877-209-5454

I got a call from my boss this morning.  Someone from Legal Action Recovery had called and left a detailed message but wouldn't give him anymore information...they are not allowed to do that!!!  I checked my home voice mail a little while later and there was a message from Investigator Madison, but then at the end of the message it became Investigator Madison Maddox.  I have filed a report with the FTC.  I'm not even going to bother calling them back.  I am glad I looked up the phone number and found this website!  The lengthes people will go to just never cease to amaze me.

Heres a news artical on the fools your dealing with



http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100105/ap_on_bi_ge/us_debt_collection_capital

Thanks everyone for this information.  I had already contacted an attorney to follow up on a message left for my son before I read through all of the information at this website and others about this company.   I will follow up as needed with the Attorney General's office (I've already downloaded the complaint form), and the FTC.  (Why does the FBI want to know about these calls?  That seems strange.)  Anyway, I'm giving them a chance to back down and admit their error in leaving such a misleading message, and if they don't, my attorney can handle it.

Hi everyone, I am so glad I looked up this number, because the people calling my husbeen said that he owns them 1000.00 for a lone takin out wen he was 17 back in 2002. My husbeen told me e as never took a lone out in 2002. When I asked the guy about the loan I told him ny husbeen was only 17 in 2002 and in the state of MO you have to be 18 in order to take out a loan the guy tried to tell me he used a fake I.D. Then he told me the loan was takin out over the internet. Like whatever, anyone could of took tis loan out is what I told him. Then I asked him for the papers to be sent in the mail to me and he said he would send them to me, ya well see if that happens. I asked him for there address and he gave me hell about it and then hung up on me, so I called back and a girl hung up on me when I asked her for it. I called one more time and they finally gave me an address for GA get that. How are you going to order me to court if you don't even work in MO. I hope someone does something about the people, because a lot of people are going to be out some money for nothing. They are lier'sssss    and I hope they go to jail for they are doing.

Oh, I forgot to tell all of you, the man I talk to from Legal Action Agency's name was Mckenzie Johnson or so thats what he told me.

my parents got a call today from some1 saying they r investerd w/legal  action recovery, but they wont give me any other info, i talked 2 the PD in my town and looked on Google and they said it is a scam

Legal Action Recovery -
Possibly connected with Paul Kelleher & Associates
Legal Action Recovery c/o SBS
1640 Powers Ferry Rd.
Bldg 2, Suite 300B
Marietta, GA  30063

False Statements and Fraudulent Debt Collection Practices

A federal statute known as the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (often called the "FDCPA"),  15 USC 1692, gives you specific legal rights to sue debt collectors who unlawfully threaten, berate, intimidate or harass you; call you during odd hours, make false representations about the debt or their intentions, or otherwise act in ways proscribed by the act (and their are many). False statements may include (and this list is just a small example) threats to:

Attach your wages when unlawful or not intended-this includes threats to take more wages that is permitted by the federal limitation (wage attachment for a credit card debt, a non-student loan or for an obligation that is not support is generally illegal in Pennsylvania, however, now that law has been expanded to rent and lease damages in some cases-you should check the statute to be sure);

Contact your employer about the debt;

Call you "everyday until the debt is paid;"

Sell the debt to another company for the purposes of continuing collection on a time-barred debt;

Contact neighbors about the debt;

Contact the Department of Homeland Security about your alien status;

Threaten imprisonment or criminal punishment;

Report a financed vehicle as "stolen" because you missed one or more vehicle payments;

File or threaten to file criminal bad check charges on a post dated check that the collector solicited from you;

Immediately evict (by an agent for a landlord); lockout, or seize personal property where such relief is limited by state law;

Sue, where no suit is intended, e.g. a collector requested "settlement prior to possible legal action" where the collection agency had no authority to sue, or to retain counsel. This action was held to be deceptive and violative of the FDCPA by a federal court in Connecticut.
Or, a threat implying that the collection agency has multiple employees or investigators working to collect the debt, where only one or two people work for the agency.

Collect or sue for "collection costs," "attorney's fees," (see also below) interest not pre-agreed to in excess of that allowed by statute, "fines," or any other fee in excess of the actual amount due, unless the original agreement provides for the amount the collector threatens to collect. For instance, the collector cannot threaten to add attorney's fees or his fees where the agreement you signed does not specifically provide for them. Let's say you went to the dentist and just signed consent form and a medical history. You agreed to pay for all charges if your insurance did not. Nothing is mentioned about anything else. The collector cannot add any other fees or even and especially, his costs, late fees or other charges.
Add "collection costs, attorney's fees" and similar additional charges have also been held to be deceptive and misleading, because they do not state exactly what debt is being sought.

Sue or bring any kind of legal action where the threat is not followed through (i.e. a scare tactic), or any number or other threats designed to demoralize, humiliate, degrade; embarrass or intimidate a debtor into payment.

Or any threat where the collector says he is legal counsel or an attorney/lawyer when he is not;

Or a threat or attempt to mislead a debtor that a claim will be transferred to an attorney or separate department of a collector (e.g. "This will be transferred to our legal department for further action"). Letters misrepresenting that the account has been transferred to an attorney may include an attorney's letterhead with threats of legal action. Have you ever received a letter from a lawyer who purportedly collects for a major creditor? Has the lawyer been out-of-state? Has the lawyer threatened to sue if payment was not made?

Other Little-Known Tactics that are also illegal:

It is unlawful under the FDCPA to threaten suit if no such action is intended.  This even applies if the collector says if you don't do something within a certain time period, something else may happen.  See discussion below in the case of Brown v. CSC.  The attorney cannot sue you in a state that is not your home state, under the FDCPA. Therefore, the threat is an empty one. Empty threats are punishable under the FDCPA!

Legal letters that are not reviewed by a lawyer. It is unlawful for such a letter to be sent unless the lawyer reviews the letter? Do you believe that when thousands of letters issue the lawyer reviews each one? Do you also believe in the tooth fairy? Where the correspondence is not reviewed by counsel, the correspondence violates the FDCPA. Look at the letters you receive from lawyers. Were they signed by hand? If not, perhaps they were not reviewed by a lawyer. You may have a case under the FDCPA.

The collector's threat to "make this go legal" or to "turn the matter over to the legal department" may violate the FDCPA where the collector has no legal department. Do you think that the collector may be a collection operation only? If so, perhaps they have no legal department, i.e., the legal aspect is handled outside of the company. In this scenario is another violation of the FDCPA.

It is also a violation to send a letter stating that the collector will "recommend litigation" or "advise the creditor to sue." Some of such correspondence has been found to violate the FDCPA because it, in essence purports to give legal advice to the creditor. The collector is not permitted to give legal advice, unless, of course, if the collector is an attorney himself.

The Least Sophisticated Consumer Standard: Did you also know that it does not matter if you believed the threats or that a person of your intelligence would not have believed the threats (i.e. the collector threatens to have you arrested for not paying Sears. You as an intelligent consumer believe the threat is ridiculous since the U.S. Constitution prohibits such actions). The FDCPA's standard is the "least sophisticated consumer standard." That is, would anyone believe the threat. Perhaps some guy name Cletus living in a shack on a mountain in Arkansas might believe the threat (he also believes he had an alien enema that morning). This would be enough to sustain the standard and your burden of proof if the court believes that the threat occurred. The courts have consistently said: The concept of deception protects even the ignorant, unthinking and the credulous, least sophisticated consumer. See discussion below and Jeter v. Credit Bureau, Inc., 760 F.2d 1168 (11th Cir. 1985)

It is also unlawful to sue a consumer in a remote jurisdiction that is not where the consumer resides, or the one in which the contract was made. It is also unlawful to charge for items not due under the contract.

http://www.pennlawyer.com/fdcpa.htm

called them today and asked for info, like copy of everything and the guy was very rude and as he huge up on me said we will see you in court and you will lose

I called them today and recorded the whole conversation, with then deny me any information,as well as being very rude, and their story kept changing, but when i said i was recording everything they did a total 360 and was very polite and gave me everyhthing i needed

went to the company they say they are representung and the account is paid in full

This company began calling and harassing my family and distant connections to my family (people who are in no way connected, related or in contact with me).  The man calling claimed to be a "detective" (another person a "special investigator") and stated that he was calling in regards to a civil complaint and an outstanding warrant for my arrest for the charge of "intent to defraud" on a so-called debt from 1999 from a company that I never did business with.  They could not provide validation for the debt nor tell me why they had never contacted me directly.  I think this is a SCAM!  I filed a complaint with my state's Attorney General's Office and plan to do the same in the State of Georgia where they are located tomorrow.  There are a ton of websites reporting literally hundreds of complaints just like mine from these people.  What they are doing is illegal!  This man went as far as to provide people I don't even know directly with my social security #, detailed reasons for his call, debt owed dollar amount etc, as well as the blatant lies I listed above.  I called the county they claimed to have this "case" in court with and verified there was no such case.  They even went as far as to "conference call a judge" to review my "court case" and offer me a settlement that I had to accept and make arrangement on then to prevent further criminal and legal action!!!  Hopefully they will be stopped.  I for one, intend to pursue legal action if anyone else is called for harassment. This is a clear cut case of an overzealous third rate collectors office with substandard information on the debts they are even trying to collect, where scare tactics rule supreme and no consideration is given to the laws and our rights under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

They called me several times! I adke for a validation letter and they refused. Anyone who wants to join me in taking our own legal action email me at drcm@ymail.com Lets get the bal rolling. They are going DOWN!

I can't believe these people are still at it!

Legal Action and Recovery  5th call from this company threatening legal action if I don't settle up via credit card.  They don't scare me but other folks are surely intimidating by their threats.  Can't someone stopthem ?

This company lies and should be reported to the police.  they link you to people you do not even kow about.

i just got this call, same story as all of you

i'll help if anyone tries to stop this company.

- gwarble
northern california

I got a call the exact same way everybody else did. They told me the origional creditor for my bill was a company called Pro Solutions. A supposed payday loan company. I can't seem to find them online though. I went to the police station in my town and told them the situation. The officer called the number and reached my investigator and he said that they argued because the investigator couldn't answer any of his questions and told me not to worry about it.

We're a nonprofit in Los Angeles that wrote about this "company" on our blog after the relative a staff member was contacted. I got a new address from them. Definitely seems like a scam. http://commecondev.wordpress.com/2010/03/25/scam/

My elderly mother called me upset about a vm she rec'd.  Caller said this is Joanna Delkowski with Harvey Wynn & Associates (talking so fast not sure of name) trying to reach my father regarding a relative's debt.  This relative she was referring to was an orphan my grandparents adopted & raised as my father's sister and here's the clincher -- my father has been dead for 4 years.  Caller further stated it was regarding a civil complaint pending in this "sister's" county and could not even pronounce the county name correctly  Further informed that my father needed to contact her & seek legal representation, left a case # and a callback # 877-209-5454, Ext 109. Ms. Delkowski if you reach my father, please tell him how much we miss him and love him.  As for his "sister" I am sure she owes somebody because she owes EVERYBODY including my deceased father.  Collect that debt if you can! I promise that if my mother receives another call from this company or any other like it, I will stop at nothing to put them out of business.  As for Ms Delkowski, if you want to meet your match, call ME.

I got a call from this number saying they have a Civil action against me and to contact Special Agent Gabriel Gortachi at 877-290-5454.  This is the first time I've heard about this and have not received anything in the mail.  I have no bad debts and do not owe money to anyone.