Who is calling me from 855-859-0047?
Ascension Point Recovery Services is calling you from 855-859-0047. They are calling you because they believe you have some relation to the estate of a person who is now deceased and who had outstanding debt at the time of their passing. It is important to understand the nature of the company's business in order to effectively make the calls stop.
We know that receiving a voicemail about a deceased relative, estate or person you do not know can be jarring. Thousands of other consumers have gone through the same thing.
Here is what we know about the company calling from 855-859-0047:
Company Name: AscensionPoint Recovery Services, LLC
What is the nature of their business? Third-party debt collection agency. Specifically, they recover debt from the estates of deceased persons
Address: 200 Coon Rapids Blvd NW, Suite 200, Coon Rapids, MN 55433
How long have they been around? Founded August 2007
Who owns them? Privately held. They are associated with Teton Asset Management LLC (same address)
How big are they? 55-77 employees. Estimated annual revenue of $1M-$10M
What kind of debts do they collect? Credit card debt, medical debt, other consumer debts associated with deceased estates
Where do they operate? Licensed debt collection agency operating in all 50 states
What is their Better Business Bureau (BBB) rating? A+ (accredited since 12/08). See below for more information about BBB complaints and reviews
Their reputation precedes them
Prior to outlining how to deal with calls from 855-859-0047, it is helpful to understand that the complaints highlighted below are not isolated. To date, the company has been the subject of over 100 complaints filed with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), 121 complaints filed with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and 37 complaints closed with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) in the last three years.
In addition, they have been sued in at least five Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) lawsuits filed in federal courts across the country in at least four different states. One case was a proposed class action lawsuit filed in Illinois that alleges that the collection letters sent by the company failed to identify the original creditor, failed to state the consumer's right to dispute the debt, and failed to clearly state that the communication was from a debt collector. As highlighted below, those same allegations are being made by consumers who are being contacted at 855-859-0047.
Why is Ascension Point Recovery Services calling me?
Their business is collecting debt from the estates of deceased persons
On their website, Ascension Point describes itself as "the premier estate and probate service provider in the United States." Unlike many debt collection agencies that attempt to collect debts from consumers while they are still alive, Ascension Point's business model is built entirely around the collection of debt from the estates of people who have passed away.
The company collects credit card debt, medical debt, and other consumer debts on behalf of original creditors. In addition, they purchase portfolios of defaulted debts. According to their website, they do not attempt to collect debt from individuals where the debtor is deceased. In other words, they do not attempt to hold family members or other individuals personally responsible for paying debts that were incurred by a deceased person.
However, as discussed below, many consumers have complained about interactions with the company that suggest that their business practices do not always match up with representations made on their website.
How do they find me?
Several consumers have reported that representatives of Ascension Point have explained that they were able to locate the consumer by conducting an online relative search. For example, in a complaint filed with the BBB, one consumer explained that an Ascension Point representative "told me they did a relative search and my name and number came up."
Based on this report, and several others like it, it appears that Ascension Point casts a wide net when attempting to locate individuals who may have a connection to a particular estate. This would explain why so many consumers report being contacted by the company about individuals they barely knew, or in some cases were not related to at all.
In addition to calling from 855-859-0047, Ascension Point Recovery Services may also be calling from the following numbers:
888-806-9073
888-420-2510
866-659-7050
This means that if you block calls from 855-859-0047, you may still receive calls from one of the numbers listed above. For this reason, blocking their number is not a reliable way to stop the calls.
How does Ascension Point Recovery Services operate?
Calling patterns and practices
According to the FTC complaints filed about calls from 855-859-0047, about half of the calls are described as robocalls or prerecorded messages. Several consumers have reported receiving voicemails from company representatives identified as Laquisha Mike, Charlene Garcia and Gina Duran. The voicemails all sound something like this:
"Hello this is [agent's name] calling from AscensionPoint Recovery Services. I am calling in regards to the estate of [deceased person's name]. Please contact me at 855-859-0047."
When debt collection calls follow a predictable pattern, it can provide an advantage to consumers who are paying attention. When you understand that calls from 855-859-0047 are being made using a scripted voicemail in an attempt to solicit a call back, you understand that the real pressure tactics will begin when you return the call. One consumer reported receiving a voicemail like the one described above that concluded with the agent providing a call back number different from the caller ID number that appeared on the consumer's phone. Tactics like this make it more difficult for consumers to track calls made by the company.
What are consumers saying about calls from 855-859-0047?
The content of complaints filed about calls from 855-859-0047 can be emotional
The nature of calls from 855-859-0047 has a way of evoking strong emotions from the consumers who receive them. In a BBB complaint, one reviewer explained that she was receiving calls from Ascension Point five years after the death of her child:
"They have started calling so I researched them and know they do estate collections. I can only assume they are calling in regards to my child that died in August 2020 in an accident. He was 25, homeless, and indigent. There was no probate because he owned nothing. I do not wish to be called for something a year later where I don't even have the car anymore they took it from me and expect me to pay something I wasn't even obligated to pay in the first place this is very stressful as I go through chemo therapy."
Another consumer reported that Ascension Point called her 20-year-old daughter away at college to inform her that her father was dead:
"ABSOLUTELY CRUEL!!!!! THEY CALLED MY 20 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER AT COLLEGE AND INFORMED HER THAT I HAD DIED AND NEEDED TO GET AN ESTATE PLAN SET UP. I AM VERY MUCH ALIVE. THIS WAS DONE WITHOUT OUR KNOWLEDGE OR PERMISSION."
There are at least 89 reviews on the BBB website averaging just over one star that describe similar interactions with the company.
What to know before you respond
Check your credit report first, not your voicemail
Receiving repeated calls from a debt collector has a way of prompting consumers to pick up the phone and deal with the situation. That may be a mistake. Before you make a payment or provide financial information in response to calls from 855-859-0047, you should first determine whether Ascension Point Recovery Services has made an entry onto your credit report, and if so, whether the information they have reported is accurate.
Your credit report serves as a type of reconnaissance that you can use to your advantage in dealing with a debt collector. To access your credit report, you can request a free copy of your report from each of the three major credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian and Trans Union) once every 12 months from annualcreditreport.com. You can also purchase a copy of your credit report directly from each of the credit reporting agencies.
Once you have a copy of your report, review it carefully to determine whether there are any accounts reported by Ascension Point Recovery Services. Make a copy of the information reported on your credit report, and document the details of the account including the date the account was opened, the original creditor, the current balance, etc. Conducting this type of investigation prior to engaging with the debt collector is a necessary and important step in the process.
You may have more protection than you think
Many consumers believe that once a debt collector contacts them, they have few options. In most cases, nothing could be further from the truth. There are many state and federal exemptions that protect consumer assets from debt collection including wage garnishment. For example, Social Security income, disability benefits and most types of retirement income are completely exempt from collection.
In addition, most consumers do not realize the full scope of protection afforded to them under the FDCPA and FCRA. The 89 one-star reviews on the BBB website for Ascension Point Recovery Services serve as a type of warning label for other consumers, but in the right context, they can also serve as powerful evidence of a pattern or practice of problems that can help support a dispute about information reported onto your credit report.
How to make calls from 855-859-0047 stop
Dispute the debt, and let the process play out
In our experience, the single most effective way to deal with Ascension Point Recovery Services is not to talk to them on the phone at all. Instead, the process begins with your credit report. If Ascension Point is reporting a debt onto your credit report, you can force the company to verify the accuracy of the information they are reporting by filing a formal dispute directly with the credit reporting agencies.
Under the FCRA, the company has 30-days to respond to your dispute and verify the accuracy of the information they are reporting. If they fail to verify the debt, the credit reporting agency must delete the account from your report.
The FDCPA and FCRA are powerful federal laws that serve as important tools to protect consumers from inappropriate debt collection practices. Many consumers assume that these laws are primarily defensive in nature, but they can also be used offensively to help consumers effectively dispute information reported by debt collectors.
Why paying a debt has no impact on your credit report
One of the biggest misconceptions that consumers have about debt collection is that paying a collection account will help your credit. The fact is, it won't. A paid collection account will remain on your credit report for seven years from the original delinquency date just like an unpaid collection account. Paying a collection account has no practical benefit to your credit report.
For this reason, disputing the accuracy of the account is a much stronger approach. If you are successful in getting the account deleted from your report, you will not have to endure the negative credit consequences associated with it. This is a different outcome than paying a collection account that will remain on your credit report for seven years.
What's next?
Information is power
If you're receiving calls from 855-859-0047, at this point you should have a pretty good understanding of what is behind them. Ascension Point Recovery Services is a debt collection agency that specializes in the collection of debt from estates of deceased persons, and their calling patterns regularly affect consumers who do not owe the debt and have no legal obligation to pay it.
Do not engage without information. Do not make a payment without verifying the debt. Do not provide personal or financial information to anyone who calls you from this number. Instead, use your credit report as the battlefield, and the FCRA as your primary weapon.
Let us help
At FightCollections.com, we specialize in disputing collection accounts reported by debt collectors and helping consumers hold them accountable for the information they report onto their credit reports. If Ascension Point Recovery Services has reported a collection account onto your credit report, our staff can help you review the account for potential errors, identify inaccuracy, and file disputes on your behalf using the full force of the FCRA and FDCPA.
You didn't ask for these calls, and you shouldn't have to deal with them by yourself. Contact us today for a free consultation.