Are You Being Called By Element Global Services?* Here’s What You Need to Know

COVID-19 has caused many of us to suffer financial difficulties. Some have even been laid off, making it more difficult for them to maintain their debt repayments. Consequently, people are being abused by collection agencies, even though the law prohibits such conduct.

Your Rights Under the FDCPA

On September 20, 1977, the US Congress passed the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, or FDCPA, which granted consumers several important rights that include the ability to dispute a debt and sue collection agencies that treat them in the following ways:

• Contacting you directly when they know that you have an attorney
• Saying that they will file a lawsuit that day if you don’t pay
• Trying to collect when you refuse to pay
• Calling you at work to embarrass you
• Demanding payment for a time-barred debt
• Reporting incorrect information to the credit bureaus

Alleged Violations against Element Global Services**

According to PACER, on or around November 28, 2014, Element Global Services allegedly called a New York consumer twice the same day. This was followed in December by a demand letter that offered a settlement amount on the balance.

At the very bottom of the letter in smaller font, it stated “The payment(s) listed above do not include the $5.95 processing fee charged per transaction. Please be sure you have the correct available amount for payment.” This processing fee was not authorized by state law or by the underlying agreement creating the debt.

Feeling harassed by Element Global Services, the consumer filed a lawsuit against the company for:

• Calling him twice in one day
• Failing to send him a debt validation letter
• Adding illegal collection fees

The matter was later settled.

Hire a Consumer Lawyer

The phone numbers for this debt collection agency are:

• 1-877-651-9679
• 1-855-207-2708

Any time they appear on your caller ID, it means that Element Global Services is on the line. If they call you at an excessive rate and try to profit by adding collection fees, hire a consumer lawyer and file a claim against Element Global Services. The court could award you $1,000 per violation of the FDCPA, so if the offender is particularly aggressive, they could up owing you more than the original debt!

**Case taken from PACER (pacer.gov). File number is Case 1:15-cv-00394-JTC from the United States District Court for the Western District of New York.

*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 Element Global Services or any other third-party collection agency, you may not be entitled to any compensation.

Additional Resources

• Can a Debt Collector Try to Make You Pay More Than What I Owe?
• How to Stop a Debt Collector from Threatening Legal Action