NCO Lawsuit Following Trend of Suits Against Collection Agencies
[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ Credit Forum Index ]
Posted by bud
(206.73.59.122) on February 02, 2004 at 13:55:52:
February 2, 2004 — Edward Koch says the harassing calls to his home began in March of last year. The Lafayette Hill resident alleges in a civil lawsuit filed against NCO Group Inc. in federal court in Philadelphia that employees at the Horsham, PA-based debt-collection agency made harassing calls to his home to try and collect on credit card debt. In the lawsuit, filed in December, Koch alleges that during an Aug. 25 call to his home, an NCO employee demanded money from his 12-year-old son and told the boy he "was coming to his school to get him." Koch claims that when he called the employee back he was told: "I'm coming to get the money and will do bodily harm to anyone who gets in my way." Those exchanges are among the comments made by NCO employees to Koch and his family between March and September of last year, according to allegations in court documents. NCO Group has not yet filed a response to the complaint. The lawsuit, and others filed against NCO, coincide with what has been a steadily rising number of consumer complaints about debt collections. In 2000, the Federal Trade Commission, which oversees the U.S. Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, reported 13,962 consumer complaints about third-party debt collectors. In 2002, that number grew to 25,185 complaints — more than from any other industry. Although the number of complaints over debt collections registered with the FTC are up nearly 45 percent over two years, the commission said that doesn't necessarily mean that collectors are getting more aggressive. Thomas Kane, an FTC attorney, said the drastic rise in complaints about third-party debt collectors mirrors a drastic rise in overall complaints to the FTC. "We're doing a much better job of getting consumers to complain to us," Kane said. "We're doing a better job of that across the board. It's hard to tell whether collectors are getting worse or not." Mailman said the rise in complaints is probably caused by the rise in consumer debt, which has turned debt collection into big business. For this complete story, please visit NCO Lawsuit Following Trend of Suits Against Collection Agencies.
Source: Philadelphia Business Journal
Follow Ups:
Post a Followup
|
