800-210-0836

The number is owned by UCB/United Bureau/United Credit Bureau. They have been calling my parents for months about an unpaid Verizon bill. My parents made arrangements with Verizon but the collection company continues calling.

I got a call from this company Sat. 12/22/07 9:32AM about one of my neighbors! Mr. Emmonds at x3897 left a message asking me to get a message to my neighbor to call them and gave me a case #. When I called back to tell them it's a violation of the privacy act to disclose any information they put me through to Mr. Newman who said he was the one who left the message (even though his message clearly said Mr. Emmonds). He hung up on me so I called back, then he said he was sorry and my number was removed from their database.
This company is unethical and should be shut down. Does anyone know who to complain to about this?

My sisters ex husbands sister got a call like this for me. I will not call back. If they were really looking for me they would call me, not my sisters ex's sister. Weird.

Here are a few examples of federal lawsuits and message board complaints against these boneheads:

http://dockets.justia.com/docket/court-wawdce ... case_id-147558/
http://dockets.justia.com/docket/court-mndce/ ... /case_id-92380/
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/208/ripoff0208140.htm
http://creditboards.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=95358
http://www.debtconsolidationcare.com/forums/ucb.html

Oh, and be sure to read this creepy message and the replies to it -- http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/169/RipOff0169131.htm .  The message is posted by someone who claims to be a disgruntled ex-UCB employee and the responses appear to be from current UCB employees who counter that the ex-employee is nuts. It's quite a soap opera of messages and may be indicative of the kind of people at a collection agency who are given access to your personal information.

I don't know if any of the accusations leveled by the alleged ex-UCB employee are true, but I do know that it's common for collection agencies to falsely threaten people with lawsuits, arrest and a summons served by the sheriff.  Anyone dealing with any debt collector thug should keep in mind that no collection agency has the authority to have anyone arrested for anything nor do they have the power to dispatch law enforcement officers to serve a summons.  Moreover, it is illegal for a debt collector to threaten such things and it is illegal for them to threaten someone with any action (such as a lawsuit) that they have no intention of undertaking.  And since UCB likes to call their targets' friends and neighbors, keep in mind that it is illegal for a collector to disclose to a third-party the reason for their call; a collector can contact a third-party for no other reason than to locate someone. The moment the collector says anything to a third-party that suggests the call is regarding a debt, then they are in violation of the law and subject to civil penalties.

So anyone being harassed by these dolts may want to consider firing off a letter to UCB informing them that they are to cease all attempts to contact you and that if they don't comply, you'll take legal action them. If they contact you more than once after receiving your letter, federal law gives you the right to seek monetary damages against them for each illegal contact. (Check out the websites listed below for more information.) Just be sure to send your cease-communication notice via certified US Mail with a return receipt request, and save a copy of your letter.  Here is the address of UCB's headquarters:

United Credit Bureau, Inc.
5620 Southwyck Blvd. Suite 206
Toledo, Ohio 43614
(419) 866-6227
(800) 866-6228

For attorney referrals and advice on dealing with debt collectors, check out these websites:

http://www.budhibbs.com/First.htm
http://www.naca.net/debt-collection-abuse/
http://www.fairdebtlawyers.com/
http://www.myfairdebt.com/
http://www.consumercounselgroup.com/

I believe this is the same company that has called twice to three times already for my ex-husband. I gave my ex the message the first time they called and told them the second time that he and I are divorced and I have already given him the message. I have a call today from this number stating that it was David leaving a message for me and it was not a sales call it was concerning a business matter. I have nothing outstanding and no problems with my credit but I am getting harassed because of my ex. I told them the last time I would report them.

a woman named elizabeth was very polite. she was searching for an employee of mine--who listed my number as his work number.  the caller id was "out of area."  she asked me to relay a message that she was looking for him, gave me her name, case number, said it was NOT a solicitation and it was urgent.   hopefully ucb employees are no longer being rude, but thanks to these websites, i will know to state the law and ask them to stop calling this number if they call again.

01/17/08 - This guy calls my home office number today. I answered with “my company, my name” and he asked for XXX. I told him there was no XXX at this number and he hung up. A moment later he calls the house number, which I did not answer. Then he calls me back and asked if I am XXX’s wife. I wish I could have recorded this, as it goes down hill from here. He stated he was serving a summons for payment on XXX account and wanted to ensure the address was correct as my name is on the suit. I asked who was calling and he said Christopher Vail. I asked from where and he said United Bureau. I told him I knew nothing about this account and could not be on it. He then gave me the case # and asked why I lied when he called earlier and I had told him XXX wasn’t here. I told him, I didn’t lie, just that he is not at that number. He stated that he was recording the call. I told him he gave me no indication of recording it and that it is against the law. He stated I had been an authorized card holder and told me what my social security number is and that there was another joint account with XXX. Once again, I told him I had never signed an agreement to be an account holder and knew nothing about it. He then started rattling off a shared account and other info which told me he had pulled my credit report. I asked him to not call and he stated he would call today, tomorrow and everyday and if that did not work he would call my friends, family and neighbors. At which point I hung up! I have nothing to do with this account, I have excellent credit, and want nothing to do with this.

Calling for a possible relative, gave an exact name of one.  Said we needed to get word to him to call by 7pm EST that day to rectify a case he's investigating.  Thanks to Google and this site, we did not return the call.

i too got a call from this number. david left message on my answering machine saying he was not selling anything and that this was an imortant personal matter. he left a file number and an ext. when i called back he picked up and imediatly stated my name and started asking questions as if he knew i was calling (caller id i guess) he asked me about a past resident i lived at nearly 6 years ago and asked me if i knew a man by the name XXX which i didnt... he then said thanks and hung up. so i called back and asked him who he was and why he was calling. to which he got rude and angry sounding and said why are you calling me, do you have any more questions. i told him i am calling becuase he called me with information about myself and did not even tell me who he was or what it was regarding towhich he said "i will not stay on this phone any longer" and hung up.

I got the same call. David left a message on my cell looking for Ms. Crook to tell her that there is a legal action against her and left a case number. I called back thinking that he got the wrong number. I googled the number and found lots of reports about them. Is there anyway to really bring legal action against them?

Don't expect help from Marc Dann's office (the Ohio Attorney General).  This office HIRED UCB to collect a debt from me.

I just got a call from a Mr. Almann at etx. 63872 about a NEIGHBOR asking me to put a note on his door. Does anyone know who we can forward these messages to? The Justice Department, perhaps? Please.

This United Bureau should not be in business. I am on the do not call list, so even if it were kosher to call one's neighbors about one's debts, it isn't kosher to call me. This company is about the lowest I have ever heard of.

Just got a call from some guy last night to call Re: "pending litigation" in court.

My wife went nuts but I told her it was probably just a debt collector trying to scare use becasue we hadn't gotten a summons.

I'd still like to know who they are and what they want. A few of my relatives had gotten calls that someone was looking for me. They all tell me that they "didn't talk" but I suspect that one of them did. Dummies.

Anyway, I googled and came up with this sitte. Thanks. I googled again with the infor from this site and got "http://www.secinfo.com/dSAKe.8eb.htm "

Will do more research and share. Let me know what else you come up with.

I think they have got to be collectors only. I called them from work and asked if they have anyone there that can sue in court. The man said that they do have lawwyers and that they can sue. To me that means that they "could" in theory do it but that they don't. When I told him that I was going to go to the court house and see if there was really any pending litigation against and that if there wasn't that we would file against them he told me not to threaten him.

So I called the district court and there is no pending litigation agaist me. As I thought. This was just a tactic to get us to call back.

Now I want to find a way to get them good and perhaps get this debt  resolved or wriiten off without it killing my credit score any more than it is already.

This is really good to know - I called them when I received the message from my daughter's ex mother-in-law and asked for their address as I will do nothing over the phone - only in writing.  The guy refused to give me their address, was absolutely rude and threatening and so I hung up on him.  Isn't there something that can be done?

I received a call from Michael Jones 3/17 @ 12noon. He said my case was urgent, but failed to mention any creditors name. He gave a case number and said it was urgent I reach them today. I have absolutely no idea who this is!? The number shows "unknown" on my caller ID.

I called them back, ask for a manager so they could remove MY number from the case files they are attached to.  He was friendly and polite and to the best of my knowledge, he (Tony) took care of this case number.

I just got off the phone with a guy named "Jerry Newman".  He asked me about my NEIGHBOR.  Gave me a case number, said there was a lawsuit against her and for me to contact her to tell her to call him before things got out of hand.  When I asked him where he got my number, he told me he did a search for the surrounding neighbors and got our number.  I told him that was a violation of my privacy and probably hers for giving me the information he did, and asked why he would assume I would help him.  He told me he didn't assume anything, he just wanted me to know that she was in trouble and would I give her the message to have her or her attorney contact him.  When I told him this was completely offensive, he got very rude and hung up.  

What a creep.  Is anyone prosecuting these people? It must break some privacy statute somewhere for this a..hole to call neighbors to get the actual target of the call to respond .   What a jerk

I was called this afternoon in an attempt to contact my brother.  A case number was given and was told it was urgent that I have my brother call back.  The number was 1-800-210-0836 X 63862.

I called because they called my mother looking for me. I was told to call Tina Gibson. I spoke with her for barely a minute. Then she transferred me to Dale. He told me what was up with my Citi card and what they were prepared to do and he gave me an hour to figure something out. I speak with my mom and call them back. He offers me a settlement which they arent "obligated" to do, but he was "going to do for me." So I ask a few questions and he kept cutting me off. I say "please listen." he says "no" and keeps talking. I told him i felt like he was using scare tactics and trying to strong arm me...he denies it. So i ask if the conversation is being recorded and he says that they are regularily monitored but not recorded. then he says what difference does it make? and i say it makes a lot of difference. and he says whatever and tells me when i have to make a decision and hangs up on me.       Is this company legit? or just hire rude people?????