Suit alleges debt collector misfeasance Part 1
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Posted by Tim
(68.190.163.28) on February 02, 2004 at 16:00:22:
From the January 30, 2004 print edition of the Philadelphia Business Journal
Larry Rulison
Staff Writer 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-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. Brian Callahan, vice president of financial reporting at NCO, said the company would not comment on the litigation, but he did say that the company followed the debt collection act. The law prohibits collection agencies from making harassing phone calls. In most cases, unless there is prior consent or a court order, a collector can't discuss a debt with anyone other than the debtor, the debtor's spouse or the debtor's attorney, according to an FTC lawyer. "Obviously, we have controls in place," Callahan said. "We abide by our regulations." Koch's lawyer Mark D. Mailman, a partner in the consumer law firm of Francis & Mailman, said the case describes one of the worst examples of alleged debt collection abuse he has ever seen. A second company, FMA Alliance Ltd. of Houston, also was listed as a defendant in the Koch case. The case alleges that an FMA employee made harassing calls to Koch concerning the debt and that at least once, the FMA employee said she was an NCO employee, although she later said she was working for FMA.
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