Is Escallate, LLC calling you? Here’s what you need to know.
Most of us owe some type of debt. We have credit cards, mortgage payments, student loans, and hospital bills.
As long as our income is steady, we can usually manage.
But if we lose our jobs or become too ill to work, keeping up the minimum payments can become challenging. Once a certain amount are missed, debt collectors will start calling.
Legally, they are not permitted to be rude or abusive when discussing the debt with you. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, or FDCPA, was passed in 1977 after predatory debt collectors were linked to a rise in personal bankruptcies.
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Under the law, activities like the following are prohibited:
- Failing to identify themselves as debt collectors trying to collect a debt
- Calling before 8:00 a.m. and after 9:00 p.m. in your time zone
- Cursing, shouting, and making threats that they have no intention of following up on
- Calling you at work after being told that such calls are prohibited by the employer
- Telling uninvolved third parties that they are trying to collect money from you
- Charging excessive fees that inflate the original debt
Alleged Violations against Escallate LLC*
Escallate LLC is a collection agency located in North Canton, Ohio. It was established in 2007, has a staff of 50 to 99, and specializes in collecting healthcare debt.
According to the company website, it processes over one million calls per month. Records on file at the PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records) website confirm that Escallate LLC has been accused of illegal debt collection tactics by various consumers it attempted to collect from.
Rodney Wallace v. Escallate, LLC
In or around 2010 Ohio resident Rodney Wallace began getting collection calls from Escallate, LLC about a debt that he did not owe. He later complained that the agency called him several times a week about the alleged debt, and never sent him the required 30-day validation notice.
Mr. Wallace informed Escallate on numerous occasions that the debt did not belong to him and requested that they stop calling. Escallate allegedly acknowledged that the debt was not his and agreed to cease contact, but the calls to his home phone allegedly continued.
Annoyed, Mr. Wallace hired a consumer attorney and filed a lawsuit accusing Escallate, LLC of the following FDCPA violations:
- Calling him at a time and place known to be inconvenient to him
- Causing his phone to ring repeatedly and engaging him in telephone conversations with the intent to annoy and harass
- Using false and deceptive means to collect a debt
- Failing to send him a validation notice
The matter was later settled.
These phone numbers are both associated with Escallate LLC:
- 1 330-232-8120
- 1-877-237-7787
If you receive a call and either of these numbers appears on your caller ID, a debt collector is attempting to contact you about an obligation you might not even owe.
If they keep calling you and sending notices even after you insist that the debt is not yours, contact a consumer attorney. Repeated contact in this instance may be harassment, and if you take the matter to court, you would potentially be awarded $1,000 in statutory damages per FDCPA violation, as well as court costs, attorney fees, and any actual damages you may have suffered.
Your attorney will assist you throughout the litigation outcome and work with you to obtain the most favorable outcome.
*Case taken from PACER (www.pacer.gov). File number is 1:10-cv-02851-JG from United States District Court, Northern District of Ohio.
Disclaimer: The content of this article serves only to provide information and should not be construed as legal advice. If you file a claim against Escallate LLC or any other third-party collection agency, you may not be entitled to any compensation.