NCO just called in

[treehugger1]

Today I received messages on my home phone voice mail, cell phone, and work phone from a "so-and-so" from NCO stating that they were from the pre-litigation unit of NCO. They stated that they were attempting to contact me regarding a potential "judgment" in the county of XXXXX in Oregon. Please return the call. This is the first I have ever heard of NCO and they left the message on my voice mail claiming "prelitigation" and potential judgment.

Can they leave a message such as this?

I recorded all three voice recordings and marked the time and date they were left.

I have no idea who NCO might be attempting to collect on behalf of, but since i have agreements with all but two of my creditors I can guess. My thoughts are they are calling on behalf of a Cap1 account that recently charged off. If such is the case, they have only been assigned the debt, and do not own it.

They never mentioned debt collection, only that they they were with "pre-litigation" and wanted to discuss a potential judgment.

There is no judgment against me in my county. I have never heard from these folks in the past.

Should I return the call, turn the recorder on and let them rant, and then request my 5 day written notice of information as required under the FDCPA and state statutes?

Have they already broken the law?

Except for my work phone none of my voicemails states that they have reached me. My name is only attached to my work voice-mail.

I'm not frightened of these folks, but how should I proceed? I've posted this to other forums, but thought I'd let others here share any experince they might have.

I'm quite prepared to do battle. I have saddled the painted pony!

Thanks! Cheers!

[treehugger1]

Thanks for the response. I'll call them, as always, and make it clear that I don't discuss any personal financial issues without written information, etc. I always cite the FDCPA after a bit.

Here is an interesting twist. Today, day 2, they call and leave messages on both my home voice mail (I no longer have a home phone, but did keep my home number and voicemail package) and cell voice mail. On one message, the party identifies himself as calling from attorney network. Two minutes later the SAME party calls my work voice mail and indentifies himself as a representative of NCO. Both calls tell me to call the NCO number. This guy was different than the guy that called yesterday. No big deal as to who is calling, but I'm pretty sure that the calls today are very deceptive to the less-sophisticated consumer. It was almost as if the guy calling couldn't remember his script. Not unusual as I understand you can become a "debt-collector" and work from home for many CA's.

After looking through some cases in my state, calls like those I received today, the caller already apparently has violated some state anti-trust laws. In addition, no debt collector is allowed to leave a message on a "voicemail," if the purpose of the contact is to collect on debt. My state statutes are much more strict than the FDCPA.

Thanks for the advice on inquiring on whether they will be pursuing a judgment. I'm going to love this phone call. LOL

[mikep]

This company purchases old debt that falls under the statue of limitations.They're nothing but junk debt buyers.They sent a letter to my home yesterday.It was for my ex girlfriend,dating back to 1998.As said above, dv and they will have nothing to go on.

[treehugger1]

I'll call them when I get back to town next week. I'm pretty sure they are collecting on a recent charge-off assigned to them. It is not a junk debt. But, I'll find out!

[Keebler]

This company purchases old debt that falls under the statue of limitations.They're nothing but junk debt buyers.They sent a letter to my home yesterday.It was for my ex girlfriend,dating back to 1998.As said above, dv and they will have nothing to go on.

I can assure you that your comment isn't true.

I have been contacted by NCO Finincial for more than one account of mine. They've been collecting for accounts that are still with the original credit card company and they've been involved with accounts before charge-off and after. None of the accounts they've tried collecting have been sold or transferred and none are beyond the statute of limitations.