You are being contacted by NCO Financial concerning a delinquent debt. NCO Financial is commonly referred to as NCO group, NCO collections or a similar variation. NCO is third party collection agency with a checkered history.
NCO is often hired to come in and collect a debt for a lender they also will purchase debts and collect for themselves. They have a reputation for ruthless collection methods that often run afoul of the law.
In 2004 NCO violated the FCRA or Fair Credit Reporting Act. The FTC imposed a strict penalty and forced NCO to pay 1.5 million dollars. They were in violation because according to the Fair Credit Reporting Act a delinquent debt can only remain on your credit history for a maximum of 7 years. NCO was reporting late dates, in an attempt to manipulate the system and have a debt be listed for more than 7 years.
Collection agencies in general have a history of abusing debtors. They will call your home, place of work, friends and relatives all in an attempt to collect the debt. So in order to stop the calls, you must write the collection agency a letter. In this letter you simply tell the collection agency to stop contacting you regarding collection of the debt.
Send this letter through certified mail and save your documentation. Further save all communication you have with the collection agency. This can be used as proof in case you want to file a complaint or lawsuit.
The collection agency will be able to notify you of how they plan on continuing the collection. Then according to the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act they agency can no longer contact you. This legislation was created in 1996 because congress needed to protect debtors from the collection agencies and their collection methods.
The FDCPA states that collection agencies can not misrepresent themselves or threaten a debtor. Unfortunately this is often disregarded because collection agencies are known to threaten imprisonment to debtors and call neighbors or relatives in an attempt to humiliate the debtor into payment.
Congress passed the FDCPA to protect individuals from debt collectors. Agencies are frequently found in court facing lawsuits and have become very crafty at avoiding these. They will change their operation name and have been known to hide assets to avoid paying on a lawsuit.
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