Is Professional Accounts Service, Inc Calling You?*

Is Professional Accounts Service, Inc calling you? Here’s what you need to know.

Financial difficulties that cause you to fall behind on your monthly obligations is stressful enough, but when debt collectors call you day and night and threaten to have you arrested if you don’t pay, the situation can be so intolerable that personal bankruptcy becomes an attractive option.

Your Rights Under the FDCPA

Although not all debt collectors are unethical and abusive, enough of them are so unpleasant to deal with that thousands of complaints are made to the Federal Trade Commission every year despite the existence of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). This consumer protection law makes it illegal to use tactics like those below to collect a debt.

• Calling you at work after you’ve told them that you aren’t allowed to talk to them there
• Swearing and yelling at you
• Calling at all hours of the day and night
• Demanding amounts that exceed the original debt
• Telling you that you can be jailed if you don’t pay
• Talking to uninvolved parties such as your friends, family, and co-workers about the debt

For many debt collectors, the FDCPA is a restrictive nuisance to be ignored in favor of getting your money in any way possible.

Company Profile: Professional Accounts Service

Professional Accounts Service, Inc is a collection agency located in Terre Haute, Indiana. It was established in 1988, has 10-19 employees, and is a member of both the Indiana Collectors Association and the Association of Credit and Collection Professionals. Records archived at the PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records) website confirm that Professional Accounts Service, Inc has been accused of violating the FDCPA during its many years in business.

Alleged Violations Against Professional Accounts Service

According to PACER, on or about October 4, 2013 debt collectors from Professional Accounts Service, Inc called an Indiana resident at her workplace regarding an alleged debt. She advised the collector that her employer didn’t allow her to take personal calls at work, but on October 10 another call allegedly took place.

She later complained that she did not receive a debt validation letter within five days of the first communication from Professional Accounts Service, Inc. She allegedly did not receive any validation until on or about January 31, 2014, when Professional Accounts Service, Inc sent her a letter which stated the name of the creditor to whom the debt was allegedly owed and a statement that unless she disputed the validity of the debt within 30 days, the debt would be assumed to be valid.

She hired a consumer attorney and filed a complaint against Professional Accounts Service, Inc for the following alleged FDCPA violations:

• Using false, deceptive and misleading means to collect a debt
• Calling her at her place of employment after being advised that she was not allowed to take such calls
• Failing to send a debt validation letter

The matter was later dismissed.

Protect Your Rights: Hire a Consumer Attorney

The phone number for Professional Accounts Service, Inc is 1-812-235-8648. If you see a call from this number on your caller ID, it means that a debt collector is attempting to contact you. If they call you at work after being told not to and fail to send you a debt validation letter within five days of the first contact with you, see a consumer attorney.

Such actions violate the FDCPA, and if you take the matter to court you could receive $1,000 per FDCPA violation plus attorney’s fees, court costs, and any actual damages. Even if you actually owe the debt, you have rights that debt collectors ignore at their own risk.

*Case taken from PACER (www.pacer.gov). File number is 2:14-cv-00094-JTM-JEM from United States District Court, Northern District of Indiana, Hammond 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 Professional Accounts Service, or any other third-party collection agency, you may not be entitled to any compensation.