October 2009 This company has the gull to send my wife a bill from 5 years ago that was paid off in 2004. I demanded a copy of the contract & never got it. If you get anything from this company--FIGHT BACK. Demand all charges be proven with all accounting records. Demand a copy of the signed contract. Demand they do not call you at home or work & it be ceased in full. Send them a letter demanding these items & if they don't reply, send a letter to your STATE Attorney General's Office & the FTC. FILE A FEDERAL COMPLAINT against them. The best way to stop them is put them out of business.
October 2009 I own a debt settlement company. I got a call from my 82 year old client today. She was concerned that West collectors had called her and threatened that they were going to put a lien on her house. They are calling on a B of A account for her DECEASED husband and she was never a signer on this account. I just fired off a letter to the corporate office asking them WHEN they were going to sue my 82 y o client for a debt incurred by her deceased husband?! He KNEW they would never sue her even if it was HER DEBT! This is a direct violation of FDCPA laws and I asked them for an apology letter that I am sure we will never get. When I told the "manager" that this is DISGUSTING and I have never seen it in over 20 years in the industry, he almost agreed. Thank you Bud as consumers need to know how to deal with these lying, cheating leaches of society!!
February 2009 The Phone number that shows up on my caller id for these people is: 443-550-7975
January 2009 I paid them the negotiated settlement amount in December 2006. In December 2007 I started receiving calls and letters from another company trying to collect on the same account. I notified WEST ASSET MANAGEMENT in January 2008 and they sent me a letter confirming the balance of the account was $0.00, and the woman I talked to said they would notify the client. I faxed this letter to the company trying to collect and the harassment stopped. It is January 2009 and I have started receiving letters and calls trying to collect on this account again. I ran a credit report and the account still shows. Don't the collection companies have a set time frame to report these to the credit bureaus? See the problem with paying an old 3rd party debt collector is it RESETS the 7 year reporting clock...
January 2009
They called my husband at work asking about $100 owed on a
medical bill. His insurance was to pay all but the $50 we
paid at the time of service. Until now, we received no
notification. On the first phone call, the lady claimed that
they have left repeated messages and sent letters as well.
He asked her to fax a copy to him and he would look at it.
She replied that she did not have access to a fax. He asked
her to mail another letter and he would be on the lookout
for it. She said she would and then asked how he planned to
take care of it once he received the proof. He said that he
would investigate it and get back to her. I received the
letter and it says that our account is extremely past due
with no explanation of what the bill is other than the name
of the location and the amount. It also had the standard
notify us within 30 days that goes out on the initial
letters. Anyhow, here is the contact information on the
letter.
Payments go to: West Asset Management, Inc
PO Box 790113 St. Louis, MO
63179-0113
It says to mail correspondence to: 2703 N.
Highway 75 Sherman, TX 75090
The phone number given is 877-411-7197. There is no
other name or information on there.
December 2008 I just received a call from these people trying to collect debt from a deceased family member. No estate, no probate. They don't listen. Their number is 877 486 4998 Hope this number helps you in your fight
November 2008
I got a letter from them "offering" to settle a debt of $858
belonging to my wife. From the letter. it is supposed to be
a debt from a check overdraft from Wells Fargo bank in Jan
2006. My wife died after fighting cancer for over a year.
She died November 2001. I am supposed to believe that my
wife wrote check over five years after her death? an on an
account that was closed the week after she passed away? Who
the HELL are these people? Did they think that I would pay,
based on the assumption that it was something i missed
settling her estate?
the number given is 800-694-1504
West Asset Management -
always classy.
September 2008 My 82 year old grandmother received a notice of debt from these bottom feeding bloodsuckers today for a hospital bill she incurred in November of 2007. I know for a fact that she has been paying on this bill for quite some time. And even if she hadn't it is barely out of the 180 days time frame of last activity. Guess it's time to hit them with a cease comm. letter. here is another address for them....2703 N. Highway 75 Sherman, Texas 75090 They also have a p.o. box in St. Louis, Mo...West Asset Management, Inc, P.O. Bx 790113 St. Louis, MO 63179-0113
August 2008 These
people define scummy tactics. They have been awarded
collecting for the US department of Education. Talk about
giving the fox the key to the henhouse...this game the fox
their own doggie door.
They contacted me about my student loan. I had been on a
plan with the government over a year and a half before. The
government was deducting $85 a month from my account. I sat
that up and then never heard from them. For 11 months they
deducted the $85 without question. I was not monitoring my
budget well. One month after negotiating a sizeable raise
from my boss my pay increased. THAT month they decided to
stop deducting my payment, and never sent me a notice that
they were doing so. I did not notice that they did so
because it happened when I got my raise. Fast forward a year
and a half. I got a call from them demanding full payment of
the debt, over $13,000.
Seriously??!?!? I had to laugh at the woman when she said
that. I asked her "Has anyone EVER been able to do that?" I
asked if they were willing to re-start the $85 a month
payments that they sat up before and that they stopped for
no reason. They said that they would need $200 a month. I
told her that we could not do that this month, but that we
had a bill that we were making our last payment on that
month, and I worked out with her that starting the next
month we could begin paying $300 a month. She was very happy
to take that arrangement. I told her that we would be able
to send her the first payment 33 days from right then. She
was ok with that.
I called back 3 days later to tell her that I had told the
wrong date, and that it would actually be 35 days until our
first payment. She was fine with that, and very nice.
Then three weeks later my paycheck was short. When I went to
HR they told me that I had a garnishment. The date that the
garnishment was sent over was the day after my last phone
call with them, the day after they accepted my payment plan.
So, now I have a garnishment despite having an agreement
that they were happy to make.
August 2008 Here are recent phone numbers for calls from West Asset
Management:
877-411-7197 443-550-7975
On the contact letter: "Please mail all
correspondence to": 2703 North Highway 75
Sherman, TX 75090
Other addresses on the same letter: P.O. Box 1022
Wixom, MI 48393-1022
and "Mail Payment To" West Asset Management
P.O. Box 790113 St. Louis, MO 63179-0113
Hope this is helpful.
2007 These people evidently pulled my name from the phone book. Every couple years or so they treat me to dunning phone calls until I tire them out and they put me to the back of the pile. They have the wrong guy. Over the years they've provided me with considerable info on their target, including his name (same as mine), date of birth, social security number, etc. Absolutely no scruples whatsoever. This guy evidently owes for some sort of student loan. Of course I will give them no info at all. Lately I have been asking them questions, like what is their address for service of legal process. That makes them hang up on me. What a bunch of thugs.
2007 I was told in September that a "charity" would pay for my bills. Four months went by, and I get this harassing call from West Asset. They said that the Charity application was denied in Oct 2006, I asked for documentation and was told they did not have it. Later on I am told that I have been talking to the same corporation all along, even though they claimed to have bought or been assigned the account. My credit bureaus have multiple listing for the same debt! When someone talks to me like a human being, I will consider discussing it. I have no income, I can pay small payments which are not good enough for them. They ask me how I pay my bills. I love at my mothers house and she pays for everything, including my medications. I am seeking disability, and hopefully will have some money then. Until I have the documentation for the declination of the charity payment, I am not paying a thing. For all I know they got the charity payment and still after me. I can hold out as long as you can, but I deserve to see the documentation.
2007 I received a call in May of
2007 from West Asset Management. They stated I owe this debt
from Bank of America. I asked did you send me a letter? They
stated they did and what address, in turn they sent to an
address of 4-5 years old. I had it out with the Supervisor
and I stated send me a letter etc and he kept saying when
are you going to pay this. I finally hung up on him. Then I
received a letter June 30th and making me an offer of a
discount and the letter stated in their previous letter they
sent me a letter in fact they did not.
So on July 3, 2007 I sent a Cease and Desist letter with my
Chapter 7 bankruptcy showing it was discharged in Feb 13,
2006. They received the letter on July 5, 2007 at the
location of 2253 NW Parkway SE Mariett GA 30067.
As of today July 10, 2007 I received a call from a collector
stating doing a follow up from the May conservation that I
had with the supervisor, and I stated I sent a letter of
Cease and Desist and your office received on July 5, 2007.
He stated No I did not and asked to talk to a supervisor, so
he called for a supervisor while I can hear the conversation
in the background and stated that I was irate about the call
etc. I made an attempt to talk to supervisor and was on for
a few minutes before the call was cut off just like that. I
called back and could not get thru, probably because of
storm at the time. I will probably get a call again sometime
soon watch and see. However since they did break the FDCPA
law I will be suing the agency, including the collector in
small claims court.
2007 I had a credit card in my ss#, my name and my business name (small home based business) West Asset called and left me a lengthy voice mail saying the cease-comm letter can not be used h against their company. I was told "that I needed to contact my attorney before quoting the law, because the letter I mailed (cease-comm letter) does not apply to them. He said that I needed to contact him right away. That by me sending this letter it only showed that I was saying that I wasn't going to take care of my debt. Is this true or was he just saying this stuff because he only gets one time to contact me after they receive the letter? He said that he could call me as much as he wants.
2007 West Asset Management has been
calling me using auto dialers for the last three weeks.
Always the same message: this is West Asset Management, a
debt collector. Call 1-888-952-4545.
I called, and guess what? No answer. Not even a ring, just
dead air and then a fast busy, and disconnected.
11 calls so far, in violation of Washington law which limits
calls to 3 per week (they've hit 5 and 4 so far). In
addition, absolutely no mail from them. I don't even know
why they're calling, or if they have the right person.
Most incompetent scumbags I've ever had to deal with.
2007 For the last couple of months, I
have received several calls on my cell phone from a company
claiming to be West Asset Management. They asked to speak to
a "Jonsang Lee", and I told them that they had the wrong
person.
Then today I received another call from a Laticia. When I
told her that she had the wrong person, she first asked me
to verify my social security number. I said I would not
because it is unsafe. Then she asked for the last 4 digits
of my social security number, and I told her that I did not
feel safe giving her my number. She then said that I should
have received letters in the past from former debt
collectors trying to recover the debt. I replied that I have
never received such letters and that I do not know anything
about a $500 debt that she claimed I have. She assured me
that I HAVE received such letters. After several minutes of
trying to explain, this got nowhere so I asked to speak to
her manager/supervisor. A man named Gary answered. He
started to tell me that he has spoken to my wife and son in
the past over the phone (*I have never been married nor have
kids*). I asked him to verify my home number. He quickly
blurted out some number that was not mine. When I told him
that that was not my number, he raised his voice and
aggressively asked how I am going to pay. When I tried to
explain, he again screamed saying, "What are you going to
do?" I told him I cannot pay for something I have no idea
about, and he hung up the phone. I feel angry about how they
treated me and also feel unjustly wronged and abused.
2007 In November, I was contacted by an agent from Moore and Associates claiming I owed over $3,000 on a Citibank credit card. I was told to send in the full amount or the amount could be split up between two months. This amount was well over $700.00 per month. I told the agent I would not be able to make that payment at that time, but after the New Year, I might be able to reassess my finances and make arrangements then. The agent requested I pay a $50 good faith payment. I agreed and gave her my routing and checking account number. The payment was deducted. I January, I did not receive any call from the company, but saw a strange charge on my account summary online. It was for $388, which is nearly the exact amount for my car insurance, so I did not think much of it. On February 24th 2007, I again looked at my statement online and discovered that two more debits had been made in amounts of $388 and $760.97. I researched and found out that Gerald E. Moore and Associates had initiated the checks. I immediately had my checking account frozen, reported fraud to my bank and attempted to contact the company directly. I tried all of the numbers the company listed on its website, but no one knew ANYTHING about the account. Moreover, no one could or would supply numbers to other offices bearing the Gerald E. Moore and Associates name. I finally contacted West Asset Management, an endorsee on the checks, and they were able to tell me a number that worked. I spoke with Will Taylor at Moore and Associates. After making several attacks on my personal integrity, he told me that they had records that I had AUTHORIZED the payments on the November call, and that on Feb. 1st I had authorized the final payment of $760.97. I reviewed my phone records on the internet, and confirmed that I had never had any outgoing or incoming calls from them.
2007 One of the children from WAM called me today asking what my intentions concerning a debt was. I asked for all the proof they had concerning the debt. The person told me they had sent a letter. I informed her that a letter was not proof of a debt. She tried to tell me that I had to proof I didn't owe the debt, so I told her that I would send WAM a letter claiming they owed me. She asked me why they owed me and I told her that it was because I sent them a letter saying they did. She told me they didn't owe me anything, so I asked her to "prove it."
I had several collections from a surgery that I had. one of the collections was for 770.00 I wanted to try and pay some of them so I decided to send 70.00 which would have left me a balance of 700.00. The next month I received a collation for West Asset management for 1100.00 which was additional balance. I will now have to call and find out why my balance is more than what we started with.
A debt collector that doesn't credit your payments and adds on additional charges? We're shocked!
2007 Here is the scam from West Asset
Management and its company, the owner of the debt, Worldwide
Asset Purchasing. These bottom feeders put a derogatory
collection account on each of the three bureau reports.
The consumer, in the instant matter was my wife. She
received an alert via her FICO service watch and I viewed
the derogatory which reported a collection account with a
balance of over $1,000.00 and the original creditor as its
own company, Worldwide Asset Purchasing. There is no way we
forgot about some debt and this is obviously a mistake, but
causing us injury.
Legally, the debt collector has an affirmative duty to make
sure what it reports is accurate and complete. Thus, West
Asset Management should have sent out a communication which
listed the debt, the original creditor and not the company
that purchased the debt (itself) and provided the
mini-Miranda notice that provides a consumer's rights....so
that the consumer can dispute the debt within a thirty day
period. Only then, when the consumer fails to exercise her
rights, should the debt collector submit the derogatory
trade line to the CRAs.
In the instant matter, the debt collector, without even
verifying whether the debt was valid, simply listed the debt
on my wife's credit file. This type of conduct is exactly
the type of conduct that violates the new provisions under
FACTA; consequently, furnishers have a legal duty to provide
accurate and complete information to a CRA and to ensure the
information introduced was accurate and complete. Similarly,
in Massachusetts, our state of residence, there is a state
law requiring that the furnisher provide accurate
information to the CRA. Again, in Massachusetts, if the
furnisher introduces false information that person can be
subject to criminal liability which is a felony.
The point is, prior to the placement of a derogatory trade
line there is an obligation upon the debt collector to make
sure it is reporting a valid debt.
In other words, The FDCPA is a strict liability statute and
a single violation is enough to create liability. Bentley v.
Great Lakes Collection Bureau, 6 F.3d 60 (2nd Cir. 1993).
The FDCPA would allow a consumer to recover her reasonable
attorney’s fees and costs in bringing a successful case. 15
U.S.C. § 1692k(a)(3).
Moreover, a consumer does not have to prove that she does
not owe the debt. It is a third-party collection agency’s
legal obligation to maintain procedures to ensure that it is
asserting a valid claim of debt owed its client principal.
See generally, Jang v. A.M. Miller and Assoc., 122 F.3d
480,483 (7th Cir. 1997).
IF THIS HAPPENS TO YOU, CONTACT YOUR LOCAL CONSUMER ATTORNEY
THAT CAN FILE A LAWSUIT AGAINST THESE BOTTOM FEEDERS.
In the meanwhile, send them a letter to cease and desist
from all communications. Also, put in your communication
that you (A) dispute owing any debt and (B) that you want
verification of the debt including but not limited to:
1.)Copy of the original credit application showing a
contract was executed by your name;
2.)Copy of all loan documents, i.e.: promissory note, that
conform to disclosures required by the Truth-in-Lending Act
and Reg. Z, which support principal, interest and any other
related costs included in the $$$$$$$ amount you claim owed
by your name; and
3.) Copy of an accounting summary (ledger or journal) of
payments and debits posted including, but not limited to,
copies of cancelled checks that evidence a$$$$$ balance
owing as reported to Experian in April of 2006.
WRITE TO: ATTN: Compliance
West Asset Management, Inc. 220 Sunset Blvd.
Suite A Sherman, TX 75092
FAX No.: 770-618-3742
The debt collector, like the CRA has a 30 day time window to
accomplish the validation. The validation cannot be some
internal crap form signed by some company employee.
Obviously that would frustrate the purpose of the validation
requirement.
2007 This company was formally National Asset Management, I use to work with them back in 1998, I stopped collecting on student loans with I realized what the Department of Education was doing to people...Not only are they old accounts but they where taking peoples tax returns for years never applying the whole return to pay off the balance but leaving a balance to accrue interest.. that was a bunch of bull in my eyes...If this helps you all please be advised to avoid garnishment for they can do that with out notice if they have your employment info...go to websites for the Department of Education and get your loan consolidated or rehab.. these are programs to assist you via federal funds to get your loan out of default it gets you back on track and stops the harassing calls and don't let a collector tell you that you have to go thru them for this for that is a crock of S***....they just want to fee for there budget use the letter that bud gives you to cease and desist communication. they have to abide by that.. but make sure that you also get your ducks in a row also...remember there is no statute on federal debts and you can not file bankruptcy on these...such a shame that these debts aren't treated like others and to think our government sets the rules....good luck to all.. from a former collector now agency slammer
2007 My student loan debt was forwarded to West Asset Management. They are by far the WORST people I ever had the disgust of dealing with. They call me EVERY DAY !! sometimes twice per day and always on Saturday and Sundays early. The first caller was a guy who REFUSED to give me the address of the collection agency. They are stupid and do not even know what category or name of the student loan they are trying to collect. There are many kinds of student loans (stafford, perkins, ndsl, etc).. these morons are harassing me and refuse my request to stop calling me. And the people who work at the U.S. Dept. Of Education are equally evil.. when I called them to complain about this agency, they had the nerve to tell me that the collection agencies that they use are allowed to call debtors as many times per day as they like. OH HELL NO I thought! I am going to copy and send West Asset Management the Budd Hibbs CEASE calling letter I just saw here. THANKS BUD, YOU ROCK !!from a debtor NYC
These people are unbelievable. In March 2005, I received a dunning letter demanding payment for an account I did not owe. Within two weeks, I sent them a letter of dispute through certified mail requesting validation. A week later, I get a second correspondence containing one of their manufactured In-house printouts. Within a week, I sent them a second Dispute letter (also through certified mail) advising them that I was well aware of the fact that their In-house Printout did not constitute validation and again request they validate the debt. Today I receive a letter claiming to have been written by their general counsel stating, and I quote, “WAM received your letter of dispute and request for validation.” “Although well outside of the validation period prescribed by the FDCPA, WAM requested the information from their client.” Who are they kidding, they refuse to validate the debt and then have the nerve to make false statements that a person is limited as to when he and/or she can request validation
These idiots have a collector named Monica Medlin who cannot converse in the English language. Attempting to understand her is pure torture. They continually call here and I have told them time and time again I am not the person they are attempting to locate and that the address they have is not this address (hell, it's in another state!). This stupid women then begins screaming at me "PAY YOUR BILL! PAY YOUR BILL! YOU ARE A DEADBEAT LOSER!" They will not send me any debt validation information and when I demanded it, she hangs up. A few minutes later I got a call from an African American man who tells me they are coming to my house with the sheriff "this afternoon." Since they have the address wrong - which I have told them a dozen times - I feel sorry for the people living there in case anyone does come knocking at their door.
Bud's Response: Ever wonder where drug addicts, prison parolees, and newly released mental patients go? They become debt collectors. Send them a cease-com and let them break federal law. If they continue to harass you consider a good consumer law attorney.