Is Capital Management Services Calling You?*

Debt collectors are not most pleasant people to deal with. They strive to get you to pay a debt quickly, and in full, so their methods can be intrusive and even aggressive. If you’re already stressed out by financial problems, this treatment is disheartening, but you are within your rights to tell the collector to stop.

Your Rights Under the FDCPA

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) is enforced by the Federal Trade Commission and places limits on what third-party debt collectors and collection agencies can do while attempting to collect consumer debts. Actions like the following are strictly prohibited:

• Using profane and obscene language
• Calling at inconvenient times, such as before 8:00 a.m. and after 9:00 p.m. in the consumer’s time zone
• Ignoring a formal request to cease communications
• Claiming to be police officials or government agents
• Threatening consequences they cannot legally inflict, or have no intention of carrying out
• Discussing the debt with anyone except you, your spouse, or your attorney

Company Profile: Capital Management Services

Capital Management Services is a debt collector located in Buffalo, New York. It was established in 2000, has 250 to 499 employees, and is managed by its Chief Executive Officer, Daniel Abadir. According to the Better Business Bureau website, Capital Management Services has been the subject of 53 complaints in the last three years. A review of records retained by the PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records) website turns up instances of the company being accused of violating the FDCPA while collecting certain debts.

Alleged Violations against Capital Management Services

According to PACER**, in July 2011 California resident began receiving automated calls from Capital Management Services on her cell phone. These calls, which continued until October, allegedly consisted of dialing and then hanging up. When the resident realized that the calls were from a debt collector, she sent Capital Management Services two separate debt validation letters in August.

The company acknowledged the request via letter, stating that they would contact their client to acquire information to validate the debt. When Ms. Deselms never received proper, valid, validation of the debt, she sued Capital Management Services for the following alleged FDCPA violations:

• Causing her phone to ring repeatedly
• Using false, deceptive and misleading means to collect a debt
• Failing to identify each communication as coming from a debt collector
• Failing to validate the debt as requested
• Attempting to collect an amount not authorized by law or the creditor agreement

The matter was later dismissed.

Hire an FDCPA Attorney

The phone numbers for Capital Management Services are:

• 1-716-871-9050
• 1-864-331-5700
• 1-800-457-8220
• 1-800-957-8394

If either of these numbers appear on your caller ID when the phone rings, a debt collector is trying to contact you to settle a debt. If they fail to validate the debt or identify themselves as debt collectors in every communication, hire a consumer attorney. Such acts and omissions are against the law, and you could potentially be awarded $1,000 per FDCPA violation as well as attorney’s fees, court costs, and any actual damages. You may owe a debt, but if an agency disregards your rights while collecting it, penalties can result.

**Case taken from PACER (www.pacer.gov). File number is (Case 2:12-cv-08765-JAK-FFM from United States District Court for the Central District of California)

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