877-847-9118

Received 2 messages to call urgently and they referenced a case number. They don't say who they're calling from or what it's regarding, other than referencing that case number.

Does anyone know if this is a real collection agency?

Yes, Louis and Associates is a real collection agency.

I've rec'd numerous calls from this company with vague messages about a case number and to return the call to this number... I have requested -for over a year now-NOT TO GET CALLS AT MY WORK!! I've asked for 'these papers to be delivered served or whatever' so I will have information to respond. No companies or names or amounts are given.... just a case number and the 'threat' of being served. I WILL NOT PAY ANYTHING IF I DON'T HAVE THE INFORMATION ON WHAT IT'S IN REFERENCE TOO! Just now... rec'd another call on my WORK phone and calmly but firmly asked her--Ashley-- to NOT CALL MY WORK PHONE AND TO DELIVER THE PAPERS SO I KNOW WHAT THIS IS IN REFERENCE TOO. She ignored my request and wanted to give me the case number and a phone # to call ASAP. I told her I am at work and will NOT call anyone now. We are NOT allowed personal calls and would appreciate it if they'd Stop calling and just serve me!! She then continued to call 15x's back to back and would say stuff like As*hole... If this is a Real Debt Company... perhaps they should learn some Customer Service Manners or have someone call who can give information!!! Utterly ridiculous!!

Most of the outbound calls are made for address verification.  Ask to talk to a manager, I am certain that you will be treated in a professional manner.  If someone is treating in a un-professional way, the manger will want to make sure that an employee acting that way is properly diciplined.  However, they will never know who is treating you in an un-professional manner if you do not call and let them know your file/case #.  Each file/case # will have an employee assigned to it and a time stamp of every call that was made.

I was told they were going to serve my mom if I didn't have her call this number. Is that legal?

It is more than likely that the post from Eddie is a disgruntled former employee.  However, if this type of behavior did occur, call our office and ask to speak to the manager.  Our agency goes through continual training on compliance issues.

said they had important court docs and if i didn't call back a failure to appear will go on my record.

This company has called me, my neighbors and my ex-husband who I have not been married to for over 25 years!  All with the same threatening message that they have court papers to be delivered and with a case number.  I have told them to deliver the papers, I have been waiting for them since the first time they called over a year ago.  I have called back with said case number and gotten nowhere. And asking to talk to a manager gets you nowhere also, just more runaround and extra harassment!  What gives these people the right to threaten a neighbor lady with having the papers delivered to her house if she won't go get me right away?  I was not there at the time so she couldn't get me if she had tried.  These people are older and not in good health.  This is a very sleazy company.  And one of the responses above from 'Really' to 'Eddie'?  I seriously doubt if Eddie is a disgruntled employee, after experiencing this abuse firsthand.  If they are a reputable company which goes through continual training, I seriously doubt that.  Louis and Associates are the lowest of the low of any collection company!  And no, they don't give the company name EVER when they call, but the tracing services all had the same information from this number!  I am turning this over to Clark Howard and let's see what he says about all these harassing calls!

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation's consumer protection agency, is warning consumers to be on the alert for scam artists posing as debt collectors. It may be hard to tell the difference between a legitimate debt collector and a fake one. Sometimes a fake collector may even have some of your personal information, like a bank account number. A caller may be a fake debt collector if he:

is seeking payment on a debt for a loan you do not recognize;
refuses to give you a mailing address or phone number;
asks you for personal financial or sensitive information; or
exerts high pressure to try to scare you into paying, such as threatening to have you arrested or to report you to a law enforcement agency.

If you think that a caller may be a fake debt collector:
Ask the caller for his name, company, street address, and telephone number. Tell the caller that you refuse to discuss any debt until you get a written "validation notice." The notice must include the amount of the debt, the name of the creditor you owe, and your rights under the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
If a caller refuses to give you all of this information, do not pay! Paying a fake debt collector will not always make them go away. They may make up another debt to try to get more money from you.

Stop speaking with the caller. If you have the caller's address, send a letter demanding that the caller stop contacting you, and keep a copy for your files. By law, real debt collectors must stop calling you if you ask them to in writing.

Do not give the caller personal financial or other sensitive information. Never give out or confirm personal financial or other sensitive information like your bank account, credit card, or Social Security number unless you know whom you're dealing with. Scam artists, like fake debt collectors, can use your information to commit identity theft – charging your existing credit cards, opening new credit card, checking, or savings accounts, writing fraudulent checks, or taking out loans in your name.

Contact your creditor. If the debt is legitimate – but you think the collector may not be – contact your creditor about the calls. Share the information you have about the suspicious calls and find out who, if anyone, the creditor has authorized to collect the debt.

Report the call. Contact the FTC and your state Attorney General's office with information about suspicious callers. Many states have their own debt collection laws in addition to the federal FDCPA. Your Attorney General's office can help you determine your rights under your state's law.>

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/alerts/alt076.shtm

I can assure you that our company will address any situation that arises when a consumer has a complaint.  Call and ask to speak to the manager to get the issue resolved.  I am no so certain that the first call you got was over a year ago,  our office has not even been in business for a year.  Also, when we receive collection accounts they are only placed in our office for a short period of time before either moving to next level of collections or placed with another agency.  However, it is possible that another agency called prior to Louis and Associates.  Again, call the manager and I am certain this will be worked out and appropriate actions against misconduct will be taken.

I am an employee of Louis and Associates.  Our office does send "debt validation letters" within five days of  direct contact of the consumer.  Unfortunately, a large amount of the notices are returned by U.S. mail for invalid addresses.  In many instances when the consumer identifies the letter from our office, they simply write return to sender on the envelope, wrong address.  However, we know they are at that address because they respond to offers that have been mailed to them at the same address we are using.  Also, our office honors any cease and desist letters that we receive.  Our office will never ask you for your social security number.  However, we will take measures to protect the consumer, by having the consumer verify information that we provide to them.   Lastly, we record conversations with the approval of the consumer on the accounts we collect on, and at the request of the consumer, we will send them a copy of the recording.  I agree, there are scam entities out there and you can never be cautious enough.  Ask to speak to one of the managers,  you will be treated with respect and in a professional manner.

This company is calling my job, family, etc leaving threaten messages.  Will not give any information of the nature of the call.  Just leaving messages stating they have a warrant on their desk and a case number.

Any outbound call from our office should be for purposes of address verification.  Call the office and ask to speak to one of the managers.  As you can see our office does not receive many complaints, we take all complaints very serious.  Also, our office is FDCPA certified.

I guess "FDCPA certified" and "following all provisions of the FDCPA" are two different things, judging by the complaints here.

"Purposes of address verification" -- really?  So you're saying that these people that you call and harass are supposed to aid you in your skip-tracing efforts?  I don't think so!

Action Investigators called my family, left a case number but no further information. The area code is from the western Iowa. I searched this company and they deal with charged off car loans. I haven't had a car loan for over 20 yrs.

I agree with your statement 100%!

It is more than likely that you are a lying, scamming shill for the company.

Louis and Associates is a debt collector.  It is never fun talking to a debt collector.  They treated me ok. and agreed to settle my account with an arrangement to make payments.

shill alert!