarding a personal business matter. I called and got a rep with a foreign accent. They asked why I was calling and they went ahead and told me all of my husbands business without even asking who I was. Then before I hung up, he reminded me that "this call may be monitored". Any advice? I didn't think that debt collectors could discuss personal business like that to someone whose name is not on an account.

how can i get NCO's contact number? i need to get a receipt from them....

Guest, I guess someone has posted a reply in your previous post. Check it out.

kbraveboy, you are right. No company can discuss personal matters without identifying the actual person. Do you think the call had a legitimate purpose? Did you discuss the matter with your husband?

I knew that our card was in collections of course. So does my husband. But can a collections company discuss the details of an account with someone else, without the account holders permission?

Under the federal laws, if the collector is unable to locate your husband, he can discuss the account and debt status with you or an attorney. The person doing collections must give out his name and the name of the agency whenever requested.

A company name can't be left because a 3rd party could hear the massage.

If it were an injurd child or family emergency you can bet that the information would be left on a machine. Can you imagine coming home to hear "Mrs Smith call Texas Medical, were have an important matter" when they actualy have your child in thier emergency room?

What is NCO's telephone number

NCO uses the number 866-576-1447. They will keep transferring the line until you get to hear from someone. I don't know if they are out there to scam people even after going through legal actions.

NCO is harrassing the heck out of me because of a Paypal account that was "phished" and someone racked up charges on my account. How do I resolve this? PM me or whatever, it doesnt matter but they keep calling and I just hang up because i AM usually at work.

What I find interesting is a bunch of people sitting around talking about how horrible debt collectors are (and NO I am not one), yet this country is in debt because people won't pay for bills they make. Do you have a clue how much money debt collectors save americans each year? NCO rep at an all time low,... HA! I am sure people who don't want to pay for the big screen tv they bought probably don't think they are too nice, why should they be? The original company already said pretty please,.....

following_gods_plan....

I must assume from your post that you've never had any catastrophe, major or minor, happen in your life that prevented you from paying bills, nor have you ever made a mistake with your money or financial matters, or had anyone take advantage of your good nature, which ended up costing you a large sum of money?

These are all things that have happened to pretty much any one of the members here.

If you have anything constructive to offer, please do. If not, please don't make blanket assumptions about the character of the members here. Many of us came here out of desperation in an effort to find help and advice on our financial situations. With the help we found here, we have been able to dig ourselves out of debt, or are working on it. We don't deserve, or need, your sarcasm.

We are completely aware there are people who don't pay their bills. That's no secret to anyone here. However, the majority of people who come to this site for help truly WANT to pay their bills. And the collectors we complain about are the unethical ones - the ones who violate the fdcpa at every turn - those are the ones we are fighting against and complaining about.

:o Yes, I also think some big changes are coming. Too much identity theft out there. I had to send a C & D letter out to allied interstate as we never received any letters & they were not on credit reports. I don't care if they're calling the wrong number as there was never a live person calling to ask.

Funny, as I'm reading the an "unavailable" number came up on the phone. Like an idiot I answered it and sure enough it's NCO. They are trying to collect on an old eBay account that I disputed with eBay because someone "phished" it and started selling stuff and ran up $150 in sellers fees. I had totally forgot about it until I just got that phone call so I guess its back to eBay to see where this is at. I would have to dig everything out but if I'm not mistaken at the time I was dealing with it eBay was going to write it off because it wasn't my IP address and they changed some other stuff on my account. Can I send them NCO a C & D letter so I can deal with this directly with eBay since that is where it all started?

Make NCO follow the fdcpa laws. Collecting a debt just on the basis of a phone call is not enough and moreover, it sounds illegal. This doesn't abide by the FDCPA lines. They must prove the debt in writing before making any collection attempts. Once you have something in writing, notify them about your dispute placed with eBay.

Do you remember when you last disputed the item with eBay? Perhaps, the debt might have gone out of the SOL based on the last payment activity and no company can sue you for this account, unless their is any payment activity recently.

It has only been about 2-3 years tops. She told me that she was sending something in writing. I also told her that it was in dispute with eBay at that time and that is why I wasn't paying it. I know for a fact that I haven't paid anything on it. I know its only $150 or so but being a single mom with a 4m/o and a 16y/o a $150 bucks goes a long way.

Let's see, I was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma 2 months after giving birth to my 5th child last year, out of work for what seemed forever due to medical problems,...guess your right, I don't know a thing about money problems.

I am not passing judgement,.on anyone creditors, collectors, or people in debt,... fact remains that just like there are stupid collectors who violate the law there are debtors who don't care, lie, and most anything else to get out of responsibilities.

So is NCO still able to collect on debts @ this time??