8662844374

I received a call from someone identifying himelf as Michael Palmer of James A. West on March 12, 2009, saying he represents an American Express account. I informed him it is in arbitration with a third party and he said AM EX does not recognize third parties and gave some payment options. This guy is good, very good at what he does. Smooth, very smooth. I almost fell for it. Instead, I am going to contact my attorney and find out what the real score is.
It will be worth it, especially considering the amount involved. These collection people no doubt are unaccustomed to hearing from real attorneys. It should be interesting. In the meantime I am going to call Palmer and ask for licenses to operate in Arizona.
I very much appreciate this web site. Thank you.

got a call from James A West, told me they were going to sue me personally over a corporate debt. I told them fine, I am in michigan get an attorney and I will as well and we will litigate. I also told them I intend to counter sue for any damage to my credit etc. Very rude gentlemen, demanded all types of information in addition to my personal social security number..The debt was a taxpayer ID number.. Debt was from 6 years ago. This gentlemen also represented himself as an attoreny, but did not seem to know he had to get an attorney in michigan to sue..(West is in Texas) more collection fraud..(dateline NBC had a good series on this type)

Call came in from James West law firm.  I will not respond.

I have nearly the same problem with James West as you, but I can only afford a fixed amount and it is lower that what Wet wants. The are reall bugging me.  I do live in texas and I do owe the money, but I can only afford to pay a certain amount without all the verbal abuse.  What can you add??

Jim

......so can these people sue or not?   Or are these all just threats?

I hope you are doing okay. I miss you so much, Kevin! I love you always!

Our Amex account was a case of stolen identity by someone we knew. James A. West began calling us several months ago.  They first spoke with my husband because the theft was in his name. He is elderly and became very confused. At some point I answered the phone and simply told the woman she would have to speak with me. She didn't hesitate. I explained the situation about the theft by an X business partner of sorts and she began to lecture, at length and in a very rude manner, me about our flawed decision to get involved with this person. It was none of her business. The long and short of it was that I requested, on numerous occasions over a 4 month period, that the law firm provide us with statements from the account, how it was opened, and when. She stated to me at the first request that it was far too many pages to fax or email as was my request and that she would have to mail them.  I gave her an address. Now 4 months later, and promises from a second person at JAW to provide the documents,  we still do not have the info, which I realize they never possessed or had access to in the first place. They just lied about it. They told me that all our conversations were being recorded and during my very last conversation I said that now I was recording and the hang up from Ms. Zaheer was instant! Subsequently another guy called and would not identify himself and told me he would see to it that we paid and hung up on me!! This identify theft has been a nightmare experience and our first experience with debt collectors.  We just changed our phone number finally and got an attorney through pre-paid legal so they are of marginal help but some help never the less. JAW has violated a number of guidelines and my purpose here is to add my complaint in hopes of helping others. While we reside in Mexico our home base is Texas so I am trying to research on my own what our rights are in Texas.  Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

If you live in Texas and anyone attempts to garnish your wages for a debt, you should know that in Texas wages can only be garnished for 3 things. Child support, IRS tax lein, or a student loan. If your debt in not related to one of these 3 items don't be made to believe that anyone can garnish your pay check.

Hi there.  Thanks for the heads up and thanks for Google!

I called them back and asked them who they were and why they were calling me.  The guy said he could not answer my questions without my file.  I told him that I gave him my full name and the phone number and asked why he was calling me.  He still would not answer the question.  I flat out asked him if he was a debt collector and he said he was.  I told him that he is hereby notified to cease and desist all collection activities.  He said that it did not count because he did not have my file.  I told him that law does require that I notify a particular person, that he has been notified to cease and desist.  He again argued that I need to talk to this particular person, and I again said no.  He screamed that I needed to call back later and hung up.  Guess debt collectors don't like assertive people.

Called my cell phone after being told not to

They reached an agreement and payments are being made and were told not to call my cell number, no clue how they received it but it is considered harassment

I am presently conducting a pre-litigation investigation concerning the Law Offices of James West for its telephone messages, communications, and other practices that violate the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ("FDCPA") and other state laws.
If you, or anyone you may know, have received a telephone message from Law Offices of James West. I ask that you do the following:
(1) Save the recorded message(s) including the time/date the message(s) were received;
(2) Save any letter(s) that you receive; and
(3) Contact my law firm via e-mail or telephone. My contact information is as follows:

Law Office of William F. Horn
188-01B 71st Crescent
Fresh Meadows, NY 11365-3773
Telephone: (718)785-0543
Fax: (866)596-9003
E-Mail: bill@wfhlegal.com
Please be certain to reference the name "Law Office of James West" when communicating with us. Thank you.

JULY 10, 2010: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Debt-collectors ... 294800.html?x=0

DEBT COLLECTORS SOCK IT TO CONSUMERS:

Blake Ellis, staff reporter,

Friday July 9, 2010, 3:01 pm EDT

DEBT COLLECTORS ARE GETTING DESPERATE AND DIRTY.

Harassing phone calls, abusive language and physical violence are becoming a bigger part of business as debt collectors struggle to round up money from people who don't have it.

"The American consumer is really hurting and collectors are having to fight harder to get money," said Robert Andrews, a senior analyst specializing in the debt industry at research firm IBISWorld.

Complaints of harassment by debt collectors surged 50% to 67,550 in 2009, according to the Federal Trade Commission. And they are on track to jump 13% this year, based on the number of FTC complaints filed in the first six months.

The No. 1 complaint is repeated calls, and it is not uncommon for collectors to bombard consumers with back-to-back calls for days, weeks, months and even years.

When debt collectors finally get someone on the other end of the phone, they are more likely to use nastier language. Complaints of debt collectors using obscene or abusive language spiked 35% last year.

A 55-year old New York woman, who asked to remain anonymous, said a collection agent called her home repeatedly, personally attacking her and her husband. When she refused to answer the phone, the collector called her estranged sister, an ex-boyfriend and her husband's ex-wife's mother.

"This guy was out of his mind and he kept calling and calling, telling me 'you better talk to me, you deadbeat,'" she said. "He was very threatening and the whole thing was just really unsettling -- it made you wonder who was going to show up at your door."

She had reason to worry, since complaints of debt collectors threatening -- or actually using -- violence more than doubled last year, to 2,517.

Keary Floyd, an attorney who represents consumers at the Floyd Legal Firm in Atlanta, said that while most of his debt collection cases involve excessive phone calls, one of his recent clients recorded a disturbing phone conversation where a debt collector threatened that he or someone else would come to the client's house to get the money in any way that he could.

"I heard it, and if any phone call was going to worry someone, it would be that one," said Floyd.

Other aggressive tactics that are becoming more common are debt collectors calling before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m., demanding more money than what is owed, revealing a consumer's debt to a third party or threatening "dire consequences" like prosecution, jail time, property seizure or job loss.

These practices are not just inappropriate, but they are illegal under the FTC's Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, which has been around since 1977.

An industry representative said the increase in complaints of harassment should not only be attributed to desperate and aggressive collecting agents, but to more consumers trying to cash in on lawsuits.

"Certainly if debt collectors are being more aggressive, they shouldn't be, but it's not fair to characterize the actions of debt collectors as the only reason why there is an increase in complaints -- they're not fully to blame," said Mark Schiffman, a spokesman for The Association of Credit and Collection Professionals.

"There's a growing industry of consumer attorneys and savvy consumers who have learned that they can sue a debt collector fairly easily and collect very easily," he added.

Consumers are able to take a collector to state or federal court for harassment, according to the FTC. If the debtor wins the case, the collector is required to pay for any damages caused by the harassment, such as lost income and medical bills.

Even if debtors can't prove monetary damages but are able to prove harassment, they can receive up to $1,000 and are reimbursed for the court and attorney fees

someone from this office calls my home frequently asking for my father - who is 74 years old and has alzheimer's and does not live with me.
I have told the caller this information numerous times, but they keep calling back

Thank you very much for this posting. It has helped me a lot. I lost my job 3.5 months ago and the pressure from debt collectors are overwhelming as I dont have the resources to pay back my debts.

Thanks again for this advise.

I have received various calls

very RUDE debt collection firm.  Made me very angry, until we wrote a cease and desist letter.  They are very unreasonable and will not make a deal at all.

Please have the Law OF James West Stop calling my job

This company keeps calling me asking for a specific person who I do not know. I tried telling the woman on the phone that there was no one by that name and she became crude and disrespectful and VERY unprofesional