Universal Fidelity (BBB accredited) violating consumer rights

Has anyone tried to contact them through email to get a debt verification letter? Just wondered if this woould work?

I think we messed up! Universal has been calling us about a $110 debt with Penney's from 6 mos ago which we never received a statement for - we had moved - they never updated our address. We've asked Universal for a statement for 1 month. They've reported it to the credit agencies and our otherwise great credit rating has dropped over 100 points. We talked to Universal again this morning, and they gave us the same story about accepting payment only over the phone. Out of frustration, my husband gave them a credit card number. After reading these posts, we're calling our credit card company, but we're not even sure under what name Universal will post this charge. What should we do now? Thanks.

Your bank should be having the transaction code of Universal Fidelity. Talk to the supervisor and block the company immediately, otherwise you will never get your money once gone. After this is taken care of, write a debt validation letter to Universal if they call you again for this debt. You should have the confirmed info that they are collecting for a legitimate debt with them.

Thanks ArDeN, for the information. The debt is valid - I found the receipt back from February. I don't mind paying, but after reading all this about Universal I'm concerned about them having our credit card number. My husband just spoke with our credit card company. They've flagged our account and will notify us if anything other than, or in addition to the, the $110 charge comes through from Universal. I just hope we've done enough.

I got a call from UF about a month ago, saying I had an overdue bill on a Mervyns department store account. I closed the account well over ten years ago, so I asked for a statement in writing so that I would know exactly what I was disputing. Since then they have called me almost every day. They will not give me any address or phone number information to dispute the bill or to file a complaint about all the calls. This morning I got a call from "Eric" who told me my account was in the last stages of collections and that if I did not agree to pay the bill in full he would send someone to my home to collect the debt in person. I asked him if he was threatening me and he kept repeating "you know what I mean" I told him that it was illegal to make those sort of threats and he asked me what I was going to do about it. I said I was going to complain and he said "go ahead, you can't prove anything, you can't even prove I called. I asked him if we were on a recorded line and he said that we might be, and that it didn't make any difference, that people complain all the time, but they can't prove anything. Are all collection companies this bad? Does anybody regulate these guys?

I have received many call from Universal Fidelity concerning a debt they claim I owe Dell Financial. I have told them that I do not owe it and that I am not going to pay it. I have sent certified letters to both Dell Computer and Dell Financial regarding the charge they have both ignored me.
I called Dell Computer because I was having a problem with my Dell computer and I had purchased the extended warranty. I thougt that reinstalling the problems might solve the problem. They charged me $80 (or it could have been $85). The computer still not work. I called Dell again and they sent a techniction to my house who later replaced several components in the computer. That solved the problem. But when Dell computer originally charged me, they added the account I had set up when I originally purchased the computer. The debt for the computer has been paid off.
Dell computer would not respond to my request to credit the charge. Dell Financial ignored me when I told them I did not feel that I owed it. They sent me collection letters for a while but then apparently turned it over to Universal Fidelity. I have also received collection letters from other collections companys. I have never been harrassed by any of them except Universal Fedility.
I am a retired credit manager with 30 + years experience. I am not saying that I could be wrong about owning the originally charge which is now over $250 with penalties and interest.
I have explained all of this to Universal Fidelity but they continue to call me - I have never received anything in writing.
I received a call from Universal Fedelity less than 30 minutes ago. When I requested their address so that I could send them a certified letter, Christna hung up on me.
Ed Baggett
Personal info removed for your safety - Mike

I am dealing with Universal Fidelity right now and they are VERY RUDE. I just tried to see if they could postpone a payment for a week because I just found out my debit card had been duplicated and someone decided to have fun at a betting and sports book outside of the country with it. Anyway, I'm already upset that this has happened to me and I feel violated, I can't use my card until my new one comes in. Anyway, the guy I spoke with (didn't get a name, of course) was very rude and said that the payment couldn't be stopped unless it was payed earlier than the date it's supposed to come out and that I needed to borrow money from friends or family to cover the check because it's coming out of my account no matter what. And that if my story were true then it shouldn't be a problem for family to help me out and if my story wasn't true, which is "highly unbelieveable" then the check will still go through and that the money always "finds its way in the account." So basically he called me a liar. He hears the sob stories all the time blah, blah, blah... anyway I have an address, well a PO BOX and a phone number for the buttheads.

PO BOX 941911
Houston, TX 77094-8911
phone number 614-789-4823

Be careful with them, do a little research about the company, they have a few lawsuits against them. They did contact me but until I have written correspondence from them, I would just ignore them and call the attorney generals office in your area.

I have been having issues with this company for a few weeks now. First I asked to move a payment so they did but the ended up taking the money out any way wich caused my account to overdraw and bounce other bills. Then they kept on trying to take the payment out 2 more times causing even more fees. So I called and told them to cancel all my payments. So what happens? They take the next payment out giving me even more bank fees because my account was already negative from the last one. So what do I do? I called my bank and told them what was happening. They put a stop payment on everything from UF, and they're having them investigated for bussiness fraud. Do I stop there? No! I filed complaints to the Better Bussiness Bureau and the Attorney General in every state they have an office in. Then I found a company that sues debt collection agencies for violating the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. So now they are investigating them as well.

I am dealing with UF right now. I have found some rude people and some nice people.
The problem is they harrased me wanting me to post date a check for an amount I could not afford to pay. I told them I did not feel comfortable doing it, but they told me that was the only way and they would send it to the attorney's if I did not. They also told me it had to be for a specific amount. They said if I needed to change the amount to call 4 days ahead of time. I called and reduced the amount 4 days ahead of time with no problem. Then several days later someone called me saying I made no payment. The person had cancelled the check and never posted another one. I paid that day and setup to have another withdrawl for the end of the month. I called to change the amount from $200 to $100 (they said I could do that), and the manager stated he changed it in the computer. At the end of the month the withdrawl posted for $200. Thank goodness it did not overdraw my account. I do not want to make another post dated check with them now. I received a call 2 weeks later saying I need to make good on this debt or else. I have made 2 monthly payments totaling 1/2 of the debt. I have not called them back because I do not trust them with my account information. I am planning to send in what I can afford this month by mail. I want to pay this debt and am trying, but they are still harrassing me as though I have not made any payments. Can they, or will they sue me if I am making monthly payments?

hey people this is Misty. i work in Universal Fidelity. You Can Ask Me Whatever Questions You Want

Misty,
I am making monthly payments. I can't always make such high payments as $200 month. As long as I'm making monthly payments will that be enough? I always feel highly pressured and told I can not make payments over the phone unless they are $200 - $300 payments. I made my last payment on line and it cost me a $5 fee. I've paid half of my bill so far.

Guest 2006.. It depends on your a/c balance cos it directly effects your CBR. however if you continue making regular payments and post date cheques then all the collection calls which are coming at your place will stop and you will have 1 less thing to worry about. you can also take a settlement on your a/c and see if you split it into parts and negotiate the amount mutually. The best part with doing a post dated cheque arrangemant is you would be charged only one time cheque fees for about $5 to $10. Rest you are the best judge for your finances.

Take care
Misty

I am getting phone messages from Universal Fidelity, I dhecked the ohone number that they gave it was from Texas, after reading about some of the problems that people are having with them I do not see why I should even return any of their calls. any ideas???

Misty, I paid on line at payuflp.com. I received a letter in the mail stating Congratulations, you have successfully made payment arrangements with us. All collection activity for this account has stopped. It requires me to pay $35 a month (next payment due 12-08-06). Great! Then I find that UFC has called my home again on 11-18-06, no message left. Why are they still calling me when I have a letter stating that the activity is stopped and payment arrangements have been made? What's up with that! Is it your company policy to keep harrassing people?

guest2006...thats a Partial Payment Arrangement Letter (PPA) which has been sent to you. however all the collection efforts continue on your a/c
but if you are sayin that the letter states that all the further would stop in that case give UFLP a call ask to cease and desist all calls and you have to send a fax for it.i am sure it will be done.

Iee 2007... all i can tell you is universal fidelity is a collection agency..

I m unhappy about that ones
Let u know i didnt to loan for with univeral fidelity i dont have owe them maybe someone stole our full name or securty soical number i want u check out to make sure who they used it to me

Roberto- you need to get more info from them to make sure someone isn't using your identity, if it is, report it to your police dept.,too. Good Luck..Karen

Univeral Fidelity is trying to collect on a loan from Cash Transfer Center. Payday lending is prohibited in my state. Also while doing some research I notice that Univeral is not licensed to do business in my state. On the notice the sent to the house, the insurance # is inactive. I had to report the information to the Department who handles collection agencies for the state

bdouble--
How long were you in default on your loan with CTC before they turned it over to a collection agency? Just wondering b/c I have a loan with Paydayavenue, and I defaulted on it in October. Paydayavenue and CTC are both run by the same company.

I received a letter stating that my son who is 10 yrs old has an account which is in need of payment. Hes 10 !!!!! that is near impossible!!!!! If a company doesn't check age on anything that comes across thier desk then they can eat this letter!!

I paid my account by check of 34.95 which was due then they had already taken 39.95 from my account i had talked to someone and ask them to send back my check because they had already taken the money from my account and the keep giving me the run around i shouldn't have to pay twice on an acount that i already paid on.

Just made my last payment with UF. Had dealt with them for the past 3 months for a legit Rooms to Go debt with a 3900.00 balance. Setup a couple months worth of payments and got may balance down to 3100.00. I called them the other day and told them that I would settle right now for 2000.00 and they could run the check the following friday. They said that they couldn't settle for less than 2400.00. I said, "that's fine, call me back when you are ready to deal." Not 4 minutes later they called back and said that they could do 2000.00. They post dated my check for the following Friday. I called back Tuesday to change my routing number and account number because I switched banks. I talked to Dennis Vasquez who is a complete *&*%. He stated that they check would be ran for 2029.00 because they had to change the routing and account information. I just simply "went off" on Dennis and said that if he didn't run my check for the agreed 2000.00 then I will cut my deal off and pay them 50.00 a month for the next 5 years and never answer their calls again. I couldn't believe what he was trying to do. He couldn't give me a straight answer as to why they were adding the additional 29.00. Long story short, they took that 29.00 off after about 20 minutes of tearing him a new one. Don't let these guys push you around, they are salesmen, and do not have any authority over you. You still have rights. Tell them what you want to do, not what they want you to do.

Hello.
I had a credit card go to collections for about $300.00... the collections company was Universal Fidelity... I paid off my debt after several very bad situations, now they are calling me AGAIN requesting I pay off the whole amount... I need to contact the company whom issued the credit card and ask them to give me a letter saying my account has been paid off then I need to send that to Universal... but I do not have the account number anymore, and when I call their automated system the ask me for my account number... what can I do?? :?:

What is the name of the creditor? You have to speak to someone in person and get the account number from their system. Do you have any past statements in your folder? Check with your previous bank statements to find the account number.

The creditor is GE Money... I got the credit card from Lenscrafters.. I paid off this account back in October.. so I threw out every single piece of paper I had from them, both GE Money and Universal Fidelity... never thought this would come back to give a headache again...

You have to speak to someone in GE Money and get the PIF. Put the laws on Universal Fidelity. Make them validate the debt in writing. You will come to know if their collection activity is proper.

My mother is 78 years old, over a year ago, her fixed income was cut S.S. she could not longer afford her car which she could no longer drive, it was repo in her drive way. Since this time she has been called and harrassed until she had a major heart attack which almost took her live. She does not have a day when she can rest as they call continuely. If she could have paid for the car she would have. We have no choose now but to hire a lawyer to save my Mother's life. I intent to file charges against this company for the damage done to my Mother. I would advise anyone never to do business with this company. I am asking the federal law to look into charges also.

I have just received a call from Universal Fidelity. The man was rude, he would not reveal the source of the problem. Said he had my SS# and has investigated and found "cause for action" against me as though I have committed a heinious crime!!
CJ

the company is a legit company we are authorized by the government to collect debt.We also have another agency building in ohio too. we are a legit company

Who are they and what do they want? I don't have any outstanding bills to payoff.

Thank you.

You need to send them a debt validation letter,as per your rights under the fdcpa. You have the right to have this debt proven and know what you are being asked to pay for. Don't send them a dime until you get one.

I believe Sonic, Cash Transfer Centers, and Paydayavenue send their defaulted payday loans to Universal Fidelity.

:evil: :evil: :evil:
This is the most gayest thing that's ever happend to me. This Universal Fidelity keeps calling me and harrassing me even after I've explained that We have no idea how to contact the person they are looking for. The First time the woman screamed at me and told me that "MY" number will "NEVER" be removed because I am with-holding information. I tried to explain to her that the person they are looking for moved out in June 06 and didn't even give us notice- We came home from work and they were gone. She screamed at me and hung up. I called back to try and speak with a supervisor who told me that it was "none of my bussiness why they were calling" I am not stupid I know a debt collection agency when I hear one since I was one A LONG time ago. I asked for their number so I can send them a Cease and Desist letter and they refused he did however tell me my number was removed from their system.(mind you this was Saturday January 13, 2007)

I told that guy that If I continued to get calls I will find a way to report them. Well about half an hour ago I got another call. They passed me back around for like 10 mins and when I asked to speak with a Manager/Supervisor they told me that none are available they are all busy. The lady told me the get my number off this guys CBR. I told her that I dont want contacted I know my fdcpa rights. She said she removed it again but when they pull CBR they will put it in again... SOMEONE PLEASE HELP. I've never harrassed anyone like this and I believe that it is against the law to keep harrassing someone when They've explained the circumstances time and time and time again.

Start recording the phone calls after checking the laws in your state. Few states require permission of the other party before recording. Keep a note of the number of calls, date and time and the caller. Consult an attorney and sue them for each fdcpa violation. Keep filing your complaints with the AG's office and the BBB. They are not going to stop until you show your legal rights.

From one of the previous posts on this company, it looks like these folks are used for all types of debt collections, including automobile loans...is that right?

They are fraud. they are criminals. Do not listen to them.

I have been trying to pay my dillards account which was sent to universal fidelity . When i call to try and make a payment they tell me they can not except taht paymetn they said the min is like 5oo i told them tha ti could pay tha tmuch but i will make a paymetn they yelled at me and hung up. I have had so many problems with them i judt dotn know what to do can soem one help?

If legal in your state, record the call when you talk to allied interstate. Yelling at you is a violation of the law. Given the opportunity, they will violate more collection laws. Then you will have leverage.

Universal Fidelity is well know for this. I have dealt with them also. Send them a debt validation letter, certified, return receipt. They will not validate, but will pass it on to another of their agencies. ..Karen

I keep getting calls from Universal Fidelity everyday (281-647-4152) for the last one week. One of my colleagues is also getting this call. If I pick up, I hear a recording that it is not a telemarketers call and to call back a number. They leave the same message on my voicemail if I don't pick up. At first, I was scared that this might be ID theft because I have no debt/balances with anyone. So, I printed all credit reports for my wife and myself and nothing looks fishy.

I haven't received anything in written.

Should I call these guys or send them a debt validation letter?

All advice is appreciated.

Constant computor phone calls and when i retuned the
call they had the wrong person. we do not owe anyone.
when i asked that my phone number be removed the girl
said that she would keep calling me and hang up on me.
I kept calling back and they kept hanging up on me.
Finally I was angry and the lady told me how rude i
was and needed to control my temper. How do you stop
this when you are the wrong person. Our name is a
common name and the calls from other collection companies are constant day and night. Thank You

I do not even have an acct owed to them!!!!!!!! A man I dated 20 years ago, YES, 20 YEARS AGO!!!!! owes for an old Sears bill, and apparantly, they scecked old address records or something, and are HARRASSING THE HECK OUT OF MY FAMILY, accusing my husband of being this other person, calling him Mr. B-----, and calling at all hours, even on Sundays. Then they tell me it is MY responsibility to contact the old boyfriend to stop using my number!! I do not even live in the same sity or county as this person, but Mr. Don Brown, at UF, calls and screams at my husband, then laffs in the backround when a "supervisor" is on the phone "apoligizing, and "we will take you off the list" and all that bull. I have even had their "supervisors" hang up on me. Never anything in the mail, never tells me how they got my name, they are just TOTALLY convinced they have found the right person, and are just as nasty as they can be. So, I have started to collect names.I need their address, if anyone has it.

Send your cease and desist letter here, courtesy of the BBB:

Universal Fidelity Corp.
1445 Langham Creek Drive
Houston, TX 77084

My post is an exact duplicate to that of Guest vesun, the automated phone message with the call back number. I live in NJ, and I am not returning a toll call to Texas on a matter that I have no knowledge of. My credit reports are clean. If UF cannot send me something in the mail or at least speak to me personally, I am not taking any action. I hope my coarse of action is the correct one.
P.S. They did make a credit inquirey on 2/6/2007.
Thanks, I hope for some feedback.

I received a notice to settle, EDP # 13-06-342-****. It is an offer to settle for $928.37. I would like to settle this account. All I have is $700.00. Will you accept this offer for settlement?

Thanks!

Mary Godwin

Personal info removed for your safety - Mike

I got a leter in the mail that mentioned a Judgement. University Fidelity LP said, "If you notify this office in writing within 30 days from receiving this notice that you dispute the verificaiton of the debt or obtain a copy of a judgement and mail you a copy of such judgement or verification."

Just got a voice mail from them and googled and came across all this...so I will definately not pick up the phone..Mine is probably from paydayavenue..their number is a ohio number but all the addresses are texas...I am in Houston..On the news they had a story about a lady who was being harrassed by payday companies and they said basically all a payday company can do is harass u to death because of the outrageous fees they charge they have been paid over and over again till then you deafult and they charge you more..they are against the law so all they can do is threaten ..they cant have you arrested they cant take you to court they can just bug the crap out of you..I am so happy that my phone has a ringer off button..I paid payday all their payments to where I paid for a loan 3 times and I was overdrawn at the bank they kept putting the debit through and it caused my acct to be overdrawn 1600 and now I have a collection agency calling for the bank..so if anything from reading all of this we have learned that payday loans are scams...and that UF are frauds and we need to change our numbers so they cant contact us for a few years...

Found your site by googling UF. They called and left me a message simply saying "Please return our call at 281-647-4152" No company name, just that message. I called and was put on hold for about 15 mins. I held because I was curious what it was about. When they finally came on the line, they asked if my name was something other than my own. I said no that's not my name, and they said "Sorry wrong number". Not happy about that. Wasted time. Just wanted to give you all the number they had left, since that seemed to be a question. They are based out of Houston.