NCO Financial - How to Deal with the Harassment

If you are being contacted by NCO Financial it is regarding an unpaid debt. Sometimes they are also referred to as NCO group or NCO financial systems. They are an aggressive collection agency with a history of FTC violations.

NCO Financial is hired as a third party to collect unpaid debts for companies. They have a reputation for unethical practices and have been know to use harassment, threats and intimidation.

In 2004 NCO violated the FCRA or Fair Credit Reporting Act. The FTC imposed a strict penalty and forced NCO to pay 1.5 million dollars. They were in violation because according to the Fair Credit Reporting Act a delinquent debt can only remain on your credit history for a maximum of 7 years. NCO was reporting late dates, in an attempt to manipulate the system and have a debt be listed for more than 7 years.

Collection agencies are known to have called a borrowers family member, neighbors, places of employment in order to collect payment. To stop a collection agency from contacting you in the future you need to mail a letter where you say you do not want further contact from them.

Send this letter through certified mail and save your documentation. Further save all communication you have with the collection agency. This can be used as proof in case you want to file a complaint or lawsuit.

The collection agency will be able to notify you of how they plan on continuing the collection. Then according to the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act they agency can no longer contact you. This legislation was created in 1996 because congress needed to protect debtors from the collection agencies and their collection methods.

The Fair Debt Collections Practices Act says debt collectors can not misrepresent themselves or tell anyone else about your debt other than you and your attorney. Typically this piece of legislation is completely ignored and collection agencies frequently go unchecked.

Congress passed the FDCPA to protect individuals from debt collectors. Agencies are frequently found in court facing lawsuits and have become very crafty at avoiding these. They will change their operation name and have been known to hide assets to avoid paying on a lawsuit.