Is Estate Recoveries Calling You? Here’s what you need to know.*
Financial hardships take a major toll on our well-being. When we’re no longer able to maintain the minimum payments on our credit cards, mortgages, and student loans, debt collectors will eventually start calling and sending letters.
They are not always civil in their approach, which is why many debtors declare personal bankruptcy to escape the harassment.
Don’t let it happen to you.
Prior to 1977, actions by abusive debt collectors caused all kinds of terrible things: marriage breakdowns, personal bankruptcies, and illness. Congress finally stepped in and passed the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, or FDCPA.
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Under this federal law, third-party debt collectors are barred from using the following methods:
- Calling you several times a day, every day
- Claiming that they will send the police to arrest you or sheriff to seize your property if you don’t pay
- Swearing and calling you names, asking you why you don’t pay your bills
- Calling you at work after you tell them that you are not allowed to talk to them there
- Failing to report to the credit bureaus that a debt is in dispute
- Telling your friends and neighbors that you owe money
These tactics are against the law, but every year the Federal Trade Commission receives enough complaints to confirm that debt collectors are still using them.
Alleged Violations against Estate Recoveries, Inc*
Estate Recoveries, Inc is a collection agency located in Baltimore, Maryland. It was established in 2010, has a large staff of 11-50, and collects consumer debt throughout the country.
Records on file at the PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records) website confirm that Estate Recoveries, Inc has been accused of violating the FDCPA during its debt collection attempts.
In or around 2009, a Florida resident began getting two to three calls a day from Estate Recoveries, Inc about a debt that he did not owe.
These calls were made to his cell phone and his workplace, where personal calls were not allowed.
He insisted that the debt belonged to a family member and told the collectors to stop contacting him. One representative allegedly replied, “We will keep on calling you anyway.” Then they hung up.
When he finally had enough, he hired a consumer attorney and filed a lawsuit accusing Estate Recoveries, Inc of the following FDCPA violations:
- Harassing him over a debt he did not owe
- Misrepresenting the legal status of the debt
- Using the telephone to harass him
- Failing to identify itself as a debt collector in some communications
- Using unfair or unconscionable means to collect or attempt to collect the debt
- Failing to send a debt validation notice
The matter was later dismissed.
The phone numbers below are associated with Estate Recoveries, Inc:
If you see either number on your caller ID, it means that a debt collector is trying to collect money that you may not even know. If you insist that the debt is not yours and they respond by mocking you and persisting with the unwanted calls, see a consumer attorney.
Hounding you over a debt you dispute or do not owe is against the law, and you could potentially win $1,000 per FDCPA violation, as well as court costs, attorney fees, and any actual damages caused by stress or embarrassment. When a debt collector crosses the line with you, your attorney can help you push back in court.
*Case taken from PACER (www.pacer.gov). File number is 8:10-cv-00067-JSM-MAP from the County Civil Court of the 12th Judicial Sarasota County Civil Court, State of Florida, Middle District of Florida.
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 Estate Recoveries, Inc or any other third-party collection agency, you may not be entitled to any compensation.