888-876-2814

I got a new phone Tuesday they called me Wednesday.  I dint have any medical bills either so.... It has to be a scam.  If I had medical bills they would have found me before the day after I get a new phone. The fact youre in Houston too and I just changed my number to Houston area code and they called, leads me to believe this is just a scam.  I'm not gonna pick up and I havnt yet.  Maybe they just mess with people who answer? Someone needs to report them to the better business beuro

Got a call from them also.  Returned the call at the above number and requested to be taken off the list.  They were requesting someone by the name of Michael?  I told them they had the wrong number.  
Hope it works!

Called at 8:42 pm on 8-3-09. Machine picks up and a wierd sounding kids voice says "I see you" and then hangs up. That was it- I [***] you not.

Called at 9:01 am on 08/12/09. I let voicemail get it since i didn't recognize the number. The caller left no message, just a lot of heavy breathing--Darth Vader style! lol! Ha, whatever.

Refusal to provide written documentation of the debt is a violation of FDCPA.  Collection Agencies ARE REQUIRED BY LAW to provide it.

When they refuse it means they cannot prove the debt is yours.  

from federal trade commission website FDCPA

What does the debt collector have to tell me about the debt?

Every collector must send you a written “validation notice” telling you how much money you owe within five days after they first contact you. This notice also must include the name of the creditor to whom you owe the money, and how to proceed if you don’t think you owe the money.

They are also required to provide proof that they actuall OWN the debt they are trying to collect.  Many CA's/JDB do not have legal ownership of the debt they are trying to collect on.  

Read this for more information on how to deal with it.

COLLECTION AGENCIES DO NOT WANT YOU TO KNOW THIS INFORMATION!
FROM www.budhibbs.com  A CONSUMER ADVOCATE WEBSITE that specializes in Debt Collections and offers assistance to consumers.  THEY ALSO EXPOSE THE WORST FDCPA VIOLATORS IN THE COUNTRY

Dealing with debt collectors
http://www.budhibbs.com/start.html

Statute of limitations by state – always double check directly with your own State Government Website
http://www.budhibbs.com/statute_of_limitations.htm

Recording calls from debt collectors – always double check with your own State Government website
http://www.budhibbs.com/record.htm


From FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION WEBSITE
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre18.shtm

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.


Debt Collection FAQs: A Guide for Consumers
If you’re behind in paying your bills, or a creditor’s records mistakenly make it appear that you are, a debt collector may be contacting you.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation’s consumer protection agency, enforces 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, 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 are some questions and answers about your rights under the Act.

What types of debts are covered?
The Act covers personal, family, and household debts, including money you owe on a personal credit card account, an auto loan, a medical bill, and your mortgage. The FDCPA doesn’t cover debts you incurred to run a business.

Can a debt collector contact me any time or any place?
No. A debt collector may not contact you at inconvenient times or places, such as before 8 in the morning or after 9 at night, unless you agree to it. And collectors may not contact you at work if they’re told (orally or in writing) that you’re not allowed to get calls there.


How can I stop a debt collector from contacting me?

If a collector contacts you about a debt, you may want to talk to them at least once to see if you can resolve the matter – even if you don’t think you owe the debt, can’t repay it immediately, or think that the collector is contacting you by mistake. If you decide after contacting the debt collector that you don’t want the collector to contact you again, tell the collector – in writing – to stop contacting you. Here’s how to do that:

Make a copy of your letter. Send the original by certified mail, and pay for a “return receipt” so you’ll be able to document what the collector received. 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 or to let you know that they or the creditor intend to take a specific action, like filing a lawsuit. Sending such a letter to a debt collector you owe money to does not get rid of the debt, but it should stop the contact. The creditor or the debt collector still can sue you to collect the debt.

Can a debt collector contact anyone else about my debt?
If an attorney is representing you about the debt, the debt collector must contact the attorney, rather than you. If you don’t have an attorney, a collector may contact other people – but only to find out your address, your home phone number, and where you work. Collectors usually are prohibited from contacting third parties more than once. Other than to obtain this location information about you, a debt collector generally is not permitted to discuss your debt with anyone other than you, your spouse, or your attorney.

What does the debt collector have to tell me about the debt?
Every collector must send you a written “validation notice” telling you how much money you owe within five days after they first contact you. This notice also must include the name of the creditor to whom you owe the money, and how to proceed if you don’t think you owe the money.

Can a debt collector keep contacting me if I don’t think I owe any money?
If you send the debt collector a letter stating that you don’t owe any or all of the money, or asking for verification of the debt, that collector must stop contacting you. You have to send that letter within 30 days after you receive the validation notice. But a collector can begin contacting you again if it sends you written verification of the debt, like a copy of a bill for the amount you owe.


What practices are off limits for debt collectors?

Harassment. Debt collectors may not harass, oppress, or abuse you or any third parties they contact. For example, they may not:

use threats of violence or harm;
publish a list of names of people who refuse to pay their debts (but they can give this information to the credit reporting companies);
use obscene or profane language; or
repeatedly use the phone to annoy someone.

False statements. Debt collectors may not lie when they are trying to collect a debt. For example, they may not:

falsely claim that they are attorneys or government representatives;
falsely claim that you have committed a crime;
falsely represent that they operate or work for a credit reporting company;
misrepresent the amount you owe;
indicate that papers they send you are legal forms if they aren’t; or
indicate that papers they send to you aren’t legal forms if they are.

Debt collectors also are prohibited from saying that:

you will be arrested if you don’t pay your debt;
they’ll seize, garnish, attach, or sell your property or wages unless they are permitted by law to take the action and intend to do so; or
legal action will be taken against you, if doing so would be illegal or if they don’t intend to take the action.

Debt collectors may not:

give false credit information about you to anyone, including a credit reporting company;
send you anything that looks like an official document from a court or government agency if it isn’t; or
use a false company name.

Unfair practices. Debt collectors may not engage in unfair practices when they try to collect a debt. For example, they may not:

try to collect any interest, fee, or other charge on top of the amount you owe unless the contract that created your debt – or your state law – allows the charge;
deposit a post-dated check early;
take or threaten to take your property unless it can be done legally; or
contact you by postcard.

Can I control which debts my payments apply to?
Yes. If a debt collector is trying to collect more than one debt from you, the collector must apply any payment you make to the debt you select. Equally important, a debt collector may not apply a payment to a debt you don’t think you owe.

Can a debt collector garnish my bank account or my wages?
If you don’t pay a debt, a creditor or its debt collector generally can sue you to collect. If they win, the court will enter a judgment against you. The judgment states the amount of money you owe, and allows the creditor or collector to get a garnishment order against you, directing a third party, like your bank, to turn over funds from your account to pay the debt.

Wage garnishment happens when your employer withholds part of your compensation to pay your debts. Your wages usually can be garnished only as the result of a court order. Don’t ignore a lawsuit summons. If you do, you lose the opportunity to fight a wage garnishment.

Can federal benefits be garnished?
Many federal benefits are exempt from garnishment, including:

Social Security Benefits
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Benefits
Veterans’ Benefits
Civil Service and Federal Retirement and Disability Benefits
Service Members’ Pay
Military Annuities and Survivors’ Benefits
Student Assistance
Railroad Retirement Benefits
Merchant Seamen Wages
Longshoremen’s and Harbor Workers’ Death and Disability Benefits
Foreign Service Retirement and Disability Benefits
Compensation for Injury, Death, or Detention of Employees of U.S. Contractors Outside the U.S.
Federal Emergency Management Agency Federal Disaster Assistance
But federal benefits may be garnished under certain circumstances, including to pay delinquent taxes, alimony, child support, or student loans.

Do I have any recourse if I think a debt collector has violated the law?
You have the right to sue a collector in a state or federal court within one year from the date the law was violated. If you win, the judge can require the collector to pay you for any damages you can prove you suffered because of the illegal collection practices, like lost wages and medical bills. The judge can require the debt collector to pay you up to $1,000, even if you can’t prove that you suffered actual damages. You also can be reimbursed for your attorney’s fees and court costs. A group of people also may sue a debt collector as part of a class action lawsuit and recover money for damages up to $500,000, or one percent of the collector’s net worth, whichever amount is lower. Even if a debt collector violates the FDCPA in trying to collect a debt, the debt does not go away if you owe it.

What should I do if a debt collector sues me?
If a debt collector files a lawsuit against you to collect a debt, respond to the lawsuit, either personally or through your lawyer, by the date specified in the court papers to preserve your rights.

Where do I report a debt collector for an alleged violation?
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
To learn more about debt collection and other credit-related issues, visit www.ftc.gov/credit and MyMoney.gov, the U.S. government’s portal to financial education.

They keep on calling and ask to verify my date of birth without telling the purpose. They say federal prohibits them to tell purpose before I verify my date of birth, which I do not want to tell.

This is a company called Capio Partners, who buy up and attempt to collect on medical debt-if you visit their website you can see they JUST bought up millions of $'s in medical debts in July 09, so let the games begin (cue starting bell!)

Capio Partners
2250 Satellite Blvd, Suite 210
Duluth, GA 30097
Phone: 678-682-3680
Fax: 678-682-3217

Gave them the FTC number for them to return my call there!  Will delete that previous cell number anyway when I port my number to them; thanks for the great info on this scam...

Call from this # went to voicemail. Was an automated dialer stating the call was very important and to please hold for the next available representative, then someone came on line and said hello twice and hung up. No other message left. If they think it is sooooo important to speak with someone, why don't they leave a message? These phone sales people, or whatever they may be, are laughable, because leaving a message stating who it is they are trying to contact and what company they are calling from is the ONLY way I would ever even think of returning a call to them. And that is if I wanted to buy what they are selling. Plain and simple!!

So I just got a call from some lady claiming she needs to speak to me. Red flag, name mispronounced! Second REd Flag wrong ssn. Okay so I call back and this time I record the call. I speak To EVAN AT CAPIO PARTNERS POB 3209 SHERMAN, TX. 75090. FAX NUMBER 903.893.4825. Claims he can not give any reference numbers, original creditor info or any of that until he can validate my ssn. Yeah Right. Can you say attempted Fraud!!! I advised him I'll be putting his company on notice! She gets a little shook up. Tries to verify a dob. No! I think not. Might be the final piece of the puzzle to commet fraud! Ask for address validtion. Nope! You first dude! Oh NO go! Okay bye bye! No info, no go! Hummm

BY The Way on another note. For those of you who still pay for minuets on your cell phone. Don't you find it annoying that these calls can totally take away from your minuets if your not on an unlimited plan!! Think about it 3 calls a day at at least 1 to 3 minuets each. Let's do the math.

3 calls x 5 days a week. Hoping they take the weekend off LOL
3 minuets a call = 45 minuets a week. Thats 45 x 4 weeks in a month, that's 180 minuets a month that your paying for somebody who has the wrong number!! Okay so let's say you have a plan of 1000 minuets. Your loosing dang near 200 minuets dealing with this BUll**it!!

Kinda Pisses you off don't it!!?

Calling about debt collection.  WE HAVE NO DEBT OTHER THAN MORTGAGE  no car, no credit card, no loans nothing

They called once, I let it hit voice mail. They didn't leave a message. They called again a couple minutes later and still didn't leave a message. For some reason the call only showed up once. I do have a medical debt I called to pay off, but they were instructed to leave a message if I didn't answer, so I know it's not them.

Pay your [***] bills!!

Pay you flippin bill..sheesh..

I can't maintain a relationship with either gender!

Caller left a robotic message to call Mary Jones. They are Capio Partners, seem to be legit debt collectors for healtcare issues. Called the number, spoke to a polite young man, told him they were calling wrong number. He asked a question to confirm if I was the correct party or not. Confirmed I was clearly not and would no longer receive any calls. Very painless process to this point. Hopefully there will not be any additional calls.

I'm finding that the house I bought was a rental for 10 years before I bought the house.  4 or 5 different families rented the house and two or three of them must have got behind in their medical bills.  The collection agency Googles the address and and up pops your phone number.
They strat calling hoping to find the person who owes them money. Only thing is the SOB's never believe me when I tell them there is no Amber Thomsson who lives here. The dude who contacted me figures she got married and I must be her new husband or something.  Best thing to do is put thier number is call block or just let it ring and never pick it up again..  It will stop after 90 days..  The collection agency will move on to the next one after 90 day of attempting to colloect or contact someone.  Pick up the phone and talk to one of these clowns - You can expect a year or two of calls.

From:  http://www.capiopartners.com/news/Kaulkin_Report_02-25-08.pdf

A Kaulkin Media Publication
Richards Building Capio to Capture Top Spot as Health Care Collector  
Jim Richards says his new firm could invest as much as $100 million over three years to fill a need in
the growing health care debt market.

By Cynthia Wilson
insideARM.com
February 25, 2008

Veteran health care debt expert Jim Richards says there’s a service gap in the healthcare
receivable industry and he and his partners at Capio Partners, LLC plan to capitalize on it.  “We think
we can end up being the largest and premier debt buyer in the business,” said Richards, Capio’s
president and chief executive. Richards, a founding member of Attention LLC, and former president
of West Asset Management, last month launched Capio, which means “capture” in Latin. The
company will specialize in buying and collecting self-pay debt from hospitals and from hospital
affiliates specializing in the areas of pathology, radiology, anesthesiology and emergency room
service. Capio’s headquarters is in Atlanta and its collection operations are located in Sherman,
Texas.
Richards came out of retirement to form Capio with Cindy Armstrong, Doug Sawyer and Mark
Detrick, three of the executives he worked with to found Attention, a secondary-debt collector.
Capio has hired 40 agents to work in its 30,000 square-foot facility in Texas. Richards said that Capio
should have100 agents by year’s end and 250 employees within three years.  Richards said the time
was right to start a new in health care debt because the industry has a huge service void. “Big debt
buyers don’t quite understand hospitals or healthcare debt. And the people who do understand
them don’t have the capital typically needed to buy the accounts,” he said.  Richards said Capio
will invest $10 million to $20 million of its own money into its ventures and look to larger debt buying
companies, such as CarVal Investors to fund the remaining 80 percent over the next three years.
Capio hopes to invest up to $100 million into a series of portfolios over the next three years.
Richards said he expects the money to buy a lot more debt than it might have a year ago. With
larger investors like Encore Capital Group no longer in the business and economic conditions
worsening throughout the country, Richards said he expects healthcare debt buyers to pay
between 10 and 20 percent less than they would have a year ago, depending on the creditor. The
executives at Capio bring more than a combined five decades of experience and numerous
contacts to the business, said Richards. “We’ve seen more receivables than almost anyone else,” he
said. “We have a better feel of how to evaluate it.”  Richards said hospitals are being inundated with
self-pay accounts they don’t have the manpower to manage. “The hard part for a provider is
working all the smaller balance patients,” Richards said. “They have tens of thousands of smaller
amounts and they’re not efficient in getting them to pay.”  Capio will work with small to mid-size
collection agencies to buy debt from many of their clients.  Together, they will work to collect on the
accounts, which Richards said Capio doesn’t plan to resell.   Richards also expects hospitals will
outsource or sell more of their self-pay accounts within two weeks of being established for those
patients who have no insurance. He also anticipates hospitals will opt to outsource or sell self-pay
accounts created from unpaid co-pays or deductibles within 60 days.  “Self-pay accounts offer the
least income and require the most work,” Richards said. “They don’t have the staff to handle self pay
account.”   However, the highest bidder should not expect to win over most health care providers
looking to sell debt.  “When it comes to hospitals price is secondary,” Richards said. “If a buyer is
willing to pay more, but doesn’t have experience, they (hospitals) will sell it for a little less to someone
they trust.”
Richards began his collections career in 1973 as an agent with GC Services. During his 16 years with
the firm he worked his way up to vice president of operations before joining a healthcare debt roll
up company, which was later sold to Medaphis Corp. That company sold its hospital services division
to NCO Group, Inc. In 1998, Richards teamed with his colleagues to form Attention, LLC, which grew
to be a major player in its space. West Asset bought Attention in 2002 and put Richards in charge.

Account Services

If you have received a notice or phone call from us and have questions regarding your account, please contact us at 888-876-2814. Due to federal laws we are unable to discuss your account via email.

Human Resources
Phone: 903-893-4695 ext. 7004
Email: jobs@capiopartners.com

Sales
Phone: 678-682-3680 ext. 6010
Email: sales@capiopartners.com

Corporate
2250 Satellite Blvd, Suite 210
Duluth, GA 30097
Phone: 678-682-3680
Fax: 678-682-3217