Are You Being Called By Columbia Debt Recovery, LLC?*

If you’ve heard unfavorable things about debt collectors, they are probably true. Each year the Federal Trade Commission investigates hundreds of complaints about third-party debt collectors. If you’re dealing with one of these aggressive agencies, learn more about your rights when dealing with them.

Your Rights Under the FDCPA

Debt collector misconduct is so well-known that people are surprised to learn that harassing debtors is against the law. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, or FDCPA, regulates the actions of third-party collection agencies and prohibits them from using practices like those below:

• Threatening you with frivolous lawsuits
• Using profane and obscene language
• Misrepresenting the amount of your debt
• Ignoring a cease communications notice
• Using an autodialer to leave pre-recorded messages on your voicemail
• Calling you at inconvenient times and places

Company Profile: Columbia Debt Recovery, LLC

If you are being called by Columbia Debt Recovery, LLC, here is some additional information about the company.

Columbia Debt Recovery, LLC is a debt collection agency located in Bellevue, Washington. It was established in 2005, has fewer than five employees, and is managed by its President, Michael Emgberg. According to its website, it supports the property management industry with debt collection.

Digitized records accessible at the PACER website suggest that consumers who felt they were being harassed by Columbia Debt Recovery, LLC learned more about their rights and acted on them.

Alleged Violations against Columbia Debt Recovery, LLC

According to PACER, in December 2016, a Washington consumer checked her credit report and found a debt from Columbia Debt Recovery, LLC listed, although she claimed to have never received a validation notice.

She emailed a dispute letter to the company, but it allegedly ignored her dispute and continued collection efforts.

On March 8, 2017, the consumer sent another dispute letter via U.S. priority mail and asked that all future communication be in writing only. Although Columbia Debt Recovery, LLC received her letter on March 10, 2017, more collection called allegedly followed. In or around May 2017, the company allegedly called her workplace and family members to collect the debt.

Feeling harassed by Columbia Debt Recovery, LLC, she hired a consumer attorney and sued the company for allegedly:

• Disclosing her debt to third parties
• Ignoring a cease communications notice
• Using harassing and abusive means to collect a debt
• Using false, deceptive, and misleading means to collect a debt
• Using unfair and unconscionable means to collect a debt

The matter was later resolved.

Hire a Consumer Lawyer

The phone numbers for Columbia Debt Recovery, LLC are:

• 1-509-836-5558
• 1-425-646-1132

Seeing them on your caller ID means that Columbia Debt Recovery, LLC is attempting to get in touch. If they ignore a cease communications request and discuss your debt with your family and coworkers, they’ve broken the law and you can take action.

Hire a consumer lawyer and file a claim against Columbia Debt Recovery, LLC, as you could be awarded $1,000 per FDCPA incident plus your attorney fees and court costs. The law is there to support you, so act on your rights.

Additional Resources

• Has a Debt Collector Used Profane Language?
• Did a Debt Collector Identify Themselves to a Third-Party?

Case taken from PACER (pacer.gov). File number is Case 2:17-cv-01828-TSZ from the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington.

*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 Columbia Debt Recovery, LLC or any other third-party collection agency, you may not be entitled to any compensation.