Are You Being Called By Plaza Associates, Inc.?*

Are you being called by Plaza Associates, Inc.?* Here’s what you need to know.

If you have fallen behind in paying your debts, sooner or later you may end up hearing from a third-party collection agency. These companies are legally permitted to contact you about the debt, but there are strict guidelines as to what they can say or do in the process.

Your Rights Under the FDCPA

Although the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) requires third party debt collectors to behave professionally when dealing with consumers, actions like the following result in hundreds of complaints to the Federal Trade Commission every year.

• Calling you outside of the hours of 8:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m. in your time zone
• Refusing or failing to validate the debt and prove that they are authorized to collect it
• Swearing and yelling at you
• Contacting you at your place of employment after you indicate that you can’t take calls there.
• Discussing your debt with friends, family, neighbors, and other uninvolved parties
• Presenting themselves as attorneys (if they are not) or police officers

Company Profile: Plaza Associates, Inc.

If you are being called by Plaza Associates, Inc., information about the company is below.

Plaza Associates, Inc. is collection agency located in New York, New York. It was established in 1961, has 200-500 employees, and was rated the seventh largest agency in the nation by the Nilson Report. Records archived at the PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records) website confirm that people who believed they were being harassed by Plaza Associates, Inc. sued the agency in response.

Alleged Violations against Plaza Associates, Inc.

According to PACER, in or before April 2011 Plaza Associates, Inc. began contacting a Texas resident to collect a consumer debt. During one conversation on May 19, a collector allegedly told him, “If you don’t pay, we will move forward with court proceedings and garnish your wages along with your mother Jackie.”

Feeling harassed by Plaza Associates, Inc., he hired a consumer attorney and sued the company for allegedly violating the FDCPA in the following ways:

• Using harassing, oppressive, and abusive means to collect a debt
• Using false, deceptive, and misleading means to collect a debt
• Using unfair or unconscionable means to collect a debt
• Threatening legal actions it could not take

The matter was later settled.

Hire an Attorney

The phone number for this collection agency is 1-877-347-5491. If it appears on your caller ID, it means that you are being called by Plaza Associates, Inc.. If they threaten to garnish your wages unless you pay immediately, hire a consumer attorney. If you file a claim against Plaza Associates, Inc. and win, you could potentially be awarded $1,000 per violation as well as attorney’s fees, court costs, and any actual damages. Never assume that because you owe money, you deserve to be bullied. The law confirms otherwise.

*Case taken from PACER (www.pacer.gov). File number is Case 4:11-cv-00456-RAS-DDB from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Sherman Division.

Disclaimer: The content of this article serves only to provide information and should not be constructed as legal advice. If you file a claim against Plaza Associates, Inc., or any other third-party collection agency, you may not be entitled to any compensation.