Stop Collection Agency Harassment

This is a special time of year for me. When I was a little girl, there was a full house of people and we had one of my uncles dress up as santa. I have happy memories of that time. But now it is even more special because for a number of years I know and understand “christmas”.

I celebrate Jesus’ birth this time of year. It is hard not to get caught up in the gifts and parties. It is alot of fun. Most of all I have joy, peace and love in my life. I know I am here for a purpose. My purpose is to serve you.

I want to say blessings to you today…to have joy, peace and love in your life.

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The report was about credit cards and how they are changing their interest rates without cause. In other words, when a consumer is late or over the limit, the creditor CAN change the interest rates. It is on the contract in the teeny tiny itty bitty print.

NOW it seems the creditor is changing the rates and not to be stopped WITHOUT CAUSE. We are still looking into the facts of this report, however, we wanted to write this article to give a heads up about the possibility of being factual. Call your creditor about rate changes.

Also there is new legislation to stop this but it is going into effect late 2009.

If a consumer is not able to pay the new payment with the increasing interest rates…what happens? The account goes delinquent. In 6 months, the account will be sold to a debt collector.

One of our clients has multiple business failures due to the stop short of the economy. They had to start living on credit cards to survive. Now the payments are too high and the interest is outrageous. Their business were flourishing. Now their credit cards are maxed out, unable to pay and the collection letters are arriving in their mail.

This is not an isolated situation. This is happening all over the country with employees also.

The good news is that we have the answers for you.

Educate yourself and empower yourself here.

If you have questions, feel free to call and ask. If you want us to do the letter writing for you, we can and we will.

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Collect America is a huge JDB with many franchisee’s across the country. They have alleged lawyers in these offices. CACV stands for Collect America Collection Vehicle and CACH purchase junk debt for Collect America. Collect America was sold by Scott Lowery in 2005 for $350 million! Even though he sold the company to First Analysis Private Equity Fund IV, he reportedly is still involved in operations through his brother.

This debt collection agency is typical with their tactics. Letters, phone calls and threats to the consumer.

Here is a list of possible franchisees (from Bud Hibbs site):

Law Office of Sam W. Streeter, Houston, TX

Richard G. & Catherine A. Neuheisel Law Firm, Tempe, AZ

Neuheisel Law Firm, Deborah Sue Harvego, Sacramento, CA

Law Office of Thomas K. Bamford, Dallas, TX

Harold E. Scherr, Attorney at Law, Longwood, FL

Bronson and Migliaccio Attorneys, Williamsville, NY

Bronson and Migliaccio Attorneys, Elmwood Park, NJ

Phillips and Cohen and Associates, Westampton, NJ

Law Office of Larry Roach, Copley Twp, OH

Phillip Scott Lowery P.C., Denver, CO

Law Office of Joe Pezzuto, Phoenix, AZ

Law Office of J. Anthony Cambece, Boston, MA

Workman Law Office, P.A., Jacksonville, FL

Collect America, LTD, Denver, CO

Gamache and Myers, St Louis, MO

P. Scott Lowery, P.C., Tulsa, OK

Law Office of Wilfred E. Briesemeister, Montclair, CA

Harrison Ross Byck, Morrisville, PA

Daniels & Norelli, P.C., Westbury, NY

Davis Law Office, Russell A. Davis, Solana Beach, CA

Richard DeJana & Associates, Kalispell, MT

Dennis Michael Dendy Law Office, Gretna, LA (Houston TX)

Daniel N. Gordon, P.C., Eugene, OR

Mims, Jerry M., Attorney, Islip Terrace, NY

Pentagroup Financial, LLC, James J. Thorpe, Attorney, Houston, TX (represents CACV & CACH)

Take heed if you are served a summons at your residence from this company. They are infamous for lawsuits and arbitration with NAF. National Arbitration Forum. Do not ignore.

Read below of a consumer who learned quickly how to fight back and WON !

August 2008: UPDATE: “The july 9th court date never came as CACH LLC’s new attorneys called me about a week before trial to settle. At first, they “offered” me for ME to pay them $3,000, which they argued was far less than over $17,000! I told them in no uncertain terms, NO. As I had filed a counterclaim against CACH, LLC and Daniel N Gordon for $150,000, they wanted this to end. They asked me what I would take to settle. As I’m a person of integrity and not into it for the money, I told them they’ll receive no money from me, everyone pays their own court and attorney costs (I had none except the court filing fee), and the cases get dismissed WITH PREJUDICE. That means this case can NEVER be put back into the court system again for any reason.

As part of the settlement, which has no wording in it saying that I can’t talk about it, CACH, LLC has agreed to drop the matter AND to report to the credit bureaus that they are removing this entry in my files. See, you CAN win against these people…just work hard at it and you will. If more and more of us can get to the point where we’re all standing up against these scoundrels, they’ll depart with their tails between their legs. Oh, and don’t be afraid of “big name” or big sounding “attorney” firms. “

This is why we are passionate about consumer awareness with collection debt. Consumers can educate and empower themselves.

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They could well be the largest debt collection agency in the US. This collection agency will sue the consumer and will show up in court. Beware of any letters and respond quickly. Mann Bracken has a reputation of using arbitration to intimidate the consumer. There is not alot to say about this debt collector and their tactics.

THEY SUE.

Their usual behavior is to use phone calls and letters to the consumer. Even if the alleged debt is very old, do not ignore and respond in writing about the statute of limitations.

If you are served with a summons, the consumer can be sued on an old debt if you do not respond quickly. Arbitration is not something you want to have to fight the debt collector on but it can be done and you can win. Do not be intimidated. Contact a consumer attorney.

Since we are located in Georgia, we hear about Mann Bracken often. However, they are in multiple states and growing.

From Bud Hibbs:We were told at the beginning of the month that Wolpoff & Abramson, Eskanos & Adler, and Mann Bracken were each bought out by Axiant. Each of the law firms will continue appear in court under their firm names, and all of the attorneys will still be employees of the firms, but all of their collections accounts are now merged. All non-legal personnel (everyone except attorneys) now work for Axiant. I do not know what states Wolpoff and Eskanos have actual attorneys in, but Mann Bracken is set up in Georgia, Tennessee, North & South Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, D.C., and Texas. The Mann Bracken attorneys will take Wolpoff and Eskanos accounts in those states and sue. The same goes for the other entities – they’ll take Mann Bracken accounts in their “live” states and sue.Information we have received suggests that Mann Bracken’s collection accounts are down, way down. The industry as a whole is reporting a massive 10% drop in receipts for November 2008. Almost every day we receive notice of another agency closing or filing for bankruptcy. Consumers are holding on to their money like never before, especially from the likes of Mann Bracken who are finding more consumer lawyers showing up in courts to have their bogus claims challenged and defeated. You and everyone else dealing with Mann Bracken are encouraged to fight them tooth and nail, force them to validate, tie up their collectors with calls an letters, hire a consumer lawyer on all cases including arbitration claims. The more expensive you make it for them by invoking the laws that protect consumers, the better. William Christopher Bracken, III, one of the head debt collectors uses the blood money they collect to keep up appearances from his $1 million dollar home in the Highgrove Sub Division of Atlanta. His goons lie, threaten and file these bogus claims so he and his family can live off money that they may not legally be entitled to. The American consumer holds the key to allowing these parasites the right to collect, I say make them pay the price of proving it and suffer the consequences when they can’t. Mann Bracken is no different than the scammers on Wall Street who took our money, we should all hold them accountable for their actions.

Here is a great testimony of a victory for this consumer.

October 2008: “Mann Bracken placed a restraint on my checking account, causing checks to bounce and legal fee’s to grow each month. They got a bogus judgment stating that I was served to appear in court. They claimed to have left the summons with a relative of mine, however that relative doesn’t even exist, and the house they supposedly served was boarded up and abandoned. Also, the money they were trying to collect was from a default credit card, which was proven to be fraudulent and so I am not responsible for that debt. I have paper proof from all three credit agencies to back that up also.

I reported Mann Bracken to the BBB, giving the BBB all of my evidence that Mann Bracken is totally full of crap, and now Mann Bracken has released my checking account, has agreed to pay all of the fines and damages they caused, and they are having the court order vacated.

So I would just get all of your evidence together and call them out on their bull sh-t. It worked for me. They were talking all big and bad, giving me attitude and threatening me, but as soon as I turned it all around on them, they have been very cooperative.

However, I strongly suggest keeping on top of everything they are supposed to be taking care of. They are sneaky bastards that like to lie and cut corners. So if you are lucky enough to have beaten them, make sure you hold them to their word and keep checking up on their progress, and when they don’t do what they say, keep reporting them, it always gets the ball rolling again.”

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This JDB is the trickiest scam debt collector. Asset Acceptance is very well known on most consumer forums about collection debt. They are NOTORIUS for buying very old portfolios of consumer debt. They raise the alleged balances due and send out dunning notices consistently. It is a fear factor with this junk debt collector.

A standard procedure for this collection agency is changing the date of last activity on your credit report. Also, they claim to have received a payment from you which you never sent to them. They swear up and down and drive you crazy when in actuality you NEVER sent any money. One of many other tactics is that Asset Acceptance creates and files phony documents. Beware of any mail you receive from collection agencies especially this debt collector. All JDB collection agencies are a scam!

Below is a great report of how a consumer fought back and WON!

August 2008 I have had the experience to deal with this company twice. I have beaten this company twice. Both times they contacted me, I challenged them. I told them I want proof that I owed them anything.

Each time Asset denied any wrong doing, even though I had them on many many many violations of state and federal laws, but each time, they deleted their poison from my reports. They will lie and break the law, but if you stand your ground, they can be made to leave your life. 

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As of late, they are getting cozy with Citibank and buying VERY old charged off debt. If the consumer has a letter and/or phone call from MCM, CHECK THOSE DATES on the alleged debt. Then check your state codes for the statute of limitations. This is for you – THE CONSUMER – to take advantage of see if the date to collect has expired. If is has expired then you need to write an SOL letter and send CM/RR to document the mailing. If the date to collect has not expired, write your VOD letter immediately.

Midland Credit Management is using an arbitration company to take the consumer to court. Arbitration is messy and ugly. This website has yet to write about arbitration and judgments in more detail. We have dealt with both scenarios and it is not pleasant. The only reason the collection debt would reach that stage is because you ignored the debt collector letters AND you did not learn your rights on how to fight it. If you have received an arbitration claim from Midland Credit Management, contact us and we can ONLY advise you over the phone (inotherwords, we do not offer a service to assist you with this critical collection stage) and to seek legal counsel. There is a right way to do that and a wrong way to do that.

At Next Level Credit, we stick to the basics of giving important information so that you can take action. We want you to be aware of the arbitration and judgments (more than basic) that MCM are using to collect and that this could happen to you. We strongly encourage you to seek legal counsel for the “more than basic” fight.

Also, MCM is hiring overseas in India to collect debt from Americans! Desperate perhaps?

Consumer (September 2008): “How desperate are the fools at MCM? Started receiving calls from India, collector spoke as though he was sucking marbles. Trying to collect on a debt more than ten years old. Went on about how he was “Certified by MCM” on the FDCPA. Almost impossible to understand. Why do junk debt collectors like MCM collect on such old debts and why go to India?”

Reply from Bud Hibbs:

Wall Street appears to be dissatisfied with many bottom feeders and they are feeling that impact. MCM thinks it has the right to place anything it chooses on a consumer credit report and never respond to validation requests. Consumers are warned that it is illegal for them to report accounts that cannot be validated and they still have the ability to payoff on FCRA lawsuits. I urge anyone being scammed by MCM to contact the consumer law professionals at www.myfaircredit.com. The law allows that you and your attorney may be paid for their greed, stupidity and attempts at extorting monies they are not entitled to. MCM cares only about making money at the expense of the American consumer, they are a disgusting, slimy organization that lies, cheats and puts us at high risk in a foreign country.”

Let us know if you have dealt with Midland Credit Management good and bad. Let us hear from you and leave a comment below!

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