Encore RMI

I misread your other post. Indeed, they did deliberately contact a third party. Did they say anything about the debt to your mother? Did they say that they are a collector? Regardless, their call was meant to annoy. I would consult with an attorney and explore the possibility of suing them.

If this is indeed a business debt, the fdcpa does not apply. It is written for personal consumer debt only.I would check your local state laws for the standards of collection and unfair/deceptive trade practices.

Good advice cajun. When I wrote my response I was half asleep last night.

Thank you both for your help and advice.
I have put a few requests through with an attorney
referral network and I have received a so far one
response back from an attorney. I have also done a
great deal of research on Encore, as well as the
parent company and all of its subsidiaries, etc. It appears that I am not the only one that has been abused bye this company. I also came back with some other interesting information, that is rather disturbing. Lets just say that I have complete
picture of what I am dealing with here now. I have set the wheels in motion for a suit, and I will
pursue it and see where it goes. Thanks Again, you guys have been very helpful.

Recently, today (June 12, 2007), I received a call from this company. I had spoke to them only twice, until today which is the third time. After speaking with one of the representatives that I had spoken to before, she once again threatned me and was VERY rude extremely. I too, said that I would do a payment plan the first time they called in April, and they said that they could not accept that payment plan. It did not matter, that I was recently separated, new baby and trying to keep my house. I was told to sell your house, hauk your items to pay this bill and then today mocked me for having a degree, and when she saw that I was not responded said, "you sound like an integral person, but you just need to pay your bill." I asked for a manager, who came on and at first did not want me to talk. Let me talk because I asked for the tape of my previous conversation he interrupted repeatedly and stated, maam we are not novice at collecting a debt, do you know when you last made a payment to our client. I said Nov or December of 2006, he said no it was May 2006. Then he preceded to be very rude and telling me (threatening me) I would be careful about trying to do a complaint. It is my desire that the company be shut down, and that I receive compensation for defamation of character, severe distress, especially since they have on record, that I wanted to pay, and when I told them that I could not pay in full nor the amount that they wanted which was over $900 a month, they continue to harrass.

Hi Michael,

I have been so troubled by this. It has a business name, but it was a sole propertorship and she was arguing with me about this. I am going to be contacting an attorney myself.

Lakita

He did not say anything about getting out of the debt, they want all the money at once. And possibly the cost of an attorney is LESS than the entire debt. Why are you a guest??

it is my experience, "malachi", that people who stated that they offered a payment plan to the CA are NOT, in fact, trying to get out of paying a debt. Better luck next time...

you work for encore,i got that from other post.run along,you have fdcpa violations to commit.no one here is interested in your
rhetoric.

WRONG!!! THEY DON'T HAVE THE RIGHT TO CALL YOUR RELATIVES OR "NEARBYS" AND LEAVE MESSAGES ABOUT YOUR DEBT!!! SEE YOU IN COURT SUCKER!!!

Encore was a horrible place to work, but there are several things wrong with what you have been saying. Collectors can contact third parties, state restrictions and federal apply, just can not disclose any information regarding to or hinting at the debt. Second, any payment plans need to be approved by the company the money is owed to. The branch i worked for had several programs, but from my experience a lot of them were worthless. Third, i've hit collections, i've been unemployed for many months now, and even if they are rude its my fault for not paying my bill. Remember that the next time you get a phone call, besides its easier to hang up then argue, that stops the calls for a few days anyways

wrong steve-o third parties can be contacted only if they need to verify the contact info of the person they are trying to reach.once the CA has the contact info,they are not permitted to constantly call,badger,and harass that 3rd party as encore is famous for.nice try stevie wonder.

I do work for a collections agency. First of all, I am not a jerk like A LOT of collectors out there. I find that if you are nice and treat people with respect, you get a better response. We are all going through hard times. But it is legal to call third parties in almost every state. You can ask for a way to contact the debter and to leave a msg for them. You cant harass them in anyway. you can also say ANYTHING to the debter as long as you do not threaten them or curse at them. Legal threats are ILLEGAL. you can sue them for any of these things. They cannot disclose any personal info to anyone except your spouse in most states. And even then they have to verify the last for of you ssn or something like that. We also cannot fax things to your job or anything. We need a POA or permission to fax from the debter themselves to fax anything. Also, the payment guidelines are set by the original creditor. Collectors dont have to take a payment plan or settle with you because you do owe the full debt. But it makes more sense to settle or do a payment plan because if they had the money to pay it off it wouldnt be in collections. It sucks that so many collectors break the law because it gives us a bad name and everyone assumes we're going to be like all the rest and everything we do illegal. I even look it up online myself to make sure I know whats legal. Well, i hoped i could help a little bit.

i dealt with them this morning...extrememly rude people , supervisor as well. i tried to explain the situation. they proceded to tell me i spent the $ know pay up.....just not listening at all about what i could pay. they need some seroius training over there....i did spend it and i want to pay it... just not 3k...who has that lying around...
just not nice people at all. i refuse to deal with them anymore.i got a debt consolidator to do it for me...

Sorry to hear they wouldnt work with you. They do have the ability to settle and take reasonable paymeny plans. But debt consolidation companies are almost always a waste of money. It takes months before they can pay off even one bill for you. They do try to negotiate as low as possible but some companies wont take anything as low as the settlement company will go, so it gets charged off or sent back to the client for further action. Sometimed they are just ridiculous. I took his offer but it took forever because we cant do anything we have a power of att faxed to us. It's required by law for the consumers protection. They said they cant send that information and we just went round in circles. It's just better to save your money and avoid the calls until you have the money. If they wont work wit ou you can ask to speak with someone else, because i KNOW they are allowed to make arrangements and it's ridiculous not to.

1. Collection agencies are companies hired by a credit company to collect for them. That means the creditor is paying an agency to call the cardholders and work with them in solving the problem (delinquent debt).
--- no need for cardholders to hire credit managements to work w/ the creditor, because if they do, then they'll have to pay extra because not all their payment go directly to their creditors.
--- if you still want to hire credit consolidators, just make sure that they are legitimate (most are not). Try asking for other's opinions and experiences.

2. Collection agencies are authorized to call the debtors and offer payment plans that would allow them to pay the smallest amount possible to stop the account from going further behind (that means rolling over to another stage of delinquency which is negative, since they are being reported to the credit bureau). Every acct that they save benefits the creditor ( the bank because they get their money back), the cardholder (because they prevent the account from getting another NEGATIVE note), and the collections agency (because that's how they get credits, reach quotas, and earn bonuses).
--- Credit consolidators will take longer steps. They would have to send proposals to the creditors (which are most often rejected because they are unacceptable or way below the creditor's requirements). Most often, they communicate only in writing and that takes longer time (7-10 days mail). That makes the account incur more charges and delinquency. Also, the account is considered as being IGNORED because of NO PAYMENTS even just minimums.
--- Credit consolidators may be helpful for you but don't trust them too much, it is still better for you to track your accounts and try checking on them w/ your creditors. Your creditors are the ones reporting your accounts to the credit bureau not your credit consolidators. Paying your consolidators doesn't mean you're taking care of the acct. It will still depend on how good your consolidators are and how fast they work. Some of them will also tell you to stop talking to your creditors while you make payments with them. Think about it, what are they so afraid of?

3. As what I've said, the main Goal of collections is to stop the account from rolling over into another stage of delinquency by offering the cardholders all possible payment options that need no proposals. If the acct is already in the late stage of delinquency or 6-7 months behind, it'll be more difficult because the account is in danger of CHARGING OFF. That means, if the cardholder fails to pay an amount that would satisfy a minimum due on a specific date, the acct will roll over to another stage of delinquency and that is the time for charge off review. If the creditor sees that the account has been IGNORED, w/ a lot of NEGATIVE NOTES ( EX. rude cardholders, hang ups, etc.) they can report the account as a BAD DEBT/UNCOLLECTED DEBT which would affect your credit badly because it will reflect to your name as a BAD DEBTOR. It will stay there for years and of course, it will serve as reference for future creditors.
---- If you have accounts on the late stage, it is better to avail of SETTLEMENTS, it won't be as good as BALANCE IN FULL but definitely not as bad as CHARGED OFF. Your credit has been hurt anyway, why not take advantage of a settlement that can give you as much as 75% discount?

4. COLLECTION CALLS will not stop unless:
--- you've sent a formal request of ceasing calls.
--- your consolidators have sent POWER OF ATTY. or request for cease and desist of calls (signed by cardholders).
--- the acct is current or up to date
--- or the best way is to set up for arrangements that the collection agency can offer you. ( set up for post dated checks over the phone)

5. It's still best if you can take care of your account by yourself, try calling your creditors. Also try listening or talking to the collections people. Just remember that the debt is your problem, not theirs. They can offer plans that might suit your financial situation like Hardship plans (depending if your account qualifies). There's no harm in talking to them and working things out. Don't be hysterical when talking to them, because that won't help. After calling everyone and asking for the best payment plans they can offer, SIT DOWN and think about it. Have someone who can help you think clearly (eg. husband, parents etc.) beside you and help you in making decisions.