Are you sick of 781-382-1000 calling you? Are you tired of Credit Collection Services hounding you?
If so, then this article is for you.
Credit Collection Services, or CCS as it is often referred to, is a large collection agency that was founded in 1966. This number has been flagged as an active robocaller since May 2018 and has generated at least 87 FTC complaints from consumers in more than 26 states. This agency has an enormous amount of complaints about them for calling consumers with no regard for the FDCPA or the TCPA.
Overview
Credit Collection Services Inc, or Credit Control Services, Inc., is the official name of the company. The company does business under the name of Credit Collection Services, or CCS.
They are a subsidiary of The CCS Companies Inc. They are a third-party debt collector, debt buyer, and government contracted collector. CCS was founded in 1966 and their headquarters is in Norwood Massachusetts. They have other offices in Newton, Westwood, and Andover, MA; Salem and Portsmouth, NH; and Yankton, SD.
CCS has an estimated 700 employees and over $5 Billion in annual placements. They have a B rating with the Better Business Bureau and over the last 3 years have had 3,966 complaints filed with the Better Business Bureau. Of the 3,966 complaints, only 272 have been resolved, resulting in a resolution rate of just 6.9 percent.
Credit Collection Services has had several suits filed against them for violations of the FDCPA and the TCPA. In March of 2020, a class action suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California against Credit Collection Services. The allegations in this suit are that Credit Collection Services used an automatic telephone dialing system to call consumers cell phones without their prior consent.
In 2023, a New York Court ruled against CCS in the case of Zoltan v. Credit Collection Services. In this case, the court ruled that Credit Collection Services had violated federal law by transmitting consumer information to a third-party vendor without consent. Other suits have been filed against Credit Collection Services for deceptive collection letters and failure to validate debts.
What Do I Do If Credit Collection Services Calls Me?
If Credit Collection Services is calling you, it is likely because they are trying to collect a debt from you. It is possible that they are calling you about a debt that you owe, but it is also possible that they have the wrong number and are calling you about a debt that does not belong to you.
What Debt Does Credit Collection Services Collect?
Credit Collection Services collects debt from nearly every industry. Their clients include insurance companies such as GEICO, Allstate, and Nationwide, banks, hospitals, telecom providers, utility companies, and federal government agencies. One of the most common complaints about Credit Collection Services is that they are calling consumers about insurance subrogation claims from GEICO.
Credit Collection Services also purchases charged-off debt portfolios, which means that they may be calling you about a debt that they own. If Credit Collection Services owns the debt, then that means that they are the creditor and they are trying to collect money from you so that they can profit from it. It is important to remember that if a debt collector is calling you, then you have rights.
What To Do When Called By Credit Collection Services
If Credit Collection Services is calling you, then there are several steps that you can take.
First, if you do not recognize the debt that they are calling about, then you should not answer the phone. You should also not call them back. Instead, you should ignore the calls and let them go to voicemail. CallerSmart data reveals that 38.5 percent of calls from this number arrive on Saturdays, with the most common call time logged at 3:00 AM EST.
If you do answer the phone and Credit Collection Services is calling you about a debt that you do not owe, then you should tell them that. Let them know that they have the wrong number and that you do not owe the debt. They may ask you questions and try to convince you that you owe the debt, but you should not engage with them. Simply let them know that you do not owe the debt and hang up.
If Credit Collection Services is calling you about a debt that you do owe, then you should ask them to send you a written validation of the debt. This is a document that proves that you owe the debt and it outlines the amount of the debt and the creditor.
Under the FDCPA, collectors must identify themselves and provide a mini-Miranda warning within five days of initial contact.
Once you receive the written validation of the debt, then you can verify whether or not you owe the debt. Filing a dispute with the credit bureaus forces CCS to verify accuracy within 30 days or have the item removed.
What Do I Do If Credit Collection Services Harasses Me?
If Credit Collection Services is harassing you, then there are steps that you can take. First, you should know that you have rights under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). The FDCPA is a federal law that outlines how debt collectors can and cannot behave when they are trying to collect a debt.
Under the FDCPA, debt collectors are not allowed to harass consumers. This means that they are not allowed to call you multiple times a day, they are not allowed to call you at odd hours, and they are not allowed to threaten or intimidate you. The FDCPA restricts collection calls to between 8:00 AM and 9:00 PM in the consumer's local time zone.
If Credit Collection Services is harassing you, then you should document everything. You should keep a record of the dates and times of the calls, the number that they are calling from, and what they say to you. You should also save any voicemails or messages that they leave for you.
Once you have documented everything, then you can file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The FTC is the federal agency that is responsible for enforcing the FDCPA. You can file a complaint with the FTC online or by calling them.
In addition to filing a complaint with the FTC, you can also hire a debt collection harassment attorney. A debt collection harassment attorney is a lawyer who specializes in suing debt collectors for violating the FDCPA. They can help you to determine whether or not your rights have been violated and they can file a lawsuit on your behalf.
It is never ok for a debt collector to harass you. You have rights under the FDCPA and you should assert them. Do not let Credit Collection Services push you around. Instead, stand up for yourself and assert your rights.
Visit FightCollections.com today to learn how our credit repair process works and what options may be available in your specific situation.
