Comments RSS 
GUGLIELMO & ASSOCIATES buys junk debt LVNV Funding and Arrow Financial Services
Filed Under: Collections
Filed Under: Collections
Jun 16 · by Next Level Credit
Guglielmo & Associates name has been popping up lately across our clients lives. Guglielmo & Associates is a collection “attorney” who buys debt from other collection agencies. This collection agency is in Arizona and is known for lawsuits. Look up the Arizona court dockets. Their website states that they are a collection firm and have been for 20 years. However, Guglielmo must be low in slime because he is not even listed on Bud Hibbs website in the top 100. Guglielmo sends validation letters to the consumer from another collection agency. In other words, when the consumer asks for VOD, the “alleged” validation is from someone like Arrow Financial Services and LVNV Funding. This is NOT validation. NOT.
This slime is a steamroller because they will serve a summons quickly. If you live in Arizona and receive letters from them, be aggressive and take action against them as soon as possible. They could target you with more than one “alleged” account. Modern technology makes this possible.
See this situation below – very real (original with typos) – happens all the time with many collection agencies:
“I verbally settled with this firm (Guglielmo & Associates) for a cc debt and the agreement was a down payment and a sum for 12 months, i directly paying them automatically on the same day every month for 9 months and the firm states that they were late and have sent me to justice court for a judgement, and thretning to garnish wages. the ammout of the debt has doubled and i have payed over 75% of my original debt and 1.25 times the debt from the cc. they are posting to my account late. if u send them money make sure it is certified mail. cause they will hold the check to make it late. and then thats when they suck the life out of u!!!!!!”
Why didn’t this consumer know how to send a VOD letter and fight back and beat this? ! Not enough consumers know. We read every day about consumers searching for help to PAY these collection agencies. STOP PAYING!
NEXT LEVEL CREDIT
“Taking Your Credit to the Next Level”
I was served a summons last Saturday & I am feeling pretty humiliated. I have never been “served” before…
My questions are:
1)What is a VOD letter?
2)What should my first few steps with this be?
Charles,
Thank you for your comment.
Please do not feel humiliated about being served. Take action immediately.
A VOD letter is a validation of debt letter that is sent to the collection agency. You will not be doing that at this time.
Your next step is to answer the summons to the court immediately in the time specified. The time specified is different in each state of the US.
In your answer you will include the fact that Guglielmo did not validate the alleged debt. We assume you are in Arizona. Also, how old is this account?
Contact our office if you have further questions. You can fight this.
~Next Level Credit~
I was making payments on a debt to Fulton, Friedman and Gullace when I received a letter from Guglielmo & Associates stating I was late two payments. I was not late and didn’t know who there were. I was smart enough to make all my payments with money orders certified return receipt. After calling Guglielmo they state I should be making payments to them. I am in the position now to pay off my debt which they state is $10250.45. I just don’t want to be taken. I can I protect myself and make sure this debt is paid off?
Mary,
Thanks for your comment. Fulton, Friedman and Gullace seems to be a collection agency. A very nasty one. They are known to sue consumers. Our first question to you is: why are you paying them? Did they ever validate the alleged account before you started making payments?
We do find it odd that you were paying FFG and yet they sent that “account” to Guglielmo. Guglielmo has a reputation of suing consumers.
Please understand that it does NOT help your credit one bit to pay a collection agency. You write that you can pay off your debt. Why would you pay a collection agency? Also unsuspecting consumers have learned that once you start paying a collection agency, the agency has you in their grip and keeps on sucking money from the consumer well beyond what is allegedly due on the balance (most cases). Even IF the collection agency can validate the account, that is to be questioned as well.
Stop talking to Gulgielmo. Everything needs to be in writing. You need to ask for VOD.
Contact us for an analysis.
~Next Level Credit~
I received a notice of judgement from them. It’s one legal looking paper but somehow doesn’t seem legal. Attached to it is a letter from them, not a court document, that states to contact them to resolve the debt. It states they will garnish our wages or freeze our bank accounts. When they originally sent the letter about filing a judgement, it didn’t say what time to go to court. I called & they said it was my responibility, not theirs. The court had no record of it. I’m afraid of garnishment and/or freezing our accounts. Mad, scared, don’t know what to do next.
Vonne,
Thanks for your comment. If the court does not have a record of any filing of a complaint against you, then it is not a legal judgment. This sounds as if it was only a notice which can be very intimidating. In other words, a collection letter.
Guglielmo cannot garnish anything without a judgment. You will need to send them a VOD letter.
Contact our office for an analysis and your next step.
~Next Level Credit~
I received a call from this company about a debt that was ruled fraudulent by the credit card company, cancelled and closed. I have a letter from the credit card company stating so. My credit report shows that the credit card company last reported in 2008 showing there is still a balance. I called the credit card company and they are working to resolve this. Once it is resolved on my credit report, I want to freeze my report. If I do so, will that prevent this collections company from being able to put false debts on it? Also if they continue to pursue me for this debt, including taking me to court, do I have to respond? If I go to court do I have to do anything besides bring the letter from the credit card company saying the debt is zero with me? It seems so cut and dry, but I didn’t realize sleezebags like this were out there. I just want to prevent this company from uprooting my life.
Renee,
Thanks for your comment. We are not sure if you should freeze your report. This will not prevent any collection agency from attempting to collect. Ask the CRAs about the benefits of freezong your report.
Guglielmo has to do more than call you. They have to send a letter to you. They will. Then you would ask for VOD. Since the credit card is fraudulent, it is cut and dry. There is always a chance that these people would sue regardless. Not to scare you but they are known to sue. Yes if you were served a summons, you would need to answer the complaint to the court. We can assist you with that. That is not a dead end. Do not fear something that has not happened.
The letter from the credit card company would be part of your answer filed to the court. It would be great if we could go to court and show the letter, however, there is court procedure.
Go to our home page http://nextlevelunlimited.net and fill in the form for an analysis.
~Next Level Credit~
Hi.
Guglielmo & Accociates have been garnishing my wages for about 2 months. When I received the letters from them I didn’t know what to do and my husband said not to worry about it because they CAN’T garnish my wages… Well here I am a few months later and they’re taking 25% of my Net Pay! I can’t survive on this! I know I should have done something a long time ago but I was under the false impression that they couldn’t do this to me. I tried negotiating with them after the fact and they said that I don’t qualify to have the percentage lowered. Isn’t there anything I can do? They are heartless evil people… they told me to pay them in full and they would stop the garnishment!?!?! If I could afford that I wouldn’t be worried about the 25% they’re taking right?!
Hello,
I received a summons from Guglielmo & Associates in November of 2009. I went to the courthouse and filed my answer. I admitted that I was in default of payment(in default with the original creditor, not Guglielmo). The court said I would get a letter in the mail with a hearing date. I never got that letter. Instead, I received a “Motion for Judgement on the Pleadings No Hearing Requested” and a “Judgment”. The judgment was not dated or signed, and it was not notarized. So, I sent Guglielmo a letter stating that I had received this and would like to come to a mutual agreement on a settlement. I sent the letter Certified with a Return Receipt on February 5th, 2010. I did not receive a response until just today, when I received a letter with the heading “Notice and Demand RE: Garnishment” accompanied by the same judgment as before BUT this time it was signed, notarized and dated April 7th, 2010. Interest was also added to the original amount. My question is, what is my next step when dealing with this issue? I am prepared to retain legal counsel if need be.
Jenn,
Thanks for your comment. You may have received a judgment since you admitted non payment on the original account. It depends how you answered to the court. You can inquire to the clerk and ask what happened to the hearing.
It seems as if the CA is getting ready to garnish your bank account/wages if they have your information.
This CA is a problem in your state. They are the worst in Arizona. Please report this to the AG if your right to a hearing was revoked. You should talk to legal counsel specializing in collection debt lawsuite defense and see if there is anything you can do.
~Next Level Credit~
this collection agency has just served a summons to me via my son who was at my home when I was not!! they didn’t ask for his signature or who he was, just asked if they could give him this paperwork to leave for me. Is this even legal? I, myself have not reaaly been served have I? This is for some two year old credit card debt that was for a business that I released to the bank along with ALL my income-producing properties. I have NO income except for my retired ( had to to retire due to health issues) husband’s retirement account ($1700.00 a month and about to be lost due to the economy!!). Is there any help for me? We do have two older paid off vehicles and we have equity in our home. What should I do to protect us?
Fulton Friedman and Gullace had sent me a collection letter. What are the first procedures to handle this? I don’t even know if this is a scam letter or not. and I don’t even remember having a Citibank Credit Card. So how can I find out? I want to see invoice or some kind of proof of this debt. It has been non stop of letters from ATT bills to other things. I paid them off but now I am just scared that I am being scammed. What should I do? I call the office but get voice mail, and so hang up because I’m scared its a scam of some sort. (Just Paranoid now)
Donna,
Thanks for your comment. It is corrupt. Yes you can call it a scam. It looks legal but that does not mean that it is legal. We suggest to check your credit report for citibank. FFG is a collection agency that is attempting to collect. You will need to take action against this. Stop talking to ANY collection agency.
Since you are dealing with multiple accounts, fill out our contact form so that we can give you a quick analysis ASAP and what you need to do. This is time sensitive.
~Next Level Credit~
A summons from my local court was dropped 7-29-10 at my house while i was at work, the papers are stamped 4-19 on 1 paper & 5-10 on the other paper. It is labeled Atlantic Credit vs me & Jane Doe, also says Guglielmo & Assoc. (original creditor HSBC) who have tried to call (don’t leave messages) and sent a couple letters that i ignored. Not sure what my next step is, it says i have 20 days to respond to the court but the dates on the letter are 3+ months old. I checked the case # online and it was entered into the system 4-19-10 with filing fee paid 5-10-10. It also says my last payment was 6/30/07, i have had credit with HSBC but don’t know if last payment date or amount are accurate and i’m not sure how to verify.
Matty,
Thanks for your comment. You are being sued and the plaintiff is a junk debt buyer. You can fight this. You will need to file an Answer and Affirmative Defenses quickly. Call the court clerk to check on the dates. You have 20 days to respond to the court. You will question the account in your Answer.
Contact our office if you have further questions.
~Next Level Credit~
Hi i recieved a letter from Fulton and i plan on getting them to pay me money. I live in tx and they dnt seem to know the laws very gd here. They cant garnish a dam thing. I have an Attorney that targets them like yall do, all i do is record them saying they are going to garnish or take my pay…which is a big no no in Tx. I am sending them a vod letter to see what they send back. Hopefully they will do what i think and money in my pocket