Are the CCS Companies Calling You?*

Are the CCS Companies Calling You? Here’s What You Need to Know

When you’re experiencing financial difficulties, calls from debt collectors add to an already-stressful situation. When those calls involve threats to garnish your wages and expose your debt situation to your boss, it’s much worse. Before resorting to extreme measures such as personal bankruptcy to deal with the situation, understand your rights as a consumer.

Your Rights Under the FDCPA

Although attempting to collect a debt is legal, harassing you is not. As an indebted consumer you are protected by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, or FDCPA, which limits what third-party collection agencies may say or do during the process of collecting a debt. Below is a sample of some collection tactics:

• Swearing, yelling, and calling you names
• Trying to collect amounts that are not supported by law or the original creditor agreement
• Calling you several times a day
• Threatening to have you arrested if you don’t pay
• Telling your friends, neighbors, and co-workers that you owe money
• Calling you at work when they know that your employer does not permit such calls

Company Profile: the CCS Companies

The CCS Companies is a collection agency located in Norwood, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1966, has over 20 employees, and is managed by its President, Steven Sands. According to litigation records on file at the PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records) website, confirm that the CCS Companies has been sued for allegedly violating the FDCPA while collecting consumer debts.

Alleged Violations against the CCS Companies

According to PACER**, in December 2014 and continuing through March 2015, an Ohio resident received calls from the CCS Companies regarding an overdue Time Warner account. In February 2015, he explained to the collector that he had settled the debt with Time Warner and did not owe anything, and further that he wanted all calls to cease. In response, the collector allegedly stated in an aggressive manner that the debt needed to be paid, and threatened to take legal action against him.

The Ohio resident hired a consumer attorney and sued the CCS Companies for allegedly violating the FDCPA in the following ways:

• Using the telephone to harass him
• Engaging in harassing, oppressive, or abusive conduct with the Plaintiff in connection with the collection of a debt
• Using false, deceptive or misleading means to collect a debt
• Threatening to take any action that cannot legally be taken or that is not intended to be taken
• Using unfair or unconscionable means to collect a debt

The matter was later dismissed.

Hire an Attorney

The phone numbers for the CCS Companies are:

• 1-800-495-2265
• 1-877-870-1000
• 1-617-965-2000

If any of these numbers appear on your caller ID, a debt collector is calling. If they demand that you pay a debt you have already settled with the original creditor and threaten to take legal action if you refuse, hire a consumer attorney. If you decide to sue, you could potentially be awarded $1,000 per FDCPA violation as well as attorney’s fees, court costs, and any actual damages. A good attorney will help you protect your rights and make a debt collector pay for violating them.

**Case taken from PACER (www.pacer.gov). File number is (Case: 1:15-cv-02695-DAP from United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio)

*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 CCS Companies or any other third-party collection agency, you may not be entitled to any compensation.