Is Federated Adjustment Company Calling You?*

Is Federated Adjustment Company calling you? Here’s what you need to know.*

You can fall behind on your bill payments for a number of reasons, many of which you might not be able to plan for or control.

Job loss, illness, injury, and emergency expenses like house or car repairs can easily take you off track and make it difficult to get back on.

Once you have missed a certain number of payments, your creditors may pass the accounts on to a third-party collection agency, and you will start getting calls and letters.

Debt collectors can be uncomfortably tenacious when it comes to getting your money, and not all of them are pleasant to deal with.

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, or FDCPA, attempts to enforce professional relations between consumers and collectors.

The law makes it illegal for them to collect a debt using the following tactics:

• Calling you at all hours of the day and night
• Calling you rude and demeaning names
• Making threats they cannot legally follow up on, such as sending you to jail or seizing your assets
• Calling you at work after you tell them that your boss doesn’t allow such calls
• Telling your friends and neighbours that you owe money
• Failing to report to the credit bureaus that a debt is in dispute

Many debt collectors persist in crossing the line because their predatory tactics pressure frightened consumers into paying the amount demanded.

Alleged Violations against Federated Adjustment Company*

Federated Adjustment Company is a collection agency located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was established in 1990, employs 10 to 19 employees, and specializes in medical debt collection.

The PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records) website contains litigation records confirming that Federated Adjustment Company has been accused of breaching the FDCPA while attempting to collect consumer debts.

In April 2012, a Wisconsin resident allegedly received a call from Federated Adjustment Company about a medical debt.

He told the collector that he did not believe he was responsible for paying it and did not even know who the original creditor was.

When he asked that Federated Adjustment Company sent him verification documents so that he could ascertain if any unknown individual was using his identity to obtain medical services, the collector allegedly refused the plaintiff also claimed that the collector told him the debt would remain on his credit report for seven years.

The plaintiff promptly hired a consumer attorney and filed a complaint accusing Federated Adjustment Company of the following alleged FDCPA violations.

• Using false, deceptive, misleading and unfair or unconscionable means to collect a debt
• Falsely representing the character, amount, or legal status of the debt
• Threatening to communicate credit information which is known or which should be known to be false
• Using false representation or deceptive means to collect or attempt to collect any debt or to obtain information
• Refusing to send debt validation paperwork

The matter was later dismissed.

The phone numbers for Federated Adjustment Company are 1-414-228-0900 and 1-800-368-7243.

If either number appears on your caller ID, a debt collector may be trying to contact you about a debt you may not even owe.

If they threaten to make a negative impact on your credit report or refuse to provide debt validation documents, see a consumer attorney.

These actions are illegal under the FDCPA, and if you sue Federated Adjustment Company you could potentially be awarded $1,000 per FDCPA violation, as well as court costs and attorney fees.

When debt collectors behave unprofessionally, the law can help you bring them into line.

*Case taken from PACER (www.pacer.gov). File number is 2:12-cv-00814-JPS from United States District Court, Eastern District of Wisconsin, Milwaukee Division.

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 Federated Adjustment Company or any other third-party collection agency, you may not be entitled to any compensation.