Is Illinois Collections Unlimited calling you? Here’s what you need to know.
Financial setbacks can hit anyone. Job loss, a debilitating illness, or an expensive crisis like a divorce can seriously harm your cash flow and hinder your ability to pay your debts. When you miss a certain number of payments, creditors will eventually send them out for collection or sell them to junk debt buyers. In either case, debt collectors will start contacting you, and not all of them are civil.
Legally, third-party debt collectors are required to be professional and transparent when trying to collect debt payments from you. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, or FDCPA, forbids them from using tactics like the following:
- Swearing and yelling at you
- Calling you several times a day, including before 8:00 a.m. and after 9:00 p.m. in your time zone
- Calling you at work after you’ve told them that you are not allowed to talk to them there
- Trying to collect more than the law and / or the original creditor agreement allow
- Talking to anyone except you, your spouse, or your attorney about the debt
- Threatening to have you arrested, seize your assets, and other actions that they cannot legally take or have no intention of taking
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Alleged Violations against Illinois Collections Unlimited*
Unfortunately, many debt collectors choose to ignore the FDCPA and its restrictions. They do whatever they believe it takes to get your money, assuming that you won’t report them.
Illinois Collections Unlimited is a collection agency located in Pekin, Illinois. It is a smaller agency that employs 10 to 19 staff and collects consumer debts throughout the state. Records on file at the PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records) website indicate that Illinois Collections Unlimited has been accused of violating the FDCPA during some of its attempts to collect consumer debt.
Alejandro Cervantes, Jr v. Illinois Collections Unlimited
In September 2008 Illinois resident Alejandro Cervantes Jr. received a collection letter from Illinois Collections Unlimited about a debt he allegedly owed to Bachrach Acquisition. He had filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition the previous March, and this particular debt had been included in hs discharge the following June.
This letter stated, in pertinent part:
This notice will serve to inform you that your delinquent account has been referred to Illinois Collections Unlimited. Our client requests immediate payment. Unless you notify us to the contrary, we will assume the amount if [sic] correct.
On October 24, 2008, Illinois Collections Unlimited sent Mr. Cervantes another collection letter in which it threatened a judgment against him. On January 30, 2009, the agency sent Mr. Cervantes a third communication. In that letter, it required Mr. Cervantes to respond affirmatively, to stop Illinois Collections Unlimited from contacting his employer.
Feeling harassed, Mr. Cervantes hired a consumer attorney and filed a complaint accusing the company of the following FDCPA violations:
- Overshadowing the required 30-day notice by demanding immediate payment in the first letter
- Using false, deceptive, and misleading means to collect a debt
- Threatening to contact his employer, an uninvolved third party
The matter was later dismissed.
The phone number for Illinois Collections Unlimited is 1-309-839-1162. If it appears on your caller ID, it means that a debt collector is trying to reach you. If they attempt to make you pay a debt that has been discharged in a recent bankruptcy, contact a consumer attorney.
Such collection tactics are illegal under the FDCPA, and if you pursue the matter in court, you could win $1,000 per FDCPA violation, as well as court costs, attorney fees, and any actual damages such as stress and embarrassment. When debt collectors become so focused on getting your money that they break the law, your attorney will help you protect your rights and seek the compensation you deserve.
*Case taken from PACER (www.pacer.gov). File number is 1:13-cv-00031 from the United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois, Eastern 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 Illinois Collections Unlimited or any other third-party collection agency, you may not be entitled to any compensation.