800-781-3445

Guilty if you think know one can see you work for this company and are trying to make it seem as if your tactics and calls are legitimate then you are only fooling yourself. When a person needs to be served it is done in person, not by phone!
Collection agents must identify themselves as such and cannot pretend they are calling regarding subpoenas, fraud, or other legal matters which are false. You are trying to collect debts, even if it stems from a payday loan.
People please investigate fully before giving any information or money to these people.
Even when you owe a debt there are laws about what can be said or done in the attempt to collect the money. If they are not willing to send you written confirmation and validation of the debt and all charges, don't be intimidated or harassed.

yes i have recieved a phone call from these people and do not have a clue who they are.i did speak to an attorney and he said they need to be reported they threathened to take me to court and i do not have a clue who or what they are talking about.

i was called this morning by these folks and  was told i owed a pay day loan  that they claimed i took out in 2009 for 200.00 dollars .they said i need to pay them 700.00 or the sheriff will come out .i spoke to my attorney and he said let them file it that will give us a great chance to find out who they really are.they also said i could be in trouble for fraud for this 200.00 i have never had apayday loan when i ask them for i contract i had signed they could not provide one. the attorney says great chance of fileing any court papers with no proof of any contract.how can these folks say they will send you to court if you do not even know what on earth they are talking about?why does there message machine say contact oour legal department if they are claiming they are not attorneys.some one needs to stop these folks.

The Texas Attorney General says it is NOT bank fraud to owe money. The company they said I borrowed from was some pay day loan company. When I said I had no recollection of doing businss with them, "Mike Scott" said I would probably remember whe I was standing in front of a judge.
A few days later I received a call from "Tony", who claimed to be a process server. He said he would be at my house within 2 hrs and I needed to have ID ready to sign for my "court papers". Interesting, the number he called from (361-575-9136) is a Corpus Christi TX number, and Corpus is about 3 hrs from where I live, but the number he laft for me to return his call was BORWN STEIN & WEISSMAN! So far, today if Mon, "Tony's" call came on Thurs, and so far no contact. I have filed complaints with the Texas Attorney's Office and the FTC.

BROWN, STEIN & WEISSMAN, LLC.
4132 ATLANTA HWY SUITE 110-335
Loganville, GA 30052
800-781-3445

"Brown, Stein & Weissman is a fully functional legal outsourcing firm. Our specialty is working with suit worthy claims and outsourcing them to our network of attorneys".

http://www.merchantcircle.com/business/BROWN. ... C..800-781-3445

Texas--
Your best defense is to make them prove that you legitimately own the alledged debt they are threatening you about. Per the FDCPA they have five days to respond to your request for debt validation:

809.  Validation of debts   [15 USC 1692g]

(a) Within five days after the initial communication with a consumer in connection with the collection of any debt, a debt collector shall, unless the following information is contained in the initial communication or the consumer has paid the debt, send the consumer a written notice containing --

(1) the amount of the debt;

(2) the name of the creditor to whom the debt is owed;

(3) a statement that unless the consumer, within thirty days after receipt of the notice, disputes the validity of the debt, or any portion thereof, the debt will be assumed to be valid by the debt collector;

(4) a statement that if the consumer notifies the debt collector in writing within the thirty-day period that the debt, or any portion thereof, is disputed, the debt collector will obtain verification of the debt or a copy of a judgment against the consumer and a copy of such verification or judgment will be mailed to the consumer by the debt collector; and

(5) a statement that, upon the consumer's written request within the thirty-day period, the debt collector will provide the consumer with the name and address of the original creditor, if different from the current creditor.

(b) If the consumer notifies the debt collector in writing within the thirty-day period described in subsection (a) that the debt, or any portion thereof, is disputed, or that the consumer requests the name and address of the original creditor, the debt collector shall cease collection of the debt, or any disputed portion thereof, until the debt collector obtains verification of the debt or any copy of a judgment, or the name and address of the original creditor, and a copy of such verification or judgment, or name and address of the original creditor, is mailed to the consumer by the debt collector.

(c) The failure of a consumer to dispute the validity of a debt under this section may not be construed by any court as an admission of liability by the consumer.

http://www.fair-debt-collection.com/rules/fair-debt-collection-act.html#809

Send them this letter VIA certified mail with return receipt requsted:

Today's Date

Your Name
Your Address

Collector's Name
Collector's Address

VIA CERTIFIED MAIL

Dear {insert name of collector or company},

I am writing in response to your (letter or phone call) dated {insert date}, (copy enclosed) because I do not believe I owe what you say I owe.

This is the first I've heard from you, or any other company on this matter therefore, in accordance with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Section 809(b): Validating Debts:

(b) If the consumer notifies the debt collector in writing within the thirty-day period described in subsection (a) that the debt, or any portion thereof, is disputed, or that the consumer requests the name and address of the original creditor, the debt collector shall cease collection of the debt, or any disputed portion thereof, until the debt collector obtains verification of the debt or any copy of a judgment, or the name and address of the original creditor, and a copy of such verification or judgment, or name and address of the original creditor, is mailed to the consumer by the debt collector.

I respectfully request that you provide me with the following information:

(1) the amount of the debt;
(2) the name of the creditor to whom the debt is owed;
(3) Provide a verification or copy of any judgment (if applicable);
(4) Proof that you are licensed to collect debts in (insert name of your state)
Be advised that I am fully aware of my rights under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and the Fair Credit Reporting Act. For instance, I know that:

Because I have disputed this debt in writing within 30 days of receipt of your dunning notice, you must obtain verification of the debt or a copy of the judgment against me and mail these items to me at your expense.

You cannot add interest or fees except those allowed by the original contract or state law.
you do not have to respond to this dispute but if you do, any attempt to collect this debt without validating it, violates the FDCPA.

Also be advised that I am keeping very accurate records of all correspondence from you and your company including recording all phone calls and I will not hesitate to report violations of the law to my State Attorney General, the Federal Trade Commission and the Better Business Bureau.

I have disputed this debt; therefore, until validated you know your information concerning this debt is inaccurate. Thus, if you have already reported this debt to any credit-reporting agency (CRA) or Credit Bureau (CB) then, you must immediately inform them of my dispute with this debt. Reporting information that you know to be inaccurate or failing to report information correctly violates the Fair Credit Reporting Act § 1681s-2. Should you pursue a judgment without validating this debt, I will inform the judge and request the case be dismissed based on your failure to comply with the FDCPA.

Finally, if you do not own this debt, I demand that you immediately send a copy of this dispute letter to the original creditor so they are also aware of my dispute with this debt.

Signature here
Your Printed Name

http://www.fair-debt-collection.com/Disputing ... ute-letter.html

For more information regarding your consumer rights under the FDCPA, go to:

http://www.fair-debt-collection.com/rules/fair-debt-collection-act.html

Wow you are good.

I was also harrassed by these guys.  I spoke with the Georgia Office of Consumer Affairs who handles complaints for the Attorney General in GA.  The gentleman that I spoke with said they are fully aware of the practices of Brown, Stein & Weissman and have a current open investigation.  He asked that I send a statement via USPS to GEORGIA GOVERNOR'S OFFICE OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, 2 MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. DRIVE SE, SUITE 356, ATLANTA, GEORGIA 30334-4600 or fax to 404-651-9018 describing my contact with this company and their practices.  He asked that I use the form located at http://www.georgia.gov/vgn/images/portal/cit_ ... mplaintform.pdf for expedited processing by their office.  He stated that it's extremely important to their case to include in my statement if the phone representative claimed to be an attorney, claimed that the firm is a law firm or alluded to the firm being a law firm or having lawyers on staff or something about a  network of attorneys that work for their firm.  He also asked me to end my statement with the line below:

I respectfully request that the firm Brown, Stein & Weissman, LLC be prosecuted under the fullest extent of the law pursuant to 15 USC §§ 1692 § 814 and State laws regarding Fair Debt Collection Credit Practices.

I just spoke to an attorney friend of mine; if you send them a Cease and Desist letter and they contact you after they receive the letter, you can sue them in small claims court for a maximum of $1,000.00 under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.  As long as you have documentation that you sent the letter and they received it (send certified return receipt) and proof that they contacted you after they received the letter (save your voice mails!), you are guranteed to win.  The advantage of small claims court is that you do not need an attorney (no attorney costs!) and you file the suit in your local county/city, not the company's.  Name specifically the owner, Kevin Brown, in your suit and he will be required to be present in your local court which means he will have to pay travel expenses to get there.  If everyone this company harrasses sues for $1,000.00 and name Kevin Brown in the suit, Brown, Stein & Weissman will lose the $1000 plus travel expenses for Kevin fro each suit.  It won't be worth the money to stay in business and you get a free thousand bucks!

Brown, Stein and Weissman - This company is a scam. They Called and left a voicemail for me saying that i was part of a pending lawsuit and I'd better call them ASAP. I called back and was told I owed 7x more than the amount I actually owed the origional loan company (I called them to verify) I then called my attorney generals office who advised me to get the Liscence number and Bar Association number of these 'attorneys' who were threatening me with a 'fraud' suit. When I called to ask them for it, they immediately got very uncomfortable and put me on the line with Kevin Brown the owner. He stammered a lot and seemed unsure of the information he was giving me when I asked specific questions about my account. My probing questions got him to agree to a 'settlement' of the origional amount ($117 - NOT the $797 they were trying to get out of me) After hanging up with Kevin Brown I called the WA State Department of Financial Institutions who informed me that Brown, Stein and Weissman is not liscenced to collect in Washington State, and the debt iteslf is not enforceable since the loan company does not ahve a liscence to do business in washington state. Also, the tactics used by Brown, Stein and Weissman violate several federal regulations. They can not threaten you with lawsuit or arrest - which is exactly what they did. I filed a complaint withe the FTC and with the Department Of Lisencing in Washington State as well as the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions, the Washington State Attorney General and the Georgia State Attorney General. Do not give any money to these clowns. The origional loan company seemed wary of these guys too, and said they never threaten suit and any 3rd party they use would have copies of my loan document which Brown, Stein and Weissman did not. Don't let them scare you - what they are doing is illegal. Report them to as many agencies as you can. I suspect any positive reviews here are written by "Kevin Brown".

"Mike Scott"? Like from The Office? LOL. Loosers. I too noticed that David, Kevin and Mike all sounded suspiciously like the same person. Thanks Don't Fall For It for the link - I'm sending in that form first thing tomorrow.

I even contacted my origional creditor who advised me not to pay these guys.

I talked to kevin brown about my account. Kevin told me that my account had been with at least 10 different collection agencies before being transfered to them and that each of them had called on it, although he could not name any of these agencies. While searching BSW today I found a career builder post  - they are looking for collectors, heres what they say:

"We are in search of a 2 payday loan and check recovery specialist. The chosen individuals will have experience working in a commission only environment, have a minimum of 3 years experience in collection on payday loans and bad checks. Each collector will have his or her own office, not cubicle. Our payday loans have a charge-off date of 2009 and 2010 and have not had any internal or outside collection agency calling them. Our payday loans or fresh and easy to collect on, our checks are collectable also. So if you have had bad experiences working 3-5 year old payday loans we have newer files and if your tired of working in a cubicle environment, and not making good money, kindly send in your resume with references. This is a commission only position. "

2009 and 2010 chargeoffs with no other outside agency calling on them? Interesting. Liars.

So glad I found all this info. FYI you can also report them to the FBI here: https://tips.fbi.gov/

How is the weather in your country? Must be pretty hot there! How is the job for the collection agency working out? LOL

these [***] are stupid enough to still be auto dialing me, even after a cease and desist. A message comes on stating that I am being investigated in a court case. Sweet. I'm so recording that the next time they call.

This is extortion. File a police report with YOUR local authorities  - also local authorties in Georgia - these guys are slippery little suckers and seem to have multiple addresses in multiple counties and are therefore out of a lot of local law enforcement's jurisdictions. The web says they are located in Walton County, however the Walton County Sherriff department told me the address is actually in Gwinnett County, but he was kind enough to place a call to Kevin Brown for me. He had to leave a message. Funny, the Sherriff calls and suddenly Kevin is unavailable. I also contacted the Loganville police department who seemed familiar with these guys and described them as "crooked".

Mike Scott with ext 105 keeps calling my workplace telling them I am going to jail for check fraud. This after I told him that I needed proof of this debt. I couldnt get him to give me his address so I could send him a certified letter stating it. Now the [***] wont call my phone but instead harrasses my workplace. If this was a true company he would have no problem sending me something so we could take care of the supposes check fraud.

Sharon, file a complaint with the GA State Attorney Generals office. I did last week and will continue to file a complaint every single time they violate the Fair Debt Collections Act. Everyone I've talked to told me to simply not awnser the phone and to file a police report for harrassment. The Loganville Police Department informed me they've already been out to his house and told him to stop calling people. I had the Walton County Sherriffs Department call the owner Kevin (whos ext is also 105 - go figure) Detective Clinton told me that "Kevin" was unavailable and he had to leave a message. (Shocking!!)

Just to cover my own basis, I sent a debt verification letter to this address:

4132 ATLANTA HWY SUITE 110-335
Loganville, GA 30052

It's a UPS Store. I called to talk to them b.c I thought it was a bogus address and they said one of their employees signs for the certified mail, then puts it in Kevin's box.  There is also an address that appears to be a house address listed on Kevins GA business liscence. He seems to be associated with more than one "collections" or debt buying/selling group. There is Brown, Cooper Group and one other one of which I now forget the name. In GA you do not need a "Collection Agency Liscence", but in most states you do. All Kevin has is our information, probablly stolen off the internet and $100 to pay for a business Liscence. That's it. It's criminal. The authorities I've talked to said they get calls about these kinds of fraud all the time. It's nothing new, or clever. Although Kevin probablly thinks he is the most brilliant man ever, most criminals do.

everyone remember to place a fraud alert and/or security freeze on your credit reports also.

They did the same thing to me!