#1 Consumer Comment
AUTHOR: Jason - Simpsonville (U.S.A.)
SUBMITTED: Tuesday, April 04, 2006
POSTED: Tuesday, April 04, 2006
The debt has been sold to a collection agency. You didn't mention numbers, but let's say the debt was $1000 (Just using nice, round numbers) and was from Verizon.
After 180 days, Verizon sold the $1000 debt off to this West Asset Management. WAM probably paid Verizon about $50 to $100 for the debt. Now, the $1000 is legally owed to WAM.
WAM is now attempting to collect the $1000 that is owed... Since they only paid $50 for it.. They tell you "Hey.. Tell you what.. If you pay this now, we'll settle it for $650. You give us $650 and the debt is clear." They've made $600 profit on it, so they're happy, the debt is gone, so you're happy, and Verizon is already out of the picture, so they may not be happy, but they're out of it.
This is VERY common. Although, they generally don't START with a 'discount' offer.
By law, they have to provide you with proof that this is a legal debt that you owe. Request that information. If they can't provide proof, then they will be required to remove the information from your credit report.
Ducking the calls won't do you one bit of good. They'll keep hounding you. They have far more patience than you do. After all, they've got $1000 tied up in it.
#2 Consumer Suggestion
AUTHOR: Heather - Murphy (U.S.A.)
SUBMITTED: Tuesday, April 04, 2006
POSTED: Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Renuka:
You are being contacted by a collection agency on behalf of what's called a Junk Debt Buyer "JDB". These JDB's purchase debts for pennies on the dollar from original creditors. In return, the original creditor gives the JDB what info they have on their account holders in a spreadsheet format. Most times, these JDB's have to resort to guessing who the real debtor is.
From what you are saying, your husband has never fallen behind on a Verizon bill, so they must have the wrong person.
If you are 100% sure that this is correct (and that they are WRONG), then at this point, your husband must write a letter to West Asset Management (and copy NCO) and inform them that they have mistaken him with another person as he has never had a delinquent account with Verizon. Then ask them to cease and desist all communications. Be sure to include their account number if you have it and mail it certified mail (return receipt). Keep a copy of the letter and receipt as proof that they were informed of your demand.
They are then required by the Federal Debt Collection Practices Act to stop contacting him(as well as most state debt collection laws). If they continue to harass you both, a local consumer law attorney would probably be very happy to make them pay YOU financially for violating the law. Be sure to start keeping a log of all of the calls you receive for evidence.
P.S. You might want to check out your husband's credit reports prior to sending this letter. They may have already posted a negative item. If they have, post back and I can give you a different way to handle this mess.
#3 Employee
AUTHOR: Josh - DENISO (U.S.A.)
SUBMITTED: Wednesday, April 05, 2006
POSTED: Wednesday, April 05, 2006
I work for WAM in the Sherman office, and happen to know what you are talking about...Let's start off by saying that buying debt is illegal, therefore we at WAM do not do that..(That's why we don't get sued all the time, which we have NEVER lost a suit). In the Sherman office all collections are secondary collections (you went thought the client, NCO, and now it's to us) and we do get a percent of what is collected and then the rest is given to the client..IE the Verizon contract is 17.9% So when we get debtors to pay a 100.00 bill the company gets 17.90 for the 100.00 bill...You have 30 days for the first letter to dispute and ask for verification which will be sent out as soon as the letter is recieved so we can keep it on your credit..Now with settlement letters, we just finished a 2 month settlement series because our client wants the debts paid, we are allways able to settle..So if you want the calls to stop send in prof of payment, and if proven no outstanding we will remove from credit...EASY FIX!!!
#4 Consumer Comment
AUTHOR: Charles - Phenix City (U.S.A.)
SUBMITTED: Wednesday, April 05, 2006
POSTED: Wednesday, April 05, 2006
You crooks shouldn't have the right to win lawsuits for the people you harass & abuse & ruin good peoples credit. It's time the victims you screw over need to win lawsuit against you. Collection agencies are nothing but trouble & have no feelings for people, & accuse us of being deadbeats. We all have hardtimes & don't pay our bills on time. We lose jobs & collection agencies don't seem to understand that & they don't care if people lose their jobs. They will still abuse them & take them to court. If a person is out of work & cannot pay a dept then when a collection agencie violates a law & abuses you, you are able to sue for your damages that you suffered!
#5 Consumer Suggestion
AUTHOR: Heather - Murphy (U.S.A.)
SUBMITTED: Thursday, April 06, 2006
POSTED: Thursday, April 06, 2006
Renuka:
You are being misinformed by a collector.
NCO is a debt purchaser and West Asset is collecting on their behalf. NCO obviously purchased a lump of debts from Verizon for pennies. NCO then assigned the collection of these debts to West Asset who will get paid a commission.
Where the employee has it completely wrong is that YOU don't have to provide proof of payment. You are saying that the debt is NOT YOURS (because you've either never had a Verizon account or never fallen behind). It is therefore up to West Asset to request proof from the original creditor that this debt belongs to you. It is THEIR BURDEN OF PROOF, not yours.
Send a letter of dispute within the first 30 days after receiving your letter from West. West then has 30 days to get their proof or they must stop their collections.
THAT'S the way it works, set in stone by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. It prevents collectors from performing a multitude of sins, but most importantly to you it prevents them from collecting on a non-existant debt.
#6 Consumer Suggestion
AUTHOR: Steve - Bradenton (U.S.A.)
SUBMITTED: Thursday, April 06, 2006
POSTED: Thursday, April 06, 2006
Josh,
Your facts are not accurate. It is not illegal to buy debt. I don't know where you got that from.
I shut down WAM's collection efforts TWICE. Two separate accounts. They lost. It is now past SOL.
Sorry. Tough luck.
And, these were VERY large debts. I sent the cease communications letter, and the debt validation letter, and never heard from them again!
How can you be so arrogant to say WAM never lost a suit? Please.
You need to let up on the W.A.M. kool-aid.
Here are the FACTS on West Asset management:
Agency Details
West Asset Management, Inc.
2253 Northwest Pkwy SE Ste 100
Marietta, GA 30067-8764
Phone: (770) 618-3700
Fax: (770) 618-3713
Web Address: www.westassetmanagement.com
Other Offices:
3262 Dauphin St
Mobile, AL 36606-4002
Phone: (678) 498-9804
Fax: (678) 498-9806
3432 Jefferson Ave
Texarkana, AR 71854-2747
Phone: (678) 498-9804
Fax: (678) 498-9806
7333 Tam O Shanter Dr
Stockton, CA 95210-3370
Phone: (678) 498-9804
Fax: (678) 498-9806
2812 Spring Rd SE
Atlanta, GA 30339-3037
Phone: (678) 498-9804
Fax: (678) 498-9806
232 Nelson St.
Cartersville, GA 30120
Phone: (770) 387-4215
Fax: (770) 387-9186
5300 Oakbrook Pkwy
Bldg. 300, Suite 300
Norcross, GA 30093-2256
Phone: (678) 498-9804
Fax: (678) 498-9806
3795 Corporate Center Dr
Earth City, MO 63045
Phone: (678) 498-9804
Fax: (678) 498-9806
9911 Covington Cross Dr
Las Vegas, NV 89114
Phone: (678) 498-9804
Fax: (678) 498-9806
1060 Perimeter Road West
Endicott, NY 13760
220 Sunset Blvd., Suite A
Sherman, TX 75092-7465
Phone: (678) 498-9804
Fax: (678) 498-9806
10300 Spotsylvania Ave Ste 200
Fredericksburg, VA 22408-2697
Phone: (540) 371-8701
Fax: (540) 654-5452
NCO financial is a separate company, and is affiliated with Sherman.
#7 Consumer Suggestion
AUTHOR: James - Plano (U.S.A.)
SUBMITTED: Thursday, April 06, 2006
POSTED: Thursday, April 06, 2006
"That's why we don't get sued all the time, which we have NEVER lost a suit). "
Good grief! What a crock of BS!!!!
West Asset Management has been the DEFENDANT in in no less than 30 lawsuits involving your illegal collection practices in the LAST 9 MONTHS. It's all public record and available to anyone that wants the info.
And the reason you "never lose" is because you settle with the plaintiffs out of court to keep a judgement against you off of the record books!
Jackson v West Asset (Settled)
Ingram v West Asset (Settled)
Sczcypiorski v West Asset (Settled)
Edge v West Asset (Settled)
Larry v West Asset (Settled)
And this is just a sample. Next time, try pawning your lies someplace else.
#8 Consumer Suggestion
AUTHOR: Craig - Savoy (U.S.A.)
SUBMITTED: Saturday, December 16, 2006
POSTED: Sunday, December 17, 2006
Steve the reason you never heard from West after you sent a cease communication letter is because you sent a cease communication letter. after a debt collector receives a cease letter they are not allowed to contact you about the bill, whether you owe it or not, I'm certain that you probably do owe the bill or they would not be calling you otherwise you would have tried to prove it was not your debt either by providing proof of payment, or by getting a copy of a police report that you filed due to you becoming a victim of identity theft.
#9 Consumer Suggestion
AUTHOR: Steve - Bradenton (U.S.A.)
SUBMITTED: Sunday, December 17, 2006
POSTED: Sunday, December 17, 2006
Craig,
In response to your atempt to "educate" me, you have no idea what you are talking about.
Go back to your cubicle now.
The point you are missing, as do most collectors, is that the alleged amounts being collected upon are not actually debts anymore.
I have used a strategy in court that works when done properly. You see, once a debt is SOLD, it is no longer a debt, it is an INVESTMENT. The INVESTOR has no legitimate claim to a lawsuit because they made a BAD INVESTMENT.
Nobody forced them to buy that debt for pennies or less on the dollar. They willingly and knowingly purchased the old charged off uncollectable account for INVESTMENT purposes.
I never entered into any agreement with these people, and they are not creditors. They DO NOT lend money, therefore they do not have a valid claim to sue me. This is like you telling your stock broker to buy a bunch of stock, and when it crashes, you decide to sue the stock broker because you lost money on your INVESTMENT. Debt buying is no different. They are speculators and investors.
Investments don't always work out.
FYI..They ignored the CEASE COMMUNICATIONS letters. They attempted to sue, but I got both dismissed as frivolous due to them ignoring my debt validation request and their subsequent inability to validate the debt.
That is why they went away.
#10 Employee
AUTHOR: Craig - Savoy (U.S.A.)
SUBMITTED: Thursday, February 21, 2008
POSTED: Thursday, February 21, 2008
Well Steve you seem to be a very informative source on debt collections and practices of actually evading the debt rather than paying what you rightfully owe. I'm sure you have spent numerous hours researching tactics that allow you to "get out of" paying for your obligations.
First of all West Asset Management does not buy these delinquent medical debts, they simply are working for the original client to collect the balance. If the balance is not collected it then goes back to the original creditor who ultimately decides what action should be taken on the account. If you paid the bill when it is suppose to be paid W.A.M. would not be anywhere in your equation. I do have two questions for you Steve. First what would you do if the hospital turned things around on you and "got out of" fulfilling their obligations as a service provider by not providing service to you in the event of an emergency? Also what's your name so I may actually see the reason your account is "closed out?" I have a feeling it was closed out and sent back to the client for non-payment rather than for the reasons you alledge.
Why file a report here? Ripoff Report is a permanent record! Other complaint sites copy our content then remove reports for money.
