Is Remit Corporation calling you? Here’s what you need to know:
Unethical and illegal debt collection practices are rampant, if the complaints made to the Federal Trade Commission every year are any indication. This happens because debt collectors are remunerated based on how much they succeed in collecting and sometimes receive bonuses for beating their monthly quotas. Consequently, they often go to extremes to get money from you. They’ll even break the law.
Your Rights Under the FDCPA
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, or FDCPA, requires third-party debt collectors to behave professionally when dealing with indebted consumers. Dishonest and aggressive tactics like those below are illegal, and can result in both fines and revocation of the agency’s license.
- Threatening legal action they cannot take or have no intention of taking
- Cursing and calling you names
- Threatening to call your company’s payroll department and garnish your wages
- Failing or refusing to identify themselves as debt collectors trying to collect a debt
- Calling you at inconvenient times and places: e.g. in the middle of the night or at work when your workplace doesn’t allow such calls.
- Using constant phone calls to annoy or harass you
Company Profile: Remit Corporation
Remit Corporation is a collection agency located in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania. It was established in 1999, has 50 to 99 employees, and is managed by its President, Harry Strausser. A review of litigation records retained by the PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records) website confirms that Remit Corporation has been accused of violating the FDCPA while collecting consumer debts.
Alleged Violations against Remit Corporation
For several years, a Pennsylvania resident received collection calls from the Remit Corporation on a debt that was allegedly owed by her late husband, Donald, to First USA Bank. Although she was not named on the account and never used it, company collectors allegedly told she that they “had no doubt” that she had benefited from the account and was now responsible to pay it back.
After allegedly being intimidated and coerced, she entered into a settlement arrangement and agreed to make $50.00 automatic monthly payments. Despite making the payments as agreed, Remit Corporation still obtained a judgment on her and allegedly called her on a daily basis demanding more money each month.
She later claimed that the agency threatened to take her home if she so much as missed one payment, and that the sheriff would be at her home to sell it out from under her if she did not pay off the debt. When they allegedly demanded that she pay a lump sum of $4,840.79 immediately, she hired a consumer attorney and filed a lawsuit accusing Remit Corporation of violating the FDCPA in the following ways:
- Using abusive and harassing means to collect a debt
- Using the telephone to harass her
- 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 below both belong to Remit Corporation:
If you see one of these numbers on your caller ID when the phone rings, be aware that a debt collector is trying to reach you. If they threaten to take your house and call you to the point of harassment, hire a consumer attorney. Bullying indebted consumers is against the law, and if you sue Remit Corporation, they could be ordered to pay you $1,000 per FDCPA violation as well as attorney’s fees, court costs, and any actual damages. Owing money does not make you a target for abuse, and your attorney can help you send them an expensive reminder of the fact.
*Case taken from PACER (www.pacer.gov). File number is 2:12-cv-00328-NBF from United States District Court, Western District of Pennsylvania
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 Remit Corporation, or any other third-party collection agency, you may not be entitled to any compensation.