Everest Receivable Services Inc ERS Group Repeatedly called my wife and threatened to "destroy our lives" Depew, New York

I received a telephone call several weeks ago from a woman who said she represented a company that was taking legal action against me. Since she called me on my home phone which is unpublished, I asked her how she got my number. She said that it was attached to a file she had just received that day. She said it was regarding an unpaid credit card debt.

I informed her that I had paid off all my credit cards in 2005 during a mortgage refinance. She said I was wrong because this account wasn't that old. I asked her for an account number, name of company and a letter to verify this as my debt. She refused and said I had been sent many letters over the past few years so there was no need to prove to me that I owed this debt. She then hung up on me and I figured I had heard the last of this.

Last week a representative from ERS Group called my house and my wife answered the phone. He was very friendly and apologized for the phone call I had received previously from another representative in his company. He told my wife that he was making one last attempt to settle this before his client filed a lawsuit. My wife didn't want to upset me with this because I am recovering from open heart surgery and a stroke so she tried to see what this was about.

He told her this was from a Bank of Marin credit card and had been charged off in April 2006. He said owed $1017.07 but they would settle it in full for $573.00. My wife said she had never heard of this card and that we had paid off all our cards 6 years ago. He told her "You would be surprised how many husbands have credit cards without their wives knowing". He then spent 45 minutes telling her how much fraud occurs during refinancing and that most likely the mortgage company kept the money and never paid off our debts.

When my wife asked him to send some kind of verification of this so she could compare it with our mortgage documents, he refused and said she would have to call the original creditor. He kept pressuring her for a check for at least $25.00 to stop the lawsuit for now. When she told him we didn't give out our bank information over the phone especially for a debt we didn't even know was ours, he said "That's funny, your husband had no problem giving out his social security number, birthdate and even his mother's maiden name to get this card. I could open a checking account in his name with all the personal information I have in this file on him".

As soon as he said that my wife informed him that the conversation was over and she would pass all this on to me. When I got home, I called the Attorney General's office and found out that even if this was a valid debt, the statute of limitations had expired 2 years prior and I could not be sued for this. I mentioned all that the man had said to my wife and was informed that this collection agency was in direct violation of the FDCPA and that I should send them certified letter demanding all communications be stopped.

Yesterday, 11/01/2011 my wife received a phone call on both our homephone and her cell phone from the man she had spoken to last week. He left voice mails on both lines and stated " I have now seen your true colors. You and your husband do not have to bother calling me back. I have been in contact with the Human Resources Department where your husband works and it has been taken care of. I wish you and your husband the best of luck. You're going to need it."

My wife called him back and asked him to verify my place of employment and work phone number. He stated " I don't have to give that information out. Please have your attorney or representative contact me in the future." In the meantime, I had already contact the legal department as well as the payroll department at work. They informed me that without acourt order, they wouldn't even verify any personal information.

My wife told him that we had recently purchased a new car and had gone over our credit reports thoroughly. She told him that there was no collection account listed and he had to be mistaken. He then said " I guess I should pull a credit report myself on your husband. The wrong information reported could ruin your lives." My wife hung up the phone and I then filed a complaint with the FTC for FDCPA violations.