Is Van Ru Credit Corporation Calling You?*

Is Van Ru Credit Corporation calling you? Here’s what you need to know.

Many of the horror stories you’ve heard about debt collectors are based on reality. Each year the Federal Trade Commission receives hundreds of complaints from indebted consumers who allege that collection agencies call them non-stop, embarrass them publicly, and report false information to the credit bureaus.

If this happens to you, be aware that you don’t have to passively accept such abuse. No matter how much money you may owe, you have rights under the law.

Your Rights Under the FDCPA

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, or FDCPA, is a consumer protection law passed by Congress in 1977 to curb abusive debt collectors. It prohibits collection agencies from using pressure tactics like the following on consumers:

• Using profane and obscene language
• Calling you at work after you’ve told them that your workplace does not allow personal calls
• Telling you that you can be arrested for not paying your debts
• Failing or refusing to report a debt as disputed to the credit bureaus
• Contacting your friends, family and co-workers and discussing the debt with them
• Making threats they have no intention of following up on, such as garnishing your wages or suing you

Company Profile: Van Ru Credit Corporation

Van Ru Credit Corporation is a collection agency headquartered in Des Plaines, Illinois. It has five different call centers located all over the country, an employee count of 250 to 499, and is managed by CEO Albert Rubin. Litigation records retained by the PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records) website reveal that Van Ru Credit Corporation has been accused of violating the FDCPA when dealing with indebted consumers.

Alleged Violations against Van Ru Credit Corporation

Hilda Serrano vs. Van Ru Credit Corporation, an Illinois Corporation

In or around the spring of 2014, Illinois resident Hilda Serrano began receiving collection letters from Van Ru Credit Corporation about a delinquent Discover Card account. Ms. Serrano, a disabled senior citizen who had fallen behind in paying her bills, sought the assistance of the legal aid attorneys at the Chicago Legal Clinic’s LASPD program.

On July 18, 2014, Ms. Serrano’s attorneys at LASPD sent Van Ru Credit Corporation a letter informing the company that Ms. Serrano was represented by counsel, and directed it to cease contacting her, and to cease all further collection activities because Ms. Serrano was forced, by her financial circumstances, to refuse to pay her unsecured debts. Nonetheless, Van Ru Credit Corporation sent a collection letter, dated August 4, 2014, directly to Ms. Serrano, in which it demanded payment of the Discover Card debt.

She and her attorneys filed a lawsuit against the company for the following alleged FDCPA violations:

• Communicating with her after being informed that she was represented by an attorney
• Attempting to collect a debt that she had refused to pay due to poor financial circumstances

The matter was later settled.

Hire a Creditor Harassment Attorney

The phone numbers for Van Ru Credit Corporation are:

• 1-800-468-2678
• 1-847-824-2414
• 1-847-673-0898
• 1-913-345-9729

If your phone rings and one of these numbers show up on your caller ID, a debt collector is trying to reach you about an account it has been assigned to collect. If Van Ru Credit Corporation persists in contacting you directly after you have retained legal counsel regarding a debt you cannot afford to pay, hire a consumer attorney.

If you decide to sue, you could potentially win $1,000 per FDCPA violation as well as attorney’s fees, court costs, and any actual damages. When it comes to debt collectors, standing up for yourself could pay off.

*Case taken from PACER (www.pacer.gov). File number is 1:14-cv-07678 from 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 constructed as legal advice. If you file a claim against Van Ru Credit Corporation, or any other third-party collection agency, you may not be entitled to any compensation.