On April 25, 2012, Nightline aired a segment, "Woman Fights to Collect from Collectors"  [View Nightline Episode Here] in which a woman won a $10,086,000 judgment against abusive debt collector "RFA" for harassment and violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA).  RFA is an outfit run by Asset & Capital Managent Group ACM Group in Tustin California.  The woman details how RFA called her for a debt she didn't even owe and how terrified she b

It is refreshing when debt collectors are held liable for their violations of consumer debt protection laws, but these consequences are often not enough to deter big debt collection companies from breaking the law to see bigger profits.  It is not everyday that debt collectors who engage in unlawful activity are held accountable for their actions.  Thus, when it does occur, it is an occasion to be celebrated.  Unfortunately, the celebration and victory may bring little

Just Because the Statute of Limitations has passed on debt it doesnt mean debt collectors will stop trying to get you to pay! Time-barred debts also known as Zombie Debt are debts for which the statute of limitations has passed.  What this means is that a lawsuit cannot legally be filed against you if the debt is too old and the collector has failed to file a lawsuit in time. This does not mean, by any stretch of the imagination, that debt buyers and collectors will

Portfolio Recovery Associates was named one of the top ten most aggressive call spammers of 2011 according to a December 2011 article by White Pages.   Portfolio Recovery Associates is a junk debt buyer who calls, mails, and sues consumers across the country usually for charged-off or old credit card debts.  According to the article, the numbers most frequently associated with this company are (757) 275-8578, (757) 506-0177 and (731) 256-7106. Nothing is more ann

Become an Informed Consumer, Debt Collectors hate it.... Debt collectors hate informed consumers - they are the ones that can document violations and hold them accountable for their actions.  Unfortunately, the vast majority of consumers are not aware of the consumer laws in place to protect them and aren't able to recognize those violations being committed by debt collectors.  The following are resources from the Federal Trade Commission discussing different aspects of