Are You Being Called By Credit Services of Michigan?*

Are you being called by Credit Services of Michigan?* Here’s what you need to know

Debt collectors harass people using a variety of methods. Common examples include using abusive language, calling every day, and threatening to garnish your wages. Such conduct is 100% illegal, but the regular offenders bank on the fact that most consumers are too unfamiliar with their rights to protest.

Your Rights Under the FDCPA

If a debt collector is harassing you in any way, they are breaking federal law. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, or FDCPA, prohibits third-party debt collectors from using unfair or deceptive methods like those below to collect a debt.

• Calling you before 8:00 a.m. and after 9:00 p.m. in the your time zone
• Maliciously reporting inaccurate information to the credit bureaus
• Trying to collect after you have formally disputed a debt
• Trying to collect an amount that is not authorized by law or the original creditor agreement
• Using profane and obscene language
• Pretending to be lawyers or members of law enforcement

Company Profile: Credit Services of Michigan

If you are being called by Credit Services of Michigan, information about the company is below.

Credit Services of Michigan is a debt collection company located in Saginaw, Michigan. It was established in 2001, has 10 to 19 employees, and is managed by Vice-President Debra Beffrey. Court records at the PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records) website suggest that consumers who felt they were being harassed by Credit Services of Michigan opted to take the matter to court instead of pay.

Alleged Violations against Credit Services of Michigan

According to PACER, in early 2016 a Michigan resident checked his credit report and found that Credit Services of Michigan had reported a debt that he did not believe he owed. He disputed it directly with the company by letter on April 19, 2016, but when he examined his report again on June 28, 2016, he saw that Credit Services of Michigan had failed to report the debt as disputed, causing his credit score to drop by over 60 points.

Feeling harassed by Credit Services of Michigan, he hired a consumer attorney and sued the company for violating the FDCPA in the following ways:

• Using false, deceptive, and misleading means to collect a debt.
• Using unfair and unconscionable means to collect a debt

The matter was later settled.

Hire an Attorney

The phone numbers for this debt collection agency are as follows:

• 1-989-799-8500
• 1-800-748-0230

If you see either one of them on your caller ID when a call comes in, be aware that you are being called by Credit Services of Michigan. If they fail to report a debt as disputed when you notify them of the fact, hire a consumer attorney. If you file a claim against Credit Services of Michigan with your attorney’s help and win, you could be awarded statutory damages of $1,000 per FDCPA violation plus applicable legal costs. This is how collection agencies learn that violating consumer rights is an expensive mistake.

*Case taken from PACER (www.pacer.gov). File number is 1:17-cv-11693-TLL-PTM from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, Northern Division.

Disclaimer: The content of this article serves only to provide information and should not be constructed as legal advice. If you file a claim against Credit Services of Michigan, or any other third-party collection agency, you may not be entitled to any compensation.