Is Credit Bureau of North America calling you? Here’s what you need to know.
Anyone can be suddenly and unexpectedly overwhelmed by debt. You could lose your job, need emergency surgery, or experience substantial damage to your home and have to shell out for repairs. Whatever the reason, when you start missing payments, your creditors will eventually assign the accounts to third-party debt collectors. That’s when the stress levels skyrocket.
Legally, debt collectors are not permitted to harass you. They are required to be ethical and professional during all communications, or risk violating the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, or FDCPA. This consumer protection law prohibits them from performing actions like the following while collecting or attempting to collect a debt.
- Using language calculated to upset you (e.g. profanities, racial slurs)
- Calling you before 8:00 a.m. and after 9:00 p.m. in your time zone
- Refusing to validate the debt and present proof that they are authorized to collect it
- Telling you that you can be imprisoned for owing money
- Calling you at work when your employer does not allow such calls
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These tactics are illegal, but debt collectors still use them to scare or bully debt payments out of consumers.
Credit Bureau of North America, LLC (CBNA) is a collection agency located in Dickson, Tennessee. It was established in 2008, employs a staff of approximately 50, and collects debt all over the country. A search of the PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records) website confirms that CBNA has been accused of disregarding the FDCPA while collecting or attempting to collect a debt.
According to PACER**, in July 2009, a New York resident Bre started receiving calls on his cell phone from Credit Bureau of North America, LLC about a credit card debt his wife owed. These calls continued until February 2010.
Each time, he told the company representative that they were calling the wrong person and to stop contacting him because he found the calls harassing and inconvenient. The calls allegedly continued, much to his annoyance.
He hired a consumer attorney and accused Credit Bureau of North America, LLC of the following FDCPA violations:
- Calling him at times that were known to be inconvenient to him (15 U.S.C. §1692c(a)(1))
- Repeatedly causing his cell phone to ring with the intent to annoy, abuse or harass him (15 U.S.C. §1692d and 15 U.S.C. §1692d(5))
- Calling his cell phone and causing him to incur telephone charges (15 U.S.C. §1692f and 15 U.S.C. §1692f(5))
The suit was later settled.
The phone numbers associated with Credit Bureau of North America, LLC are 1-866-260-3631 and 1-615-229-1038. If either number appears on your caller ID, someone from the agency is attempting to collect a debt from you. If they keep contacting you about someone else’s debt and disregard your requests to stop, contact a consumer attorney who can help you assert your rights.
The FDCPA requires debt collectors to stop calling you once you make that request, and failure to do so gives you grounds for suing them in court. You could potentially win $1,000 per FDCPA violation plus court costs and attorney fees. No matter how much money you owe, debt collectors are legally obliged to follow certain guidelines when collecting it, or else face this type of consequence.
**Case taken from PACER (www.pacer.gov). File number is (Case 1:10-cv-00598-WMS-LGF, from United States District Court, Western District of New York)
*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 Credit Bureau of North America, LLC or any other third-party collection agency, you may not be entitled to any compensation.