CAMCO ripoff trying to collect a debt that is 19 years old and has been written off Fraudulent ripoff business Rockford Illinois

I work at CAMCO. The negative things reported on this website are inaccurate. If a consumer disputes a debt, validation of the debt is provided to the consumer, every time, which is the law. We send them all day long, so you cannot tell me that it doesn't happen because I witness it firsthand on a daily basis.

The problem is that some people just don't want to have to pay their bills. They falsely believe that after a period of time their debts are "forgiven"--they are not.

Just because a debt drops off the credit report after 7 years hardly means that it isn't owed, but people want to believe what they want to believe, I guess. In addition, the courts declared that just because the statute of limitations has expired (what is called a time-barred debt) does not mean that other methods cannot be used to collect the debt. The fact is there are millions of bad debts and only a few thousand bill collectors, and many consumers have discovered the secret that if they successfully avoid the bill collector, they never end up having to pay.

The real "rip-off" is when people take money from companies and never pay it back. Not only that, then go so far as to publicly complain on a website about the "4th or 5th company" that has to beg them to do the right thing they should have done years ago. I cannot imagine why anyone rational would think the "bad guy" here is the business that pursues legitimate debt.

You are lying and you know it. Your company's idea of validation is a signed affadavit from that joke of a compliance officer mr. garrington. I see it all the time. I have hundreds of emails from your victims. Half of them never had the debt you are collecting on. You never obey the law. That is why there are tons of class action suits against your company. you just got removed from the BBB care program because you violated too many consumer rights. Take your garbage elsewhere. P.S. I know who you are. I have emails from people who have been abused by a Scott at Camco. You are a disgrace to my name.

When I was living in CA, I got one of these CAMCO Demand letters. It stated that if I didn't respond in writing within 30 days, it would be assumed that the Debt was valid and further action would ensue.

I responded back to them in writing that, to my knowledge, this was NOT a valid debt, and requested documented proof that this was valid. If they did not supply me with said proof within 30 days, I would assume that the debt was NOT valid, and any further contact to me by your company would be considered harassment. (I didn't actually sign it)

I hadn't heard from them for about 2 years until recently when I started getting phone calls at my new address in AZ. I just laugh at them and hang up. When they make their obligatory 2nd call a few minutes later, I just lift the receiver and hang up immediately. When they send me letters, I just tear them up and throw them in the trash along with the other junk mail.

They provide no proof of anything.

They are form letters that are sent out to victims
in order to side-step the law.

Yes, you sent it. Now you can start your cheap
harrasments again. You've abided by the LETTER of
the law to some extent, but most certainly not
the spirit of it.

You have no documents to PROOVE anything. that's
why your poorly written, feeble and deceptive
excuse for a validation only REALLY says one
thing: "You owe this money because we say so".

I've paid off every debt that I've ever owed.
I would have paid off a debt purchased by Camco
if you people weren't so obviously unprofessional.
I would have paid it if you cooperated in a REAL
effort to provide proof. Instead, you lowlifes
just state: "We don't have to proove anything.
It's up to you to do all of the research and
proove that you DON'T owe this debt." This has
happened EVERY time I've mentioned validation to
a Camco caller.

Think about it. Would you pay ME any money at all
just because I said that you opened a line of
credit at some point in your past, and you had
NO documentation or recollection of ANY loan or
credit card?

Would you pay me because I swore that I bought
an account from some company that you've never
heard of claiming that you had a line of credit
from some bank that you've NEVER done business
with?

Oh, I know. You've got my Social Security Number,
therefore this MUST be a valid debt right?

WRONG.

I've got DOCUMENTED PROOF that you good folks
got my SSAN from the credit reporting agency that
you filed an inquiry with! (Check your CRs people)
That's a FACT.

Would you pay off some debt just because I SAID
that you owed it even after you asked for proof,
which is your LEGAL right and all I gave you was
a poorly scripted letter that stated... "Well,
I'm an officer of some company and I guarentee
that you owe this.

Your affidavits are pathetic.

You're tactics are pathetic.

Camco's ethics are pathetic.

And, guess what, if you work for Camco I feel
sorry for you because that makes YOU pathetic.

Get an education. Wake up and seek reputable
employment. Stop associating with lowlife
scumsucking vermin. You'll be a better person
for it.

Hi Scott,

I'd like some clarification about what you wrote, to better understand CAMCO's position and practices. I hope you will participate in this opportunity to "clear the air".

You wrote: "If a consumer disputes a debt, validation of the debt is provided to the consumer, every time, which is the law."

I'm not familiar with the law in this regard. Can you tell me what the law says about this? Please provide a web link as reference, or paste it verbatim and tell us where the text came from. No paraphrasing please -- let's stick to the facts.

Also, what type of "validation" do you provide? Scott from Akron, OH alleges that someone in your company creates affidavits "attesting to the validity" of the debt. Is that true? Isn't that a conflict of interest? What does the law require for this type of debt validation?

You wrote: "[Some people] falsely believe that after a period of time their debts are 'forgiven' -- they are not. Just because a debt drops off the credit report after 7 years hardly means that it isn't owed...".

The validity of a debt has nothing to do with a person's credit report. I'm well aware of how shoddy credit report data can be maintained (a separate, long story). Credit report data is just that: data -- information about a person's past financial dealings. It has no legal merit.

The Statute of Limitations (SOL), however, is legally relevant to a debt. Just like a criminal cannot be charged for a crime after the SOL for it has expired, so too for debts.

So please clarify what you mean by implying that "the debt is still owed" after the SOL expires.

Isn't it true that the original company dismissed it as an accounting loss long ago (admittedly affecting their business in a negative way)? Then they sell the "debt" to a collection company for a fraction of the value, and in that way recoup some of the loss. That collection company then tries to collect, and if they fail, they resell it again.

After "4 or 5" iterations of this, I suspect that CAMCO pays very little for this data, especially since it is so old. But isn't that just part of CAMCO's business model? Buy old data, harass people, and trick some of them into paying you thousands of dollars that legally they have no obligation to repay.

You wrote: "[The] courts declared that just because the statute of limitations has expired (what is called a time-barred debt) does not mean that other methods cannot be used to collect the debt".

Ok, so legally you can try to collect on these "time-barred debts" (TBDs). Does that mean it's ok for you to threaten people? To deceive them? To damage their credit report before you even make contact with them? Can you clarify exactly what "other methods" CAMCO uses to "collect the debt"?

You wrote: "The real 'rip-off' is when people take money from companies and never pay it back."

I agree with you on this point. Personally I feel people should take responsibility for their actions, including excessive debt. And I write from experience with this, as I am still working off some excessive debt myself (without the "benefit" of avoiding creditors and/or going bankrupt).

However, the laws in this country provide a way out for people, through bankrupcy and the SOL. Debating the ethics of these laws isn't the point here. I'm more interested in how CAMCO is using these laws to it's advantage and sometimes abusing people in the process.

You wrote: "I cannot imagine why anyone rational would think the 'bad guy' here is the business that pursues legitimate debt."

Well, let's try an analogy to see if you can understand our position a little better. Let's say you sell someone a car you own, and that you advertised it "AS IS". The buyer then comes back to you a few weeks later complaining that it stopped running, and demands their money back.

Is their some law preventing them from hounding you about this deal gone bad? Do you feel any obligation to return their money? How about just 25% of their money? How appropriate would it be for this person to reappear in your life 10 or 15 years later and raise a big stink about it again?

Please clarify the phrase "legitimate debt", particularly in light of the previous SOL and TBD discussion.

I'd also be curious about CAMCO's practices. The people writing here have common elements to their stories about being harassed with many, many phone calls, threats to their credit report, demands, coersion, warnings that you will be contacting other people (e.g. neighbors), etc. Are these tactics a normal part of CAMCO's operations? Does CAMCO have any guidelines for treating "debtors" courteously? If so, would you care to share them with us?

I look forward to your responses. Sincerely,

I heard that he got fired(scott at camco) some time ago. Of course, rumors mean nothing but that is what I heard. They have an enormous turnover rate. I talked to a former camco manager who told me that if they do obey the law and mark tradelines under dispute then they are fired.

Every day I get a dozen emails on these clowns and I must say it is getting worse because the illinois AG and the FTC run very slowly so camco is getting bold. Of course, they lose lawsuits by the dozens so I recommend just taping them and suing them.

My newest favorite camco star is ' officer bobby brown'. I have heard of him before but now he is acting like a cop and is so utterly stupid that he actually leaves messages pretending he is a cop on people's answering machine. How dumb is that? Needless to say, the FBI and police are being notified and he will be in prison soon enough.

His little escapades are going to cost camco thousands. If you are reading this Mr. Reese, and you know you are, I would march down now and fire his stupid ass before he cost your company even more money.