RCS Center Corporation Repeated harassing calls all day long, 2 to 3 time a week. Brookfield Wisconsin

They are a collection agency and a division of GlobalVantege, a collection agency located in Larkspur, California.

The reason why the gentleman had an Indian accent was because their call center is in New Delhi - that's where they house their collection agents.

If they contact you and do not send you a written notice within 5 days that contains the "mini-miranda" (outlined below) as required by law, you can sue them for $1,000 under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

You should also report them to the California Attorney General and the Federal Trade Commission as these (and other state Attorneys General) are cracking down on illegal collection activity. You can file your complaint online.

I've included the section here that outlines your rights:

§ 809. Validation of debts [15 USC 1692g]

(a) Within five days after the initial communication with a consumer in connection with the collection of any debt, a debt collector shall, unless the following information is contained in the initial communication or the consumer has paid the debt, send the consumer a written notice containing --

(1) the amount of the debt;

(2) the name of the creditor to whom the debt is owed;

(3) a statement that unless the consumer, within thirty days after receipt of the notice, disputes the validity of the debt, or any portion thereof, the debt will be assumed to be valid by the debt collector;

(4) a statement that if the consumer notifies the debt collector in writing within the thirty-day period that the debt, or any portion thereof, is disputed, the debt collector will obtain verification of the debt or a copy of a judgment against the consumer and a copy of such verification or judgment will be mailed to the consumer by the debt collector; and

(5) a statement that, upon the consumer's written request within the thirty-day period, the debt collector will provide the consumer with the name and address of the original creditor, if different from the current creditor.

§ 813. Civil liability [15 USC 1692k]

(a) Except as otherwise provided by this section, any debt collector who fails to comply with any provision of this title with respect to any person is liable to such person in an amount equal to the sum of --

(1) any actual damage sustained by such person as a result of such failure;

(2) (A) in the case of any action by an individual, such additional damages as the court may allow, but not exceeding $1,000

Know your rights and use them to protect yourself!

Shelby,
I too had the same experience before. First, let me state, I believe that my phone is for my convenience... no one else's. If I choose to screen calls or pick up... it is my choice. If someone wants to contact me and they get my machine then they need to give me a reason to want to call them back. This company and others like them don't do that.

I too called and when the person at the extension answered I asked who he worked for because he didn't say. He asked me for my phone number and I told him I would give him that if he told me what company he worked for. He said he wouldn't do that so I hung up.

A day later I got the message again on my machine. I called and it was the same person. We went through the same routine.

I hung up and called their #800 and this time instead of punching in the extension I waited to talk to an operator. I explained to problem to the woman and she gave me the name of the company.

I explained to her that I wasn't the person that they were trying to contact. She said that she would enter it into the database that I had called and was not the person they were looking for.

The next day I again got the message on my machine. This time I went to the operator and requested a supervisor. Once again I explained the situation... They finally took my phone number out of their database for that person and put in a note saying not to add my number in again at a later date when they updated that file.

It looks like Dan has some excellent ideas.

Good Luck,