Harvest Credit Management... any complaints against them

Harvest Credit Management is a credit and debt counseling company. As per Better Business Bureaus records, the company has no complaint history in the last 36 months. You can contact them at the following address:
600 17th St. #850, Denver, CO 80202

Jstncredit....did you do any research?? Harvest is a CA not a debt management company.

http://www.debtconsolidationcare.com/creditors-information/mailed-dvletter.html

Hi Soaplady
Actually I checked the Better business bureau website and found it to be a credit and debt counseling agency. You can visit the link http://www.bbb.org/us/Find-Business-Reviews/ and enter "Harvest Credit Management" under business name and search it.

The BBB is not the greatest resourse since they are member funded. A general google search shows no web site in the US except for a company by the same name in the UK and lawsuits filed by Harvest. DMP companies do not file lawsuits.

Thanks for the information. You actually taught me how to search. I Googled "Harvest Credit Management" and found it to be a collection agency. This is the link which I found while searching through Google "http://www.hcmcollect.com/".

From a quick search I note they are also a junk debt buyer and were just successfully sued in Alabama for trying to collect on a bogus debt. They seem to be tied to Midland Credit Management.
"http://www.alabamaconsumerlawblog.com/2008/09/alabama_consumer_sues_harvest.html"

So, to answer the original question, YES, there are complaints against them! Just type the name and the word "complaint" into Google.

not another midland d/b/a.UGH!

Yeah. And it gets even more interesting. On the BBB, which says that Harvest has been around since 2001 (and 0 complaints in 3 years), it says the following:

Name: Harvest Credit Management
Phone: (303) 539-3162
Address: 600 17th St. #850
Denver, CO 80202
Principal: Mr. Martin Ravin, General Manager
Customer Contact: Jacques McCall, Corp. attorney - (303) 539-3162
File Open Date: September 2001
TOB Classification: Credit & Debt Counseling

AND THEN I find this: from D&B:
Harvest Credit Management, Llc does business in Bail Bonding Services.

Searching that phone number brings up:

Milwaukee Investment Company
303 539 3162
Milwaukee Investment Property - Estate and Wisconsin Investment Properties
Investment Bankers
--
From Dun & Bradstreet
MILWAUKEE INVESTMENT COMPANY
600 17TH ST STE 800N
DENVER, CO 802025462
--
Digging more:
Harvest Credit Management, LLC
Jacques Machol, III
303-539-3162
E-Mail: [email]jmachol@colocollect.com[/email]
---

(Oh, BTW, Harvest is Headquartered in Spain, and has 2 locations in England, so they may use Midland here in the US, through Machol.)

Machol=McCall? Yep. So much for the BBBs much touted accuracy... Did anyone double check? (There is no Jacques McCall in the Colorado Bar.) "Collection litigation services from offices in Denver" according to an "aboutus.org" search for colocollect.com, which I could not bring up. Their main contact address is Linebarger Goggan Blair & Sampson, LLP in San Antonio TX which explains all the Texas lawsuits I noticed on Google.

So, the CO lawfirm Machol & Johannes PC has been sued for violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. And there are complaints that they sue people who try to work out settlements.

Further digging:
Jacques Machol
OptionCard, LLC
600 17th ST #800N
Denver, CO 80202
(303) 539-3162
(303) 265-9487
[email]jm@optioncard.com[/email]

On Option Card, LLC: bought out by Asta Funding in 2005 - the article mentioning the merger stated that Option Card is a "consumer debt buyer and credit management company". Asta trades on the NASDAQ. They are massive. Since 1999, Asta has purchased in excess of $31 billion in receivables. They ran at at $7.8 million loss in the 4th Quarter of 2008, according to their SEC filing. In that report, they call themselves a part of the "non-conforming and distressed consumer receivable market" - i.e. a JUNK DEBT BUYER.

Wow, sneaky b*stards, ain't they? But Midland is owned by Encore Capital Group, Inc., in San Diego, CA. Encore is also on the NASDAQ. So this Machol/McCall guy can be safely stated to be officially a BOTTOMFEEDER. Anyway, this is giving me a headache........ But, a direct Midland connection is tenuous at best (not a d/b/a) but it looks like Machol/McCall has his hand in any pocket he can find, as long as it has some change in it.

i'm being sued by them. they refuse to work out a reasonable payment plan. they want their money now now in full. on top of everything the scummy debt lawyers office that is representing them 2 of the (young and immature) associates have myspace pages. one is smart enough to be private the other clown has his public.

Thank you all so much for your response and support. I just wish that all of this information on them can be access through an site like BBB. Does anyone know of an official site that has any complaints on them?

Did you send them a dv letter? Was your account charged off? Also, which law firm is representing them.

OH NO!
Please help! Should I go to the hearing at 8am tomorrow? I am being summond by Machol & Johannes in Denver, CO TOMMORROW!!!
I have been laid off twice and currently NOT WORKING. I am getting some UI benefits, not much, AND NOT FOR LONG, because I didnt work much last year... I tried, I was laid off, worked at Starbucks, etc...
I was considering Bankruptcy - ONLY BECAUSE OF THIS $13K loan. They would not accept payments. It was originally with CapitolOne. I only have the $13K loan and 2 others that total $5,000. I do owe $7K in taxes from 2006. They wont be able to be included in a BK because it is not 3 years old.
OMG, WHAT DO I DO??

yes, you have to go. If you do not show up, they will win by default and get a judgment against you.
On the court appearance:
"http://www.nedap.org/hotline/court.html"

Yes, you need to go! You need to ask for Debt Validation. Don't let them intimidate you. KNOW YOUR RIGHTS! They are not above the law, as they like to present themselves.

I am involved with Machol and Harvest, and would love to sue them, but have no ideas of the steps I need to take. I have unfortunately, let things go to far. I find it conflicting too, that the guy over the collections dept. with experian is an ex-employee of Machol-Johannes.

I would love to talk to someone about my options, however, I am afraid that the world is working along with these guys. I really don't know who to trust!

I actually had a debt owed to Harvest, and Machol's law firm was able to work out a reasonable payment plan with me. I made the mistake of running up a credit card bill I could not pay for, so it was my fault. don't believe a lot of the stuff you read, Harvest has been in business for 10 years doing things by the book, and if you tell them you can only handle monthly payments, they will work with you. good luck.

Guest,

If you don't know how to go about suing, ask your local county civil court about the procedures for suit or Google them. All the Rules and Forms are online.

Bill,
Good thing they worked with *you*. Do not make the mistake of thinking that the same goes for everyone.

I found that they have 2 licenses CCA
1. Harvest Credit Management, VII B, LLC
2. Harvest Credit Management, VII, LLC

Why would they need two separate licenses, with only a minor change in the name?

Well, they sent me a summons through forster and garbus and i'm thinking along those lines at this point because the complaint itself was very confusing.

I know exactly what you mean on who to trust. Maybe that he's an ex-employee could be a good thing if he did not leave on good terms, but i don't know, i guest we do have to be careful who we trust at this point. :roll:

So I just noticed my paycheck is being garnished by these guys. I called my payroll to find out who was doing this and for how much. There is no way I owe anyone the amount they are taking from me. No warning of this isnt too cool either. Of course they are over seas so it will be a pain in the ass to find out who they are seeking this debt I somehow owe from.

If it was a court case, call your local county court and find out what court they got the judgement from and see if you can get it overturned. If it wasn't at your local court, you can likely get it dismissed for Improper Service or Improper Venue. (since you didn't know about it).

If not, then it is voluntary on your job's part. If it is not your debt, did you ever get a dunning letter in the mail and send them a Debt Validation letter? You may need to write a notarized letter for your job that it is not your debt and you request the attachment stopped immediately or you will file complaints with the FTC and your state Attorney General's office.

What ever happened to the person being sued by Machol & Johannes? Can you tell me what happened? I am also being sued because they will not accept a settlement and payments from me. I did find out that the original credit card I had sold out their debt to Harvest Management, VIII, LLC (which is owned by none other than attorney jacques Macholl, III). Slimy guy!!!!! Has anyone out there gone through the process with them in court? Please help.

Jacques is the guy garnishing my paycheck. They have a Court order from Denver where I used to live until 2004. The court order was issued in 2006. Dont I need to be summoned and be able to defend myself or setup a payment option? Yes I owed a credit card money but the lack of work in Denver forced me to move. My credit report shows that wrote off the debt then in 2005 Jacques dirty crew bought it off. I was never given any warning from them or my own company that I was going to be garnished. I was never summoned to court that was for sure.

See the first paragraph of my post above.

PLEASE READ..... I did some investigation and Harvest Credit Management is owned by Jacques Machol, III who incidentally is the same attorney that "represents" harvest Credit Management in collecting outstanding debt. I am not sure if what they are doing is legal. From what I found out, it seems like Harvest Management (aka: Jacques Machol) buys debt from credit cards (like my Juniper Bank debt) for a really low number. Then, they act like Harvest Management is the collection agency for the bank and make it seem as if Harvest Management has hired an attorney to collect when it is really them all of the time. Sounds like a scam to me. Because they are attorneys, they know how to threaten and scare people to death.

PLEASE READ..... I did some investigation and Harvest Credit Management is owned by Jacques Machol, III who incidentally is the same attorney that "represents" harvest Credit Management in collecting outstanding debt. I am not sure if what they are doing is legal. From what I found out, it seems like Harvest Management (aka: Jacques Machol) buys debt from credit cards (like my Juniper Bank debt) for a really low number. Then, they act like Harvest Management is the collection agency for the bank and make it seem as if Harvest Management has hired an attorney to collect when it is really them all of the time. Sounds like a scam to me. Because they are attorneys, they know how to threaten and scare people to death.

Yes, see the first page of this thread for more info.

WHERE ARE THE CLASS ACTION ATTORNEYS?

Harvest lost a class action in Illinois last year and got massacred. We need a class action suit in Colorado.

If any one is interested e-mail me paulagem - at- gmail.com

I will go shopping if I can get enough serious people who want to fight.

I have two counts against them myself.

Harvest are listed as Mortgage Brokers:

http://www.themortgagedirectory.us/broker/1680/Harvest_Credit_Management_VII_LLC

I would be all for a class action suit in Denver against these bottom feeders!! Considering they have collected on a debt that was a charge off, and used scare tactics to coerce me into signing a stipulation. Which I didn't realize at the time was TOTALLY ILLEGAL!! (I was just really scared) And now the amount is so high from interest rates....yeah right.....I will fight them, or file bankruptcy before they get another penny from me!

Tomorrow morning at 9 am I am to appear in Court to face off with Machol and Johannes. I was actually looking for some dirt on them,you know, to help my case... just incase things get ugly...Fighting fire with fire...BOA sold and forgave my debt in 2007. Yet still they call and harrass me,write letters etc. endless... A civil servant of ours, a police officer,sent by them, rang my doorbell at 6am to give me a summons to appear in court,months ago... Is that legal?? Anymore we all have to be attorneys just to protect ourselves from corrupt attorneys...is it any wonder why there are so many jokes about them...Like...what are 500 attorneys in the bottom of an ocean...How about..."a good start"...Ya,I know... it's an old one... I haven't heard any better ones lately that's my fav....Wish me luck...

I am currently being garnished 1/3 of my salary by these bottomfeeders. M&J apparently bought a $450 debt of mine that was written off in 1999. With all their trumped up fees it is up to $1700. I didn't even know it existed until they got a judgement against me and took tried to take that amount out of my checking acount. Luckily my bank protected me by moving into another account so they got very little. The bank gave me all the information and I went to Denver Court and pulled my file. I was shocked. There was a notarized letter stating that my brother was served as my address, gave the description as a white male with brown hair. Since I was never served I missed the court date and the judgement came against me. Look at the docket for Courtroom 5 at Denver Civil Court....about 40 cases a day...all M&J. I filed to have it overturned and was denied. They did manage to get some money from my bank. Fast forward 6 months and a new judgement came against me and now they went after my payroll....and I cannot stop it. Once again my file says I was served...and it was notarized. After some searching I found that the process server was a part of M&J. I got hosed right before xmas for $900/month garnishment. My payroll lady said this is happening a lot and these lawyers are abusing the law to make money. I hate M&J.

Summoned to court late April '09 around 10 am, had a charged-off account from 2005 of $450 to Capital One become $1600 (original amt, lawyer fees, interest, and court fees he says), showed Machol Jr. letters from different company asking to settle for less, he dropped to $1200. Their version of validating it's my debt is to show a general Capital One contract attached behind summons. I paid off $900 and was given petty cash receipt. I accepted stipulation of judgment to pay $300 more in a month. Machol advised to "call firm for more legitimate receipt, invoice and info on how to pay online when office opens on Monday (he said firm is closed on Friday)... if you don't, worse things like wage garnishment will happen" so I tried calling firm during that month, left voicemails and never a reply. Mid-Oct bank put a legal hold for $1000 on my checking account. It was M&J, legal assistant said they assumed I was properly served notice, but I never received their mail. I was told they have no responsibility to return my calls as I am just one of thousands being taken to court. She admitted we didn't reach each other, but then said it's still all my fault. Received writ of garnishment in early nov., 3 weeks after legal hold was placed. Requested satisfaction of judgment from legal assistant, refused saying firm doesn't do partial satisfation, instead they sent a balance owed and balance paid, never the legitimate receipt and invoice Machol offered me. $450 becomes $1905, college tuition money from parents used to pay debt. :(

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Quote:

Customer Complaint History
When considering complaint information, please take into account the company's size and volume of transactions, and understand that the nature of complaints and a firm's responses to them are often more important than the number of complaints.
BBB processed a total of 1 complaint about this company in the last 36 months, our standard reporting period. Of the total of 1 complaint closed in 36 months, 1 was closed in the last year.
These complaints concerned :
1 regarding Billing or Collection Issues
1 - Failure to correct billing errors


These complaints were closed as:
1 Unresolved
1 - Company failed to resolve the complaint issues through BBB voluntary and self-regulatory process.

Quote:

i need some answers i received a document to court for some debts i am not aware off and i was wondering what could be the worst that would happen. How would i deal with it? I mean i don't live in the states anymore. does this affects me in anyway? i don't even know what the debt is. and i can't get there. I think i received the letter and the court date has passed. i need some help. please let me know what should i do? should i contact them. i mean should i call the court. I live abroad now.

i need help!!!!!

My issue with Machol & Johannes is that when I went to court they never gave me a copy of any paperwork their lawyer had to write on two of my three papers that I was sent with different amounts on it and call to get the correct balance he said to go ahead and sign it and that once he wrote up the final he would send it out and I would need to sign that and send it back. He also advised that if I call and make a payment of any size that it would be fine( I asked because I was prego and having a rough time job was becoming iffy on the short trem disability). I have not recived a copy of the final paperwork at all. I was provided two extensions of people to make payments with so as not to deal with the person who was always calling being very rude and harassing. These two people never called me back or took any payments, they would always have the person that I was told not to call calling me to take payments(I was fine payments were being made). I called in after 6 months of ontime payments to make a $50.00 payment as I had to go to the hospital earlier in the month, at this time I once again face very nasty rude harassing treatment telling me that they would not acept any payment under $170.00 and if I paid less I was in default. They told me I have to check may papers that I was given at court( I was not given any payments). They then sent me papers that looked like they were filing something thing is there is no dates as when it was to be presented or heard by the court on the documents. I sent them a letter with the next payment(I changed to paying by check) in the letter stated if they cash check they are stating I am not in defaut and if they return the check they are refusing payment and that it is not me refusing to pay (they cashed the check). I also have requested multiple times for a paper statemnt to be mailed to me they alway fight with me over this telling me that they can not mail out a statement showing what I owe payments recived and remaining balance. In the last payment I sent I gave writen request. They letter I sent was certified so I can verify they did recive the letter. Should I file a complaint against them for not providing a statment and sending false court documents or are they in their rights to do this?

Let's start a Civil law suit against their illegal practices. Anyone willing to join with me?
We have to stop them. If it's true that they infiltrate the three big credit bureas that's how they get your info in the first place to buy the debt, then they buy the debt for pennies, say they sent things to you in the mail that they didn't then they play the odds that you can't afford an attorney, don't show up, and they win by default. It's playing the odds and they must be stopped. I am going to have to declare bk unless they can be stopped. I am going to start with filing a civil suit, but who will join me? I have already retained a lawyer and I'm ready to fight this through legal means as they have used legal means illegally to get us and take away what little life we have left. We must fight back.
I am not computer savey, so I do'nt know how to put my email on this, but I will try to find out!

Wow! Talk about misinformation...

Listen to me for a bit. They have not infiltrated the credit reporting agencies. This is how they wind up owning your account:

- Your account with the original creditor goes delinquent for whatever reason. They try to collect it, to no avail.

- 180 days later, the OC writes off your account to P&L. This is mandataed by law, I believe.

- Sometime after your account is written off, the OC gathers up your account and thousands more just like it, into a portfolio. They offer this portfolio for sale in the secondary debt market, to recoup some of the money they lost on the accounts.

- A debt buyer purchases the portfolio from the OC. The debt buyer works the accounts for a while, then eventually sells off the ones he hasn't been able to collect on to a second buyer.

- Lather, rinse, repeat.

Quote:

I did process service for M&J for a couple years. They are one of the most dishonest companies I dealt with.

The firm was started by Jacques, JR., whom is hopefully in the inferno down below. His son, the Turd, and Randy Johannes are owners and operators of the firm now. They have been around since the 60's and receive preferential treatment in courts, IMO. They buy a ton of junk suits and collect unethically or illegally on most of them. They lie and bully to get payment for debts that have usually already been written off.

My mother has recently had judgment entered on her from 2 cases where the server illegally served the papers. This is a common practice for M&J. I was directly told to serve papers regardless of the legality of the serve. The 2 servers that got my mom are Ron/Rory Harrison and Ben Gardnerhire. For those that had a judgment without proper service, I suggest you get a copy of the Affidavit of Service. You can get it from the county court where the case was filed. I bet it is 1 of these jokers or another server from the same company. I only started today, but I will figure out that company's name and post here later.

A class action suit would go further than just M&J. The server and service company can be held liable as well, in cases of improper service. A lot of illegal serves would seem to indicate that M&J is aware and condones these practices. Myself and 2 other family members would be interested in joining a suit against these unethical and, in cases, illegal shysters.

JUST A THOUGHT: I served papers for Harvest Credit I, LLC... wonder why they are on VI, VII or is it VIII? I am fairly sure that this is owned in some way by Jacques the Turd. Researching HCM on the Secretary of State in CO shows a mess of companies and people involved and IMO, a lot of manipulation of the law.

Correction: Ben Gardenhire is the correct spelling.

Quote:

How are Civil Suits started? Through an attorney, and then everyone contacts that attorney?

I will be building a website at Colorado-online.biz - send it to paula at the domain.

1) If your original complaint did not PROVE they owned the debt (Harvest - not Chase or whoever) send a copy of that. You can't file a lawsuit without proof of debt.

2) If you were not served - send me a not about how that happened.

I've been there. I think I can get these papers to to Attorney General in person. He is the one that is supposed to be enforcing these laws.

oops. previous post is mine. Send info for any debt buyer, including LVNV funding, Same racket.

BLACK OUT YOUR SS# for your own protection

I'm located in Louisiana...same as most, bad credit card debt.. I filed bankruptsy and 1 yr. later, here comes harvest with attorney Edward Bukaty (2007) out of New Orleans.. I ordered my credit report. They have filed a CIVIL JUDEMENT, after the fact they were on my BR list of creditors.PURE Criminal activity. The Church of Scientology runs scams as this.They are a large nationwide common crook organization and invented these scams with fake lawyers, yes, i said fake...fake process servers.All who reads, check your credit report.check your property records, check your identity.Do you notice you are being harassed by several vehicles, noises when you come home ?...Hard to keep a job ?
Lot of real bad luck....email me, I'll explain whos,hows,and what you can do and we can do for you !! Ron Jacobs [email]rlforty1@excite.com[/email]

PACER LISTING - fair credit suits against Harvest.

Party Name Court Case NOS Date Filed Date Closed

1 Harvest Credit Management III, LLC (dft) codce 1:2009-cv-01443 480 06/19/2009 09/04/2009
Shelly v. Harvest Credit Management III, LLC et al
2 Harvest Credit Management LLC (pla) txsdce 5:2006-cv-00174 480 12/05/2006 01/15/2007
Harvest Credit Management LLC et al v. Galindo
3 Harvest Credit Management VII (dft) okwdce 5:2008-cv-00452 480 04/29/2008 11/20/2008
Brown et al v. Love Beal & Nixon et al
4 Harvest Credit Management VII, LLC (dft) alndce 2:2008-cv-00954 480 06/02/2008 09/04/2008
Turner v. Harvest Credit Management VII, LLC
5 Harvest Credit Management VII, LLC (dft) ilndce 1:2008-cv-03685 480 06/27/2008 04/15/2009
Hughes v. Harvest Credit Management VII, LLC