October 2008 Atlantic Credit and Finance/Juliana G Robertson Attorney At Law I checked the website for the Indiana State Bar Association. There is a link there to search the roll the attorneys and view their current status. Juliana G Robertson is in good standing and has no current or past disciplinary actions against her. That amazes me considering they way she practices. Maybe consumers are just plain scared to file a complaint against the very questionable collection practices of this attorney. One of her employees told me today that they are too busy to send out statements to anyone!
September 2008 I keep getting calls from these people. I have told them that the person they are looking for doesn't live here and asked them to remove my name and phone number. Yea right. They go form being a friend to down right nasty and threatening. I was told that I could be held responsible for this account if I didn't tell them about this person they where looking for and then in the same sentence they said I could pay the debt and collect from this person huh? This last call the 1st person told how nice I sounded and he was sure I could help him find his old friend, when he couldn't get what he wanted he put this other person on the phone that told me he was a lawyer and that he would take me to court and get the information or payment. I get these calls all the time and have tried to block their numbers each time they call but they just come up with more phone numbers to call from. I an looking into what I can do to stop these calls but so far nobody wants to take them on.
August 2008 I have been fighting with these people for months. They ignore the law and do not respond to correspondence, except to file a document in court and add the fees to the amount they claim you owe. They don't accept certified letters. I finally just paid them to avoid in further fees and to stay out of court. I have requested a complete statement of the account they say is mine and they have ignored that request. The so called verification of the account was very weak and had information that anyone could have gotten. They provided no proof that the account was actually mine and refused to correspond with me. So, if you hear from Atlantic Credit and Finance deal with them BEFORE they send it to their lawyer, because they law firm is out to get whatever they can and just keeps tacking on fees.
July 2008 I am being sued by them. Sheriff delivered the papers yesterday. So they do try and sue. They are saying the amount is 8900 and I am sure more than half has been padded with fees. So a warning to anyone that has them calling you. They do sue. And I hope they won't win.
April 2008 I couldn't agree more the staff at Atlantic Credit & Finance call and act as if they are your friend. Then they "tag team" you when you don't give them the information you want. The next person comes on as the "shark" and is as mean as ever. I finally wrote them a letter in March '08 for them to stop calling me per the The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) applies to personal, family, and household debts. This includes money you owe for the purchase of a car, for medical care, or for charge accounts. The FDCPA prohibits debt collectors from engaging in unfair, deceptive, or abusive practices while collecting these debts. Under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act:
Debt collectors may contact you only between 8
a.m. and 9 p.m.
Debt collectors may not contact you at work if
they know your employer disapproves.
Debt collectors may not harass, oppress, or
abuse you.
Debt collectors may not lie when collecting
debts, such as falsely implying that you have
committed a crime.
Debt collectors must identify themselves to you
on the phone.
Debt collectors must stop contacting you if you
ask them to do so in writing.
I have not heard from them since I wrote my letter. You do have rights so exercise them! This company did everything against the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and they knew it!!
March 2008 I just wanted to give my experiences with Atlantic Credit and Finance. They bought a credit card debt I had with GM Card (Household Bank). I did not know that Household had sold the debt to Atlantic until I called GM Card and they referred me to Atlantic. I called Atlantic and they said they were under the impression that I had filed for bankruptcy (I hadn't) so that is why they had never contacted me prior to my calling them. I set up a reasonable payment plan with them and made a couple of payments before I again was laid off. I called them back and explained the situation and they were very understanding about the situation. They actually said that I should call them back if my situation improved. I called them a couple of times after that and they were always polite and civil. I spoke to John Wright most of the time I called. They never called me even one time. The only communication I received was the confirmation letter when I had set up the payment plan last spring. The situation is now that I am going to file for bankruptcy and I called Mr Wright and told him that. He accepted that and was still very civil and polite about it. It is never pleasant to deal with such places but I just wanted to say that my experiences were no way close to the horror stories I had heard about Atlantic.
2007 I read your OPINIONS about Atlantic Credit & Finance. There are certain things that you put in your funny little page. You said ACF lies, harrasses and threats people into giving in to pay their debts. You called ACF a cockroach that needs to be crushed. That ACF employees are really bad people and Kelly Woolwine's goons wear Orange Jumpsuits? (Remainder redacted for violation of rules - no email address to confirm)
2007
I have been receiving calls from
this company. They call asking for a person that has nothing
to do with my address, my phone number, or my finances. They
pretend that they are a personal friend of the person they
are calling for, saying" hi, this is Chrissy, is "so and so"
(I choose to not publish the persons identity. They have it
bad enough I'm sure being hunted by these goons) home? I'm a
friend of hers & need to talk to her" Needless to say, we
have received numerous calls for this person from several
different Collection Services, and so we are hip to their
practices. We immediately tell them to stop calling. We are
told they will continue to call until they reach this
person, even though they are told it is the wrong number.
They leave messages on our machine stating that if we are
not the person they are looking for to stop listening to the
message otherwise continuing to listen acknowledges that we
are in fact that person. I refuse to confirm my
information to them to prove that I am not the person they
are looking for. IF they behave this despicably so far, why
would I trust them with more info? I pay my bills and find
it horrifying that I am treated like this in the privacy of
my own home. At this point I hope they never find the person
they are looking for and never get the money they seek. And
it still won't be enough to satisfy me for the way my
husband & I have been spoken to and treated by these
leeches.
2007
Atlantic Credit and Finance has
circulated a disputed debt to numerous other agencies and
attorneys to pursue me at the same time. I have been issued
an un-filed summons and complaint from a local
attorney-collector who claims ACF is their client, WHILE
receiving calls and dunning letters from two other
collectors for the same account.
Also be careful to check your credit reports. AC&F, through
their agents, has dinged "hard-inquiries" my credit report
more than a dozen times. Problem is; if the account is
finally settled or dismissed - the damage continues for a
period of up to two-years. I am currently in the process of
filing suit against one of their agents and I will get more
detail through discovery and interrogatories or depositions.
Also, if you are getting a LOT of phone calls from different
collectors and don't know why, it could be this company. I
placed a call logger on my telephone line at the end of 2005
and the start of 2006 which logged up to 26 calls per day
from 3 different collectors or attorneys of AC&F (including
J.P.Frye who sometimes called 3 or more times within seconds
of each other). The logger I placed on the line actually
answered the phone, informed them of how many times they've
called, and the amount of time since their last call, etc.
While it was providing them this information, it would get
interrupted by other calls for the same account. Aside from
being comical, it is completely illegal.
I will have my day in court very soon, and will include the
AG in my complaint, who under Washington State statute has
the authority to force ACF to re-pay EVERY PENNY of every
account they have collected from consumers in the state
without being licensed as a collection agency. Oddly enough,
they HAVE to be licensed in Washington State before they can
bring suit against anyone!
Note for others: Check your consumer reports, check the laws
in your state. If a license is required for collection
agencies, and they don't have one - REPORT IT to your
attorney general and the FTC. Also report it to the board
that governs collection agencies. Contact an attorney to
protect your rights and DO NOT MAKE ILLEGAL PRACTICES
PROFITABLE FOR THESE FOLKS!