Capital Acquisitions & Management Company Aka CAMCO Threatening to put a 14 year old debt back on my credit. Also, threatening to call my current creditors if I do not send them a payment. Rockford Illinois

First of all a CAMCO employee (or anyone else for that matter) who used a telephone or the US Mail to commit extortion against a person would be guilty of a felony in all 50 states.

The Hobbs Act defines "extortion" as "the obtaining of property from another, with his consent, induced by wrongful use of actual or threatened force, violence, or fear, or under color of official right."

For example, if a CAMCO employee threatens to 'block' my credit or reage an account if I don't pay a sum of money that's extortion, plain and simple. All it takes is victims realizing this and contacting their police department and filing charges. Of course the CAMCO rep will deny making the threat but the law enforcement people will have easy access to telephone records to at least verify a call took place between the parties. If enough victims press charges the preponderance of circumstantial evidence will probably suffice for a conviction.

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If a person owes CAMCO $5000.00 why would CAMCO settle for a penny less??? Is not the FULL amount due and payable?? Why do your people settle for less than half of these DUE & PAYABLE amounts???

As for those affadavits they state nothing more than someone at CAMCO believes that they are owed an amount of money from someone. It's just as easy for a victim to generate an affadavit stating that they believe that they DO NOT owe any money to CAMCO.

Lets face it....CAMCO plays the numbers. They call thousands of people every day and hope they find enough gullible, simple-minded, uninformed or retarded people that are easily intimidated into paying money so that the business can show a profit for the day. Nothing more.

You are so full of crap it is not even funny. I was talking to an attorney for arrow financial(collection agency out of illinois) and he even said Camco was a scumbag company and a blight upon the collection field. Everyone knows about Camco. Collection agencys absolutely loathe camco and a few are even helping me out. Now they are about to face the FTC's wrath again. Yes you can go to prison for making illegal physical threats which your company does on a consistent basis. Yes your collectors can go to jail for breaking the FTC's last order. In fact, one attorney for the FTC said if Camco goes down a second time there will be federal CRIMINAL indictments. Your company is doomed and good riddance to the band of criminal thugs who work there.

The bosses having you do damage control today, John?

Your position that 'we' are all guilty of non-payment is laughable. In my case? YOU CLEARLY ACTED FRAUDULENTLY and probably made up the 'account' out of the blue.

If you're on the up & up? Why haven't you provided me with the contact info for the original creditor, as i requested of you several times?

You're scum and you're going to jail.

#1. Statute of limitation differs from state to state. If it was your money that somebody walked off with wouldnt you be inclined to do everything you could to get your money back?

#2. FTC complaints and C&D letters will not stop all of the other bills that you people didn't pay. Why is it that all of you people are looking for a way out of paying your bills rather than being grown adults and showing your children how responsible people should act? Chances are if you raise your children the way most of you whine and don't pay bills, then it's just a matter of time before an agency like Camco will be calling them too!

#3. Any employee of Camco cannot get sent to jail for calling you. An employee can be held responsible for their actions in a civil court of law.

In short, send all of the letters you want. Complain to whoever all you want. Write a book about Camco and how much of a scam they are for all we care. But before you do any of those, do 1 thing first. Look in the mirror. The person you see is the one responsible for Camco's equal and opposite reaction to your poor decissions.

Because of their previous violations of the FDCPA laws, Capital Acquisitions and Management Company has been ordered by federal law to post on every affidavit and collection letter sent to debtors, if debt is beyond any and all legally enforceable time limits - that "The debtor is not legally obligated to pay the debt".

Further, CAMCO, under federal law, must post the address of FDCPA/Consumer Protection Division of the Federal Trade Commission for filling of any formal complaints deemed necessary by debtor with relationship/contact made by CAMCO with regard to their (CAMCO) attempted debt collection.

CAMCO is claiming that they are collecting on a debt that my wife had to Citibank for a citibank VISA. They claim this debt was incurred over 10 years ago. We are ABSOLUTELY POSITIVE that she has NEVER had an account of any kind with citibank, nor does she or I have ANY past due debts. This has been the case for years. We regularly monitor our credit file and maintain excellent credit.

I have requested contact information for the original creditor, so that we may clear up this obvious error, and CAMCO has refused to provide this information, instead becoming quite rude when I suggested an error. I then advised them to 'cease and desist' contact with us any further, except to provide contact info. for the original creditor. They have continued to harrass us with several phone calls per day.

I found the home addresses of the principals of the company from an FTC lawsuit filed in Mar. 2004.

Here they are for anyone interested. I plan to start contactiong them at their homes if the harrassment doesn't stop.

CAMCO PRINCIPALS:

Scott R. Franson
12965 Williams Court
Genoa, IL 60135

Reese Waugh
12755 Northwood Dr.
Genoa, IL 60135

Jerome Kuebler
604 Oakview Ave.
Joliet, IL 60433

Mario Bianchi
3N561 Meadow Road
Addison, IL 60101

The SOL in your state for open ended accounts(like credit cards) and written accounts is 3 years. Therefore, the 7 year debt is time barred. You need to write them a letter telling them the debt is beyond the SOL and include a cease and desist telling them to never contact you again. Send it certfied mail return receipt requested.
SOUTH CAROLINA

STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS


CAUSE OF ACTION LIMITATION
*(1)see footnotes

THREE YEARS: 15-3-530
Open Acct.:

Written Contract Not Under Seal;
Oral Contracts;

SECTION 15-3-530.
Within three years:
(1) an action upon a contract, obligation, or liability, express or implied, excepting those provided for in Section *(2)15-3-520


---------------------------------------------------------------

*(1)SECTION 15-3-120. Effect of new promises in writing or part payments.
No acknowledgment or promise shall be sufficient evidence of a new or continuing contract whereby to take the case out of the operation of this chapter unless it be contained in some writing signed by the party to be charged thereby. But payment of any part of principal or interest is equivalent to a promise in writing.

SECTION 15-3-130. Suits on causes saved from bar of statute by part payment or written acknowledgment.

All actions upon causes of action which would be barred by the statute of limitations but for part payment or a written acknowledgment shall be brought on the original cause of action and the part payment or written acknowledgment shall be evidence to prevent the bar of the statute of limitations.

No, I am not in business, but about 7 years ago, I had very bad debt and could not pay. The company wrote off my debt as a bad debt and closed the matter. Please, where is the website that I can check for SOL? Thanks!

Janet, find out the same way we did! If you are in that business you should already know the answer. What exactly does write off mean anyway?

Janet, find out the same way we did! If you are in that business you should already know the answer. What exactly does write off mean anyway?

Janet, find out the same way we did! If you are in that business you should already know the answer. What exactly does write off mean anyway?

Hi! I am not involved with Camco, but rather another agency which is trying to collect my debt which was written off as a bad debt loss seven years ago (1997). As the laws do differ from state to state, I was just wondering if anyone out there know of the SOL in South Carolina? Thanks in advance for any answers!

no, they dont really enforce the fdcpa. you can tell when someone is monitoring you. you would hear an echo, so people change there approach to collecting the money. I've only seen them change one person's dunning name while i was there, thats because the manager lives near chicago and there is a imaginary person on a morning talk show- larry horse, and as a joke he changed one of the collectors dunning names to that.

otherwise its not known to change a name to make it seem like they got fired. i would have you say out of camco's managment being imcompetent or disinterested- i would chose disinterested. they could change everything that is wrong with the company in a matter of a month, but they chose not to. the only border line type stuff i said was when i left a message on a machine i would say that this is in regaurds to there social security #- which it was- the credit card or line of credit was opened using there social- and i would read off the #'s when they called back, thats the closest to the gray line i got to then i came running back to the safe side.

scott- when i was working there i would be online looking at this web site, and see the comments you type.it would piss me off- cuz it just makes my job that much harder, but it doesnt matter now, and about the SOL- my mistake there was going off of CAMCO material, i was assuming that it was correct. which will never happen again

The SOL in ohio and kentucky are not 15 years. The SOL in Ohio is 4 years. You MIGHT be able to argue 6. If you tried 15 against me you would get wiped. The SOL in kentucky is 5 years, not 15. Where did you get this crap? Credit cards are open ended accounts. They are not written contacts.

As a former Camco employee, your comments are very helpful.

Here's a question: I'm gathering that Camco management told new hires that they should follow the FDCPA.... but was that enforced? In other words, were people regularly fired and/or disciplined for crossing the line? If so, were they let go after a monitor flagged them -- or after a complaint was filed?

I had a Camco employee threaten to contact my (former) employer and my other creditors -- that's an Unauthorized Third Party Disclosure, which is verboten under the FDCPA. I had another tell me to "pay my f#@king bill" -- still another violation. If these employees were caught doing this, would they have been fired on the spot -- or would this behavior have been tolerated until the complaints came in? (And, after that, would they have disciplined the employee, or just given him/her another "dunning name" to use when calling while saying "we let Joe Fakename go, and hired Joe Falsename instead"?)

You said that you're presently working in collections. I'm betting that at your present firm, any antics like this on your part would lead to your seeking other debt collection opportunities. Given the hundreds of complaints I'm seeing here against Camco, and my own experience, I'm guessing that Camco's management is either utterly incompetent or utterly disinterested in following FDCPA rules.

(Although they do seem to honor cease-and-desist letters if they are faxed and sent Certified RRR... something which anyone harassed by Camco should keep in mind).

Yeah I'm sure in some instances some of the people working there could go to jail, some tactics they use even disgust and amaze me. the 2 things you told me about what they say, that is wrong, but the thing is is that camco doesnt train its employees to say things like that in training they said that we are heavily monitored and bare minimum if you have to you can say border line stuff so it doesnt break any FDCPA laws but it may get you paid. thats what i did. i never threatened anybody's life or said i was going to rape them,thats just sick.

G-from richmond...

the reason why it takes so long is because camco buys this debt from another company that bought it from another company that bought it from another company and so on and so forth. the debt that they purchase is called a portfolio- camco's portfolio's usually consisted of roughly 10,000 accounts. they typically buy new portfolio's every 2 months. they pay about a 1/3rd of a penny on the dollar for these portfolio's. so say they bought a $15,000 debt for just a few bucks and i collected 9k, then that paid for the whole portfolio and put some money in there pocket. as to camco being a scam, right now at this point- cant say too much for the future- it is a legitiment hussle- but if a camco rep called me about a bill, it would be the first and last time they called. actually, im not too sure of that, i think i would be acting like i dont know what the bill is, to see if they act like that towards me too, if they threaten my life and/or families life.

LAYNE-

Yes G is right, it does vary state-to-state, the SOL in Ohio and Kentucky is 15 yrs, but is Mass. it is only 3 years, if somebody from camco says anything about the SOL to me, i would just laugh at them and beg them to do something about it- cuz they wont, camco doesnt sue- they get sued- thats pretty much the only reason why they have attorneys. Layne- i think- im not sure so dont quote me on this, but i think Arkansas is a no-collect-state for camco, if i were you i would def. check that out, actually i will call one of my friends there today and i will post it on here. see i dont feel that any company should get away with breaking the law, if arkansas is a no collect state, then you have a lil thing called a lawsuit you can file.

Kevin- the crowbar hilton- that was good

Type in Statue of limitations for debt collection and the site will tell you all the limits per state. They vary according to your state. I understand that it is from the time of last payment made, not original date of debt. In Virginia credit card debt is 3 years.

So what is the statute of limitations to collect an old credit card debt?

Wonder why it would take them ten+ years to locate a debtor.

I would generally agree that MOST Camco employees will not go to jail for their actions, reprehensible as they may be. There's a difference between civil liability -- the stuff you get sued for -- and criminal liabiltiy -- the stuff you go to prison for.

OTOH, the Camco employee who threatened to rape a woman if she didn't pay her bill could definitely find himself behind bars, as could the guy who informed one anti-Camco crusader that if he didn't back off "his entire family would be killed." I've seen a few other responses on here where Camco employees crossed the line from violations of the FDCPA into criminal harassment.

The owners and managers of Camco might well find themselves facing a RICO prosecution if they keep up their antics. They're violating civil laws in several different states (thereby making it a federal case), and, according to what several ex-employees have said here and elsewhere, they appear to be encouraging their employees to violate the law. (I'd add that a smart prosecutor could make a case that Camco couldn't exist *without* breaking laws, and that the sole purpose of its existence appears to involve lawbreaking). And yes, you can go to jail for a very long time for violating the RICO Act.

So yes, I think there's a decent chance that at least some Camco staff could find themselves bunking with Bubba in the Crowbar Hilton.

How can these debts be legitimate if you haven't heard from the creditor for 10+ years. I know for a fact that I do not owe anyone and they called me claiming I did from 18 years ago. I think you would know if you owe someone or not! I also had to go to the trouble of sending a certified letter because they could not prove to me I owed the debt. How can you say these debts are legitimate if they can't prove to you that they are? Sounds like a SCAM to me!

you seem to know your laws, but unfortuantly camco employees can not be thrown in jail for what they are doing, yes it may be wrong but no jail time. unfortunantly your right about the bullying tactic, I used to work there, I was there for 9mo. then i moved to vegas. i wish they had one out here. basicly- the debts are real- they arent on the credit reports- the only reason why one should pay is if all there other bills are caught up and if you feel you morally should pay. obviously this isn't how i pitch the debtor paying the bill when i was talking about the debt, but being rough with these people goes w/ the job. it's not our fault they ran up the debt.

David- yes, if you want them to stop calling- definantly send a letter certified mail- thats the only way they will accept it.

i now work for a collection agency on debt thats 90 days old rather than an average of 15 yrs- its a lot dif and took some time to adjust- but people at collection agency seems to be rougher on debtors, rather than the fine folk at camco-(aquistion company)

you seem to know your laws, but unfortuantly camco employees can not be thrown in jail for what they are doing, yes it may be wrong but no jail time. unfortunantly your right about the bullying tactic, I used to work there, I was there for 9mo. then i moved to vegas. i wish they had one out here. basicly- the debts are real- they arent on the credit reports- the only reason why one should pay is if all there other bills are caught up and if you feel you morally should pay. obviously this isn't how i pitch the debtor paying the bill when i was talking about the debt, but being rough with these people goes w/ the job. it's not our fault they ran up the debt.

David- yes, if you want them to stop calling- definantly send a letter certified mail- thats the only way they will accept it.

i now work for a collection agency on debt thats 90 days old rather than an average of 15 yrs- its a lot dif and took some time to adjust- but people at collection agency seems to be rougher on debtors, rather than the fine folk at camco-(aquistion company)

you seem to know your laws, but unfortuantly camco employees can not be thrown in jail for what they are doing, yes it may be wrong but no jail time. unfortunantly your right about the bullying tactic, I used to work there, I was there for 9mo. then i moved to vegas. i wish they had one out here. basicly- the debts are real- they arent on the credit reports- the only reason why one should pay is if all there other bills are caught up and if you feel you morally should pay. obviously this isn't how i pitch the debtor paying the bill when i was talking about the debt, but being rough with these people goes w/ the job. it's not our fault they ran up the debt.

David- yes, if you want them to stop calling- definantly send a letter certified mail- thats the only way they will accept it.

i now work for a collection agency on debt thats 90 days old rather than an average of 15 yrs- its a lot dif and took some time to adjust- but people at collection agency seems to be rougher on debtors, rather than the fine folk at camco-(aquistion company)

They can't do anything to collect; the debt is long since outside the SOL for lawsuits, or for reporting on your credit report. They're hoping to bully you into sending them money through intimidation and empty threats.

Send them a "cease and desist" letter, certified mail, return receipt requested. All you have to say is, "You are not to contact me via phone, fax, email or postal mail. Any efforts to illegally "re-age" this debt and make a false credit report will be greeted with a lawsuit."

Send a cc: of your letter to

Camco Fax: 815 968-1577

Regional Director, Northwest Division
Federal Trade Commission
915 Second Avenue, Suite 2986
Seattle, WA 98174
re: FTC File 022 3222
Civil Action No. 04 C 50147

Lisa Madigan
Illinois Attorney General
Consumer Fraud Bureau
500 South Second Street
Springfield, IL 62706

Transunion Consumer Solutions
P.O. Box 2000
Chester, PA 19022-2000
(they've been doing "hard inquiries" to poison credit reports, and threatening to continue doing so, in violation of Transunion rules).

You should also submit a note to
http://www.ag.state.az.us/consumer/complaintformintro.html and send a photocopy of any abusive letters you've received from Camco, etc.

That should end the phone calls.

Kevin-New York,New York
U.S.A.

They can't do anything to collect; the debt is long since outside the SOL for lawsuits, or for reporting on your credit report. They're hoping to bully you into sending them money through intimidation and empty threats.

Send them a "cease and desist" letter, certified mail, return receipt requested. All you have to say is, "You are not to contact me via phone, fax, email or postal mail. Any efforts to illegally "re-age" this debt and make a false credit report will be greeted with a lawsuit."

Send a cc: of your letter to

Camco Fax: 815 968-1577

Regional Director, Northwest Division
Federal Trade Commission
915 Second Avenue, Suite 2986
Seattle, WA 98174
re: FTC File 022 3222
Civil Action No. 04 C 50147

Lisa Madigan
Illinois Attorney General
Consumer Fraud Bureau
500 South Second Street
Springfield, IL 62706

Transunion Consumer Solutions
P.O. Box 2000
Chester, PA 19022-2000
(they've been doing "hard inquiries" to poison credit reports, and threatening to continue doing so, in violation of Transunion rules).

You should also submit a note to
http://www.ag.state.az.us/consumer/complaintformintro.html and send a photocopy of any abusive letters you've received from Camco, etc.

That should end the phone calls.

Kevin-New York,New York
U.S.A.

They can't do anything to collect; the debt is long since outside the SOL for lawsuits, or for reporting on your credit report. They're hoping to bully you into sending them money through intimidation and empty threats.

Send them a "cease and desist" letter, certified mail, return receipt requested. All you have to say is, "You are not to contact me via phone, fax, email or postal mail. Any efforts to illegally "re-age" this debt and make a false credit report will be greeted with a lawsuit."

Send a cc: of your letter to

Camco Fax: 815 968-1577

Regional Director, Northwest Division
Federal Trade Commission
915 Second Avenue, Suite 2986
Seattle, WA 98174
re: FTC File 022 3222
Civil Action No. 04 C 50147

Lisa Madigan
Illinois Attorney General
Consumer Fraud Bureau
500 South Second Street
Springfield, IL 62706

Transunion Consumer Solutions
P.O. Box 2000
Chester, PA 19022-2000
(they've been doing "hard inquiries" to poison credit reports, and threatening to continue doing so, in violation of Transunion rules).

You should also submit a note to
http://www.ag.state.az.us/consumer/complaintformintro.html and send a photocopy of any abusive letters you've received from Camco, etc.

That should end the phone calls.

Kevin-New York,New York
U.S.A.

They can't do anything to collect; the debt is long since outside the SOL for lawsuits, or for reporting on your credit report. They're hoping to bully you into sending them money through intimidation and empty threats.

Send them a "cease and desist" letter, certified mail, return receipt requested. All you have to say is, "You are not to contact me via phone, fax, email or postal mail. Any efforts to illegally "re-age" this debt and make a false credit report will be greeted with a lawsuit."

Send a cc: of your letter to

Camco Fax: 815 968-1577

Regional Director, Northwest Division
Federal Trade Commission
915 Second Avenue, Suite 2986
Seattle, WA 98174
re: FTC File 022 3222
Civil Action No. 04 C 50147

Lisa Madigan
Illinois Attorney General
Consumer Fraud Bureau
500 South Second Street
Springfield, IL 62706

Transunion Consumer Solutions
P.O. Box 2000
Chester, PA 19022-2000
(they've been doing "hard inquiries" to poison credit reports, and threatening to continue doing so, in violation of Transunion rules).

You should also submit a note to
http://www.ag.state.az.us/consumer/complaintformintro.html and send a photocopy of any abusive letters you've received from Camco, etc.

That should end the phone calls.

Kevin-New York,New York
U.S.A.

They can't do anything to collect; the debt is long since outside the SOL for lawsuits, or for reporting on your credit report. They're hoping to bully you into sending them money through intimidation and empty threats.

Send them a "cease and desist" letter, certified mail, return receipt requested. All you have to say is, "You are not to contact me via phone, fax, email or postal mail. Any efforts to illegally "re-age" this debt and make a false credit report will be greeted with a lawsuit."

Send a cc: of your letter to

Camco Fax: 815 968-1577

Regional Director, Northwest Division
Federal Trade Commission
915 Second Avenue, Suite 2986
Seattle, WA 98174
re: FTC File 022 3222
Civil Action No. 04 C 50147

Lisa Madigan
Illinois Attorney General
Consumer Fraud Bureau
500 South Second Street
Springfield, IL 62706

Transunion Consumer Solutions
P.O. Box 2000
Chester, PA 19022-2000
(they've been doing "hard inquiries" to poison credit reports, and threatening to continue doing so, in violation of Transunion rules).

You should also submit a note to
http://www.ag.state.az.us/consumer/complaintformintro.html and send a photocopy of any abusive letters you've received from Camco, etc.

That should end the phone calls.

Kevin-New York,New York
U.S.A.