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NCO - illegally selling credit reports

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

NCO offer of judgment done deal - freecycle.org

I just posted at NCO offer of judgment accepted

I don’t know when I get to scan all those docs, NCO provided some interesting documents about the discharged Providian account they were trying to collect.

I went to town today.  The Office Depot in Kingman finally closed.  Another store where I used to buy cheap t-shirts and sunglasses disappeared without warning.

My Chevy doesn’t start, I can’t even charge the battery and I took the Bronco.  The window on the passenger side fell inside the door last fall and I didn’t drive it because one of the tires was leaking air.  But, today I had no choice and after all that nice spring weather, it was ice cold and I was driving through a snow storm.

Fortunately, the tire was fixable.  A new tire is $150 and special order. 

$145 at the vet for a few shots.  At Safeway I talked to Mary in the bakery, she has a dog and she told me about a low cost clinic in Kingman.  I had no idea.  That’s where I’ll go next time.  She just buys the shots at the feed store, but I don’t want to give my dog the shot.

Someone recently turned me on to http://www.freecycle.org/ and I joined the Kingman group.

That is SO cool!  I’ve only subscribed for a few weeks, but can tell that there are some regulars who have lots to give away as well as ask for.

If I wasn’t 60 miles away ...  plants, furniture, pets and just all kinds of stuff is just given away. 

People aren’t allowed to charge and I wish there was another site to buy and sell.  I’d gladly pay a few bucks to have someone hold the stuff until I get to town again.

I’m really sick of Ebay and I also have a lot of heavy stuff to get rid off.  I could take it to town, but it’s a hassle if people don’t show up. If they paid a few bucks, they WOULD show up.

Well, that’s what you get for living in the boonies.  But it sure is cool to see this system of giving stuff away working so well in Kingman.

Thursday, April 02, 2009

2008 NCO revenue up 18% and profits of $95.5 million

It’s no wonder they’re making money, blatently ignoring the FDCPA and FCRA.

NCO Group Reports 2008 Results
April 1, 2009

The ARM giant reported a hefty loss in 2008, but achieved its EBITDA goals as much of the loss was attributable to a one-time non-cash impairment charge.
by Patrick Lunsford

insideARM
April 1, 2009

Accounts receivable management and customer relations giant NCO Group Wednesday reported results for the full year and fourth quarter 2008 marked by a large loss on non-cash impairments and a sharp rise in revenue.

Horsham, Pa.-based NCO Group, Inc. reported a net loss for the full year 2008 of $337.1 million. In 2007, the company lost $31.7 million.

In the fourth quarter of 2008, the company reported a net loss of $286.6 million.

The losses were due to non-cash impairment charges related to a transaction in 2006 that took the company private, and to the company’s purchased debt portfolios.

NCO recorded a $289.5 million non-cash impairment of goodwill and other intangible assets in connection with the going-private transaction in November 2006. The charge had a direct impact on net operating figures for the year. The company also took a $98.9 million impairment charge on its purchased debt portfolios for the year.

NCO said that the impairment of goodwill and other intangible assets is a non-cash charge that does not affect the company’s cash flows from operations, liquidity, or compliance with the financial covenants in its senior credit facility.

Mike Barrist, NCO’s Chairman and CEO, said that the company had achieved its goals for the year exclusive of the impact of non-cash portfolio impairments and restructuring charges.

The company’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) for the full year was $95.5 million.

“As we continue to navigate through 2009, we believe NCO is well positioned among its peers within each of its core markets to capitalize on all available opportunities,” said Barrist.

NCO also noted that it eliminated executive bonuses and reduced certain non-executive bonuses in 2008 to cut costs. It also experienced a “meaningful reduction in overall discretionary spending.”

But revenues soared in 2008. NCO said that it crossed the billion-and-a-half-dollar mark in 2008 by bringing in $1.51 billion in total revenues, up nearly 18 percent from total revenues reported in 2007.

The company attributed much of the increase in revenue to the acquisition of Outsourcing Solutions, Inc. (OSI), which at the time was the second largest collection agency in the U.S. The OSI deal closed in March 2008 (“NCO Group Completes Acquisition of OSI,” March 3, 2008). NCO said that OSI contributed $337.3 million in revenues in 2008.

Of the $1.51 billion in total revenue in 2008, $1.22 billion was generated by NCO’s ARM unit, up from $915.6 million in 2007. The company noted in an SEC filing that 60 percent of the ARM unit’s revenues were generated “from the recovery of delinquent accounts receivable on a contingency fee basis.”

NCO also said in its SEC filing that it spent $126.5 million on debt portfolio purchases in 2008, roughly the same amount it spent in 2007.

There’s something to look forward to, more collection calls from NCO.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

NCO LIED about running my credit for 4 years, NOW discloses collection of DISCHARGED account

This is just totally UNBELIEVABLE.

I filed for bankruptcy in 1996.  NOBODY EVER tried to collect the discharged Providian account.

In 2005, NCO ran my Trans Union credit report, HARD inquiry.

I could NOT find out what they were collecting and assumed it had to do with my complaint about Dana Capital’s illegal use of credit reports.

NCO DENIED obtaining my credit report during the YEARS of litigation.

Tomorrow is my deposition. 

At 6:29 PM TODAY I received the NCO supplemental disclosures, now ADMITTING that they got my credit report in 2005 and providing the information for my 1995 charged off and then discharged Providian account.

I’ll be posting the discovery docs, could use some help with the NCO account info. 

Client: NCOCU7-3
NCO/ASSIGNEE OF PROVIDIAN
Regarding:  Chase Providian

Coll. Unit: PUD Purchase Unit Dump

Com Rate: 45%

I do remember that I somehow know that Chase got the discharged Providian account, but I can’t remember what happened.  It could be that Chase reported the account as delinquent and it may have been part of a previous suit. 

I just searched for Providian here, I settled the incorrect credit reporting with Providian in 2004.  It was part of my FIRST lawsuit.  I suppose then Chase bought Providian.  But I’m blank on what the deal with Chase was.  They may have sent me a letter to let me know that they now had the account.  And, of course they knew that it was discharged.

So the question is why this account was assigned for collection.  Did Chase SELL it to NCO and NOT tell it that the account was discharged?

Isn’t it interesting that NCO ran my credit for an account that was charged off TEN years earlier?

WTF are they doing?

I sure have a lot of questions.  Looks like it’s time for ANOTHER lawsuit against Chase, “NCOCU7-3” and NCO.

So, now NCO had a permissible purpose for the inquiry and I have FDCPA claims.

These BASTARDS continually LIED to me for FOUR years!

The stress, wondering why they ran my credit when I had NO delinquent accounts whatsoever while I was getting ready to buy property and get a mortgage.  They DENIED obtaining my TU report in response to my discovery requests until today.

They just don’t give a crap about the truth.

So now there’s an entire NEW set of issues to take to the FTC.

The FCRA must be changed to PROHIBIT the disclosure of collection inquiries to 3rd parties (hard inquiries.)

NCO must be shut down and the execs must be prohibited from engaging in collection activities.

NO collector can be allowed to operate while either DELIBERATELY lying to consumers or being so incredibly incompetent, they really didn’t know why they ran my credit.

I have no idea WHICH it is, but obviously you can’t allow NCO to collect consumer debts and obtain credit reports.

They also admitted that they never investigated my complaint about Dana Capital, a major mortgage banker, notorious for sending junk faxes and illegal telemarketing and worst of all, LYING to the borrowers about the loan terms, causing so many foreclosures.  Owner Dana Smith and the company filed for bankruptcy so I dismissed them from this suit. Criminals by any standard.

I can’t wait to start the FTC complaint blog.

My sincerest apologies to my client with the DELIBERATELY incorrectly reported Devry student loan account I previously posted about here.  It’ll be the first published FTC complaint, but due to the lying lawyers, I just had to deal with their BS all week.

See http://credit-bureau-nco-litigation.info/

Sunday, March 08, 2009

15 min collection call from NCO for Capital One

Fortunately, I got a pretty good recording of the call.

I cannot believe that despite several regulatory NCO investigations and settlements, they CONTINUE to blatantly ignore the FDCPA.

They told me that there was NOTHING I could do to get them to stop the calls other than to PAY even after I told them that they were disrupting my work and that I would not pay. 

The first guy didn’t have a clue what I was saying when I informed him that I would pay as soon as I can create the money like the banks with a bookkeeping entry.

He continually tried to get me to make a partial payment and he was rude, insulting and ignorant.  Apparently he hadn’t even heard of the bailout.

Finally his supervisor took over the call (I didn’t ask for her, all of a sudden someone else was talking), apparently he wasn’t aggressive enough for her liking.  She also didn’t get that banks do NOT lend out money they EARN, but that they simply create it out of thin air with a bookkeeping entry.

I see no reason whatsoever to limit the ability to create money to criminal bankers.

She continued to demand a payment and even threatened me with credit reporting.

I finally offered to pay with Trados, but she ignored that offer and asked whether I’ll be paying with check or CREDIT CARD.

I found out that Capital One still owns the account and I tried several times to have them note the account as disputed, but I’m not sure they did as they kept interrupting me and talking over me.

The supervisor CONFIRMED that the only way to stop the calls is to PAY.

I’ll prove her WRONG.

It looks like an EXCELLENT FTC complaint, especially since the SUPERVISOR is on the recording.

And it sure was odd getting this call while getting ready to work on my response to the lying lawyers including the NCO attorney.

Monday, December 08, 2008

NCO settles with Texas: failure to validate, ignoring cease & desist, profanity, extortion …

Attorney General’s Enforcement Action Leads To Better Protection, Restitution For Texas Consumers

NCO Financial Systems agrees to implement important changes in business practices

DALLAS – Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott today resolved the state’s enforcement action against debt collection firm NCO Financial Systems Inc., which was charged with violating the Texas Debt Collection Act. According to state investigators, NCO unlawfully made harassing and threatening phone calls to purported debtors. Under the settlement, NCO must implement policies that ensure its debt collection efforts fully comply with this law.

“Today’s agreement protects Texans from unlawful debt collection practices,” Attorney General Abbott said. “Texas law prohibits collection agencies from using unlawful threats and coercion to collect debts. With today’s agreement, the world’s largest debt collector agreed to implement safeguards that will protect debtors and ensure full compliance with the law.”

Attorney General’s court-filed agreement with NCO Financial Systems Inc.

NCO Financial Systems, Inc. handled debt collection for its affiliate, NCO Portfolio Management Inc., which manages credit card, telecommunications, and medical-related debts. According to consumer complaints, NCO Financial Systems representatives made harassing and sometimes profanity-laden telephone calls to Texans, some of whom had never incurred the debt at all. NCO Financial Systems also improperly claimed that certain individuals owed debts when, in fact, the actual debtors had different middle initials or Social Security numbers.

Many Texans also complained that NCO Financial Systems failed to verify that debts were actually owed. Thus, the defendant continued its billing process even after frustrated recipients disputed their bills or sent cease-and-desist letters. NCO Financial Systems also threatened to report debts to credit reporting agencies that were more than seven years old.

Today’s settlement agreement requires NCO Financial Systems to properly validate the debts that it attempts to collect when appropriately challenged by consumers. Moreover, NCO has agreed to spend $300,000 over the next three years to monitor its collection practices so that it complies with protections offered to consumers by the Texas Debt Collection Act.

To settle the attorney general’s enforcement action, NCO Financial Systems will establish a three-year $150,000 restitution fund to compensate Texans harmed by its unlawful acts. The company will remit $100,000 to the state’s general revenue fund, along with $150,000 in attorneys’ fees.

NCO Financial Systems, which claims to be the “world’s largest” debt collector, operates call centers in 28 states and eight foreign countries, according to its Web site.

NCO released its own statement:
NCO Enters Into Settlement Agreement With the State of Texas

The two events hardly seem to be related.  That’s what you call spin.