Bud Says...
ONE OF AMERICA'S WORST COLLECTION AGENCIES!
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CONSUMER ABUSE ALERT
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NCO Group to Pay Largest FCRA
Civil Penalty to Date
One of the nation’s largest
debt-collection firms will pay
$1.5 million to settle Federal
Trade Commission charges that
it violated the Fair Credit
Reporting Act (FCRA) by
reporting inaccurate
information about consumer
accounts to credit bureaus.
The civil penalty against
Pennsylvania-based NCO Group,
Inc. is the largest civil
penalty ever obtained in a
FCRA case.
According to the FTC’s
complaint, defendants NCO
Group, Inc.; NCO Financial
Systems, Inc.; and NCO
Portfolio Management, Inc.
violated Section 623(a)(5) of
the FCRA. The law specifies
that any entity that reports
information to credit bureaus
about a delinquent consumer
account that has been placed
for collection or written off
must report the actual month
and year the account first
became delinquent. In turn,
this date is used by the
credit bureaus to measure the
maximum seven-year reporting
period the FCRA mandates. The
provision helps ensure that
outdated debts – debts that
are beyond this seven-year
reporting period – do not
appear on a consumer’s credit
report. Violations of this
provision of the FCRA are
subject to civil penalties of
$2,500 per violation.
The FTC charges that NCO
reported accounts using
later-than-actual delinquency
dates. Reporting
later-than-actual dates may
cause negative information to
remain in a consumer’s credit
file beyond the seven-year
reporting period permitted by
the FCRA for most information.
When this occurs, consumers’
credit scores may be lowered,
possibly resulting in their
rejection for credit or their
having to pay a higher
interest rate.
NCO is so bad, that in 2003,
they have been sued 40 times
for violations of the Fair
Debt Collection Practices Act
(FDCPA). These suits are
usually filed when consumers
are abused in violation of
state and federal debt
collection laws.
NCO is a money-mill, gobbling
up competitors, buying
portfolios of old debts for
pennies, and expanding
globally. These money-beggars
are making their bottom-line
profits at the expense and
abuse of consumers.
One wonders how many lawsuits
are NOT being filed because
consumers do not know their
rights or that NCO CAN be held
accountable for their illegal
debt collection practices.
Apparently, NCO is not
spending enough time and money
to properly train their debt
collectors in accordance with
law, the FDCPA. Do they hire
any derelict that may be
in-between court and treatment
dates simply to harass, abuse,
and oppress consumers? There
is no mention of drug testing
at their web site, so can you
be hired at NCO if one has bad
habits and a need for
fast-cash. This must be a
'dream-job' for anyone with a
prison record, drug habit, or
any con artist out to defraud
some fast money off
unsuspecting consumers. Are
you aware of the personal
consumer information these
money beggars have access to?
I shudder to think how much
information is being illegally
used at agencies such as NCO.
You should be VERY nervous
about the type of individuals
who have this unprecedented
and open access to ALL of your
personal information.
It's just a matter of
time until collectors start
calling with accents from countries like India, Pakistan
and....(ooohhh my gawd!!)
NCO's CEO, Michael J. (kinky)
Barrist seems to be
astonishing Wall Street (NASDAQ:NCPM)
with his financial wizardry.
He certainly appears to be
pumping up the bottom line.
(One lawsuit at a time?) In my
experience, this type of greed
and consumer abuse will catch
up with NCO, just as it did
with Commercial Financial
Systems (CFS) and Outsourcing
Solutions Inc (OSI). Both
operations were out of control
just prior to their filing for
bankruptcy protection. CFS's
top brass is facing federal
criminal charges in highly
anticipated court proceedings
scheduled for later this year.
If you are receiving abuse
from NCO, contact me for
referral to a local consumer
law professional in your area.
NCO, with $800+million in
revenues last year, has more
money than a South American
drug cartel, so use the law to
make them pay when they
violate the laws and your
consumer rights.
Do not let NCO's
under-trained, uneducated and
FDCPA lacking debt-collectors
make a paycheck at your
expense.
Big agencies pay big salaries
to their ego-driven brass. NCO
should spend a lot more time
training their collectors and
dealing with consumer
complaints, in this case
BIGGER does NOT mean BETTER!
(Except for Kinky and his top
brass team of money beggars)