Monday, August 11, 2008

My notice to Encore Receivables Management re. FDCPA violations

I’ve been getting many calls with the caller ID 999-999-9999. They didn’t leave a message, so I couldn’t call them back. 

When I picked up the phone, I got a recorded message from Ms. Temple.  She gives out the 866-842-6284, but I never had a pen and paper, so I couldn’t call them, until today.  Ms. Temple also claimed that I could be transferred to a representative if I pressed the #1, but that NEVER worked, they always hung up on me.

Today I recorded (I just never have a pen handy) and I finally got the 866-842-6284.

For a collector, they sure make it awfully hard to contact them.

Of course it doesn’t cost them anything to make the calls, it’s all automated and they just get their kicks out of harassing people. 

Now that I think about it, this is probably a deliberate tactic because I sure wanted these calls to stop and they probably figure people will immediately pay when they FINALLY get to a person.

After some holds and transfers, I got to a person who finally identified Encore Receivables Management and stated that it’s perfectly fine to NOT display their phone number.  I’ve seen case law establishing that is a deceptive practice and violates the requirement for collectors to identify themselves.

No mini miranda.

They’re calling for Juniper, which I stopped paying after they closed my account despite perfect credit and payment history—as described in my 12/27/07 Open Letter to the Barclays Bank executives.

The collector was rather obnoxious and I requested a supervisor.

She transferred me to Mr. Johnson.  I asked him about the incorrect caller ID and he stated that the problem was on MY end.  I told him that there’s no problem with the OTHER calls I get and that I’d like them to fix it.  He ignored me and continually attempted to collect.

He told me that they’d sue me.

When I responded that I’m looking forward to it, he stated that they will NOT sue me. 

But he continually threatened me and failed to explain what exactly his threats mean.  He told me that I would need a lawyer.  He made it sound like they already had a judgment.  I’ll be posting some excerpts of the the recording when I have more time.

He demanded that I provide my employer’s information.  He stated that while my application states that I’m self employed, he researched me and found that I am actually employed.

I requested that they stop calling me because I’m trying to work and he promised me DAILY calls.

He didn’t appreciate that I’m spending the money I earn on food and gasoline instead of sending it to him.

He stated that he wouldn’t talk about ANYTHING but how I would pay - by check or wire transfer.  Eventually he told me that he couldn’t take my check.

Is this a collection technique?  You tell the debtors you’re refusing their checks and then they’ll WANT to pay?

Eventually, he stated that he would record and he FINALLY gave me the mini miranda—AFTER he lied, threatened and demanded my employment information.

When I told him that Juniper closed my account despite my perfect payment history and FLAWLESS credit, he lied again and claimed that they closed my account because I didn’t make my payments.

I have not received a letter from Encore and initially, I couldn’t even find them on the web.  So I called back to get his address.  During the first two calls he refused to provide his address and hung up on me.  The third time he gave me the address, after falsely stating that he already gave it to me 3 times, but he didn’t give me the zip code.

I found the Encore website linked at another complaint site:  http://www.encorermi.com/

From http://www.encorermi.com/about.html

… Work to cultivate excellence in our business partnerships by dealing fairly and directly with people

Recognize and respect the basic dignity of each customer, representing our clients in a positive and professional manner at all times. ....

I don’t know which people or customers they’re talking about, certainly NOT me.

The and a contact form are at their website and I submitted the following to both:

Notice of Publication and request for immediate termination of collection supervisor Mr. Johnson

ATTN: LEGAL DEPARTMENT

As described in detail at [this URL], Mr. Johnson repeatedly threatened me and lied to me and failed to advise me of my rights until he announced that he was recording towards the end of the call.

I hereby request your comments and IMMEDIATE termination of Mr. Johnson’s employment at Encore.

I will be sending an Open Letter to Barclays Bank (Juniper) advising of my experience with Encore to ensure that it is held liable in court for future Encore violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). 

While original creditors are not generally liable for FDCPA violations, I will personally assist litigants to establish that Barclays was fully aware of Encore’s illegal collection activities and failed to pull all accounts from Encore and/or failed to ensure compliance after receiving notice.

Mr. Johnson assured me that all calls were recorded.  Please review the calls and advise of your position on the issues, such as the failure to properly identify your calls, the recorded calls and Mr. Johnson’s numerous FDCPA violations. 

Please also describe which actions you took to ensure immediate FDCPA compliance by your collectors. 

Please respond by this Wednesday, 8/13/08, 5 PM, by email or by fax to 571-222-1000.  Should I not hear from you, I will assume that you have no intention of complying with the FDCPA and of course my notice to Barclays Bank and my publications will reflect your unwillingness to comply with the law.

Very truly yours,

Christine Baker

c: posted at [this URL]

I will be sending several Open Letters to banks about their collectors’ illegal activities.  With any luck, Barclays will go out of business.  But just in case they’re around for a while, it’s about time that creditors are held liable for KNOWING about their collectors’ illegal conduct and continuing to do business with them.

Obviously, the collectors who IGNORE the FDCPA are most successful getting debtors to pay.

Until banks are facing LIABILITY, they have no incentive to terminate their relationships with collectors engaging in illegal collection activities.  I’ll be creating a sites like http://ic-system-collection-suit.info/ for every collector who decides to harass me, threaten me and/or otherwise engage in illegal conduct.

And of course I’ll be glad to provide a notarized declaration of receipt of my notices by the collectors and creditors to attorneys who sue them for subsequent FDCPA violations.

It is EXTREMELY important to be able to hold creditors liable for their collectors’ FDCPA violations.

8/11/08 UPDATE:

The following message to was undeliverable.
The reason for the problem:
5.1.0 - Unknown address error 554-’: Relay access denied’

Oh well, I tried.  The form submission did go through.

Posted by Christine on 08/11/2008 at 09:36 AM
2008 Encore Receivable Management - illegal collection activities • (4) Comments • Permalink
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