8884202510

A woman left a message on my machine claiming to be a company representative for the estate of my deceased sister in law. Very sneaky to imply I'm a beneficiary when this is a collection agency. How horrible to prey on the grief of family members.

They called me after my hubby recently died saying he owed them for a credit card or something. I told them he was deceased. Now I get letters saying sorry for your loss and he owes 3 thousand something but they will settle for $700 some bucks. Being a homemaker, I sure can't afford to pay that. After reading these posts here, does it mean I don't have to pay them? I sure hope so as I can't afford it. It is mean of them to prey on my loss. I wonder how I can get them to stop sending letters...

Got the same message asking for the beneficiary of a family estate. Glad I looked up the number from my caller id because such an unethical practice doesn't deserve the time of day. Disgusting!

These morons are calling my Father (who also happens to be my Mother's ex-husband )and my Father's ex-wife in regards to my deceased mother.  The first phone call to my father stated they were inquiring about my Mother's estate...the second phone call to my stepmom were regarding some type of credit.  I hope these idiots call me!!!!  And I really hope that they screen the call....I called them and got a recording to leave a message...I kept that one clean, cannot promise about the next call!!!!!!

My husband died suddenly one month ago. I have received two messages in the last two days from the same number, some woman extension 4065 regarding who is responsible for his estate, etc. etc. He had no outstanding debt. I don't answer the phone anyway so she is just blowing in the wind. These scumbags don't even leave the family alone to grieve.

Had this message on answering machine tonight when I arrived home. "Hi I was looking to speak to the person who handled the final finanical affairs of (ex-husbands name). Please call Erica Kudson with Ascension Point at 888-420-2510 X 4068. Thank you and have a great day."  Very cheery and pleasant so I called and spoke with Erica.  She asked if I had handled the final affairs and I stated no.  She then wanted to know who did and I told her his son.  She asked that I let him know she had called and have him call her.  When I asked what this was about she stated it was a personal business matter and if I could tell her the last four digits of his social security number she could tell me.  When I told her I did not know the numbers she then stated she could not release any information due to FEDERAL LAWS and confidentiality.  I had a funny feeling about this call so I looked up the name and number on the internet.  After reading the information on this site I guess I was right to have a "funny feeling" sure am glad I looked it up.  This does appear to be a real nifty SCAM.  Sorry Erica you will get nothing!

"Beneficiary" did they really use that word? Wow! Bullcrap

I have received 2 phone calls from this number.  The first time they called I immediately called and asked who they were and the nature of their business.  They stated that they could not find my phone number in their records and they call on behalf of deceased accounts.  The lady stated that they may have called me in error.  This morning I received another call from the same number and again they left no voicemail.

FROM FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION WEBSITE - FAMILY IS NOT RESPONSIBLE!  



http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/alerts/alt159.shtm

Paying the Debts of a Deceased Relative: Who Is Responsible?

After a relative dies, the last thing grieving family members may expect are calls from debt collectors asking them to pay their loved one’s outstanding debts. According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation’s consumer protection agency, a surviving relative usually has no legal obligation to pay the debts of a family member who has died. In fact, the rights of surviving relatives are covered by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), which prohibits debt collectors from using abusive, unfair, or deceptive practices to collect from you.

Under the FDCPA, which is enforced by the FTC, a debt collector is someone who regularly collects debts owed to others. This includes collection agencies, lawyers who collect debts on a regular basis, and companies that buy delinquent debts and then try to collect them.

Here’s what the law has to say about who has responsibility for a dead relative’s debts.

Who is responsible for paying the debts of a relative who has died?
Generally, someone’s estate is responsible for paying their debts. But if there isn’t enough in the estate to cover the debts, they typically go unpaid.
Am I legally obligated to pay the debts of a deceased relative?
You usually don’t have a legal obligation to pay the debts of a deceased relative who was not your spouse. Even a spouse’s obligation to pay may be limited under state probate law. To determine whether you’re legally obligated to pay, talk to an attorney who is knowledgeable about this area of the law.
What should I do if a debt collector contacts me about a debt of a relative who has died?
Give the debt collector the contact information of the decedent’s personal representative. That’s the person responsible for settling their affairs, including paying any outstanding debts from the estate. If there is a will, the personal representative is known as the executor; if there is no will, the personal representative is known as the administrator.
Don’t give any of your personal information, like your Social Security number, birth date, or financial account numbers to anyone unless you know who you’re dealing with. Some con artists may check obituaries and other legal notices, and then contact relatives of a deceased posing as debt collectors. These scam artists can use your personal information to help them commit identity theft or other types of fraud.

Do I have to speak with a debt collector who contacts me about the debts of a deceased relative?
No. But if you’re a decedent’s personal representative, or otherwise legally obligated to pay the debt, you may want to talk with the debt collector to see if you can resolve the matter.
Can I stop a debt collector from contacting me about the debts of a deceased relative?
Yes. If you decide that you don’t want a debt collector to contact you again, write a letter to the collector saying so. Then, make a copy of your letter, send the original by certified mail, and pay for a “return receipt” so you will be able to document what the collector received and when. Once the collector receives your letter, they may not contact you again, with two exceptions: a collector can contact you to tell you there will be no further contact and to let you know that they or the creditor plan to take a specific action, like filing a lawsuit. Remember that even though the collector is prohibited from contacting you again, they still may sue the estate of your relative or the legally responsible person to collect the debt.
Can debt collectors tell anyone else about my dead relative’s debt?
Other than to get the personal representative’s location, a debt collector generally is not allowed to disclose your relative’s debt to anyone other than the deceased’s spouse, parent (if your relative is a minor child), or guardian.
For Complaints and More Information
Report any problems you have with a debt collector to your state Attorney General’s office (www.naag.org) and the Federal Trade Commission (www.ftc.gov). Many states have their own debt collection laws that are different from the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Your Attorney General’s office can help you determine your rights under your state’s law.

For more information about debt collection and the additional rights provided under the FDCPA, see Debt Collection FAQs: A Guide for Consumers at ftc.gov/credit.

For information on other credit-related issues, visit www.ftc.gov/credit and www.MyMoney.gov, the U.S. government’s portal to financial education.

The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint or to get free information on consumer issues, visit ftc.gov or call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357); TTY: 1-866-653-4261. The FTC enters consumer complaints into the Consumer Sentinel Network, a secure online database and investigative tool used by hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.

June 2009

About Us Contact Us Jobs Recovery Act No FEAR Act Data Performance and Accountability Report FOIA Site Map
Website Policies Accessibility Privacy Policy Browser Plug-ins Related Sites USA.gov For FTC Staff Last Modified: Wednesday, 29-Jul-2009 09:54:00 EDT

Total bullcrap scam. Don't talk to these low-life idiots.

These people have started calling about my deceased mother-in-law. I never answer 800 numbers and it was a man that left a message. I couldn't understand a word he was saying, other than the name of my deceased mother-in-law who has been gone over a year now, and our attorney for her will has already filed everything in our name, and any claims on the estate had to be turned in within 90 days of her death. These people just now started calling and the next time they call I will be telling them they have the wrong number and to stop calling.

I'm so glad I checked this site. I've been getting calls once or twice a week from this number for the past month or so.  My mother passed away in July and had a lot of debt.  She did not have any money except for a small insurance policy that just covered her burial. I've never spoken to anyone @ this company, but did call the number early one morning and their recording said it was Accension Point.  It was hard enough to deal with her passing and the work involved letting people know.  I certainly don't need to have calls about her debt that can't be paid.

Be aware they have another number 888-806-9074.  My step-son got called yesterday.  I wouldn't give them any information.  Has anyone noticed from these posts that the money they are requesting is around the 2,000 mark.  sounds very scammy to me.

AscensionPoint Recovery Services, LLC
200 [***] Rapids Blvd. Suite 200
[***] Rapids, MN 55433-5876
ph: 888-420-2510
Fax Number: 763-235-4055

You’re Dead? That Won’t Stop the Debt Collector

Published: March 3, 2009
MINNEAPOLIS — The banks need another bailout and countless homeowners cannot handle their mortgage payments, but one group is paying its bills: the dead.

Dozens of specially trained agents work on the third floor of DCM Services here, calling up the dear departed’s next of kin and kindly asking if they want to settle the balance on a credit card or bank loan, or perhaps make that final utility bill or cellphone payment.

The people on the other end of the line often have no legal obligation to assume the debt of a spouse, sibling or parent. But they take responsibility for it anyway.

“I am out of work now, to be honest with you, and money is very tight for us,” one man declared on a recent phone call after he was apprised of his late mother-in-law’s $280 credit card bill. He promised to pay $15 a month.

Dead people are the newest frontier in debt collecting, and one of the healthiest parts of the industry. Those who dun the living say that people are so scared and so broke it is difficult to get them to cough up even token payments.

Collecting from the dead, however, is expanding. Improved database technology is making it easier to discover when estates are opened in the country’s 3,000 probate courts, giving collectors an opportunity to file timely claims. But if there is no formal estate and thus nothing to file against, the human touch comes into play.

New hires at DCM train for three weeks in what the company calls “empathic active listening,” which mixes the comforting air of a funeral director with the nonjudgmental tones of a friend. The new employees learn to use such anger-deflecting phrases as “If I hear you correctly, you’d like...”

“You get to be the person who cares,” the training manager, Autumn Boomgaarden, told a class of four new hires.

For some relatives, paying is pragmatic. The law varies from state to state, but generally survivors are not required to pay a dead relative’s bills from their own assets. In theory, however, collection agencies could go after any property inherited from the deceased.

But sentiment also plays a large role, the agencies say. Some relatives are loyal to the credit card or bank in question. Some feel a strong sense of morality, that all debts should be paid. Most of all, people feel they are honoring the wishes of their loved ones.

“In times of illness and death, the hierarchy of debts is adjusted,” said Michael Ginsberg of Kaulkin Ginsberg, a consulting company to the debt collection industry. “We do our best to make sure our doctor is paid, because we might need him again. And we want the dead to rest easy, knowing their obligations are taken care of.”

Finally, of course, some of those who pay a dead relative’s debts are unaware they may have no legal obligation.

Scott Weltman of Weltman, Weinberg & Reis, a Cleveland law firm that performs deceased collections, says that if family members ask, “we definitely tell them” they have no legal obligation to pay. “But is it disclosed upfront — ‘Mr. Smith, you definitely don’t owe the money’? It’s not that blunt.”

DCM Services, which began in 1999 as a law firm, recently acquired clients in banking, automobile finance, retailing, telecommunications and health care; DCM says its contracts preclude it from naming them.

The companies “want to protect their brand,” said DCM’s chief executive, Steven Farsht. Despite the delicacy of such collections, he says his 180-employee firm is providing a service to the economy. “The financial services industry is under a tremendous amount of pressure, and every dollar we collect improves their profitability,” he said.

To listen to even a small sample of DCM’s calls — executives played tapes of 10 of them for a reporter, electronically edited to remove all names — is to reveal the wages of misery, right down to the penny.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/04/business/04 ... 1&sq=dcm&st=cse

March 11, 2009

Chairman Jon Leibowitz
Federal Trade Commission
600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20580

Dear Chairman Leibowitz:

I am dismayed to learn from recent media reports that some debt collection companies have made it a practice to attempt to collect unpaid credit card balances – and perhaps other types of unsecured debts – from the families of the deceased. According to numerous reports, these companies call surviving relatives, often shortly after the death of a loved one, to coax or cajole them into making payments on the deceased relative’s credit card.  To say the least, this practice is distasteful and unethical.  Moreover, this practice may very well violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.  I am hereby requesting that the Federal Trade Commission investigate whether debt collection companies are violating the law when they engage in this practice, and exactly what information they are conveying to surviving relatives who are under no obligation to pay off their loved ones’ credit cards.

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, among its many prohibitions, prevents debt collectors from contacting anyone other than the credit card holder without the prior consent of the holder.  Specifically, the Act provides that “a debt collector may not communicate, in connection with the collection of any debt, with any person other than the consumer, his attorney, a consumer reporting agency if otherwise permitted by law, the creditor, the attorney of the creditor, or the attorney of the debt collector.”  “Consumer” is defined in the Act as a “natural person” who owes a debt.  If this language does not apply to a situation in which the consumer is deceased, I would like to know the basis for such an opinion.  

I find it shocking that a debt collection company would determine that it is worth causing profound anguish and embarrassment in order to collect debts that are sometimes as low as $50, or which result in a payment of $15 a month from a widow or widower who is struggling to make ends meet. If a debt is large enough to be worth collecting, there are legal ways to obtain payment.  First, if a surviving family member has also signed for the card, that family member will be obligated to pay the debt.  Second, an unsecured creditor such as a credit card issuer can obtain payment from the estate of the deceased through a routine probate proceeding, after the holders of secured debt – such as mortgagors– are paid.  This practice of harassing living family members for upfront payments results in putting credit card issuers in the front of the line to get money from an estate, rather than after those who hold secured debt.

Given the current economic situation, in which millions of honest, hard-working Americans are struggling to meet their obligations, this practice is opportunistic and destructive.

In addition to opening an investigation into these practices, I would like the answers to the following questions:

Which debt collection companies (“collectors”) are engaging in the practice of collecting credit card debt from widows, widowers, children, and other relatives of the deceased?

Which credit card issuers are hiring these collectors, or selling their debts to these collectors?  Have the issuers endorsed this practice, either by turning a blind eye toward it or by specifically encouraging it?  

Does the practice of trying to collect unsecured debts from the living relatives of debtors who have passed on violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act’s prohibition on communicating with third parties?  If not, why not?  What measures could be taken to make sure that these practices are stopped?

If these practices are currently legal, are these collectors uniformly making sure that they tell living relatives that they have no legal obligation to pay the debt?  Further, are the collectors informing the living relatives of the statute of limitations for collecting these debts?  Are the collectors informing the living relatives that any credit card debt would be paid from the estate only after other secured debts, such as mortgage and car payments, are paid?

Given that the FTC receives more complaints about debt collection companies than any other American business, I hope and expect that you will be thorough in your investigation of this matter.


Sincerely,

Charles E. Schumer
United States Senator

http://schumer.senate.gov/new_website/record.cfm?id=309474

The debt collectors are behaving badly again. This time they're hitting up surviving family members for money that's owed by the dead!

The New York Times reports that some collection agencies specialize in this somewhat morbid pursuit. Collectors even receive "sensitivity" training to deal with grieving relatives. They'll speak in hushed tones on the phone like a funeral director and refer you to a legitimate grief counselor if necessary.

In most cases, you have no legal obligation to assume the debt of a late spouse, sibling or parent. But the collectors will never tell you that.

The only states where there is a possibility that a surviving spouse may have some responsibility for a debt are "community property states" -- Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin.

In such states, an executor/executrix or administrator (in the event there is no will) may be responsible for assessing the estate to see if there's money to pay out to creditors.

But in general, if you get a call from these slimeballs, know that you likely don't owe them a penny.

http://clarkhoward.com/shownotes/category/12/103/358/

Received a call about my deceased father. They tried to get info about who was handling his affairs. I asked who they were and they said it was a private matter. I told them I had nothing to do with this issue and to talk to his wife. I got the feeling something was not right and did not give them any info. They have been harassing me every week. I am so glad I came upon this site and will ignore these calls.

Ascension will call ex spouses and say the ex is dead even if they aren't.
This can catch even the most cynical off guard.  Beware

another number to look out for is 888 806 9074  Ken at X-4074

Jerry @ Ascension Point called stating he wanted to discuss the representative of the person handling the estate of xxxxxx - my deceased mother. I almost called back to tell them she had no estate, until I saw this site. It's disgusting that there are companies out there like this one who feed off of people like vampires. My humber is on the Do Not Call LList - isn't this a violation of that?

This woman calls, and of course I dont answer numbers I am not familiar with, but she leaves a voice message stating that she is looking for a family member who handled the estate for my deceased mom...MY MOM HAS NOT DIED...she even had the correct name. How can we actually report these people and have them stop calling?

These calls are probably illegal under your state law and possibly under the Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.  Contact an attorney in your area to see if you have a case.  The problem I've found with many of these type of places is, although they flagrantly violate the law, they often move, change business names, and try to remain judgment proof, so it ends up costing you money to pursue them and at best you get a judgment that you can never collect.  Another alternative would be for the federal government or your state attorney general to pursue and shut them down, but they often won't pursue them without a substantial amount of complaints, and again, by the time that happens, the company has shut down and formed under a new name.  Perhaps some people friendly judges will issue permanent injunctions preventing those who operate these businesses from forming new entities.

these people called my friend asking about the death of my ex-husband. a lady named erica called and she was very rude.. this is a scam and my friend never even met my ex!! they also use a (888)806-9074 number