Looks like the powers that be at FBCS Inc is starting to get the picture that ignoring this situation will not make it go away. They spent over an hour today in a video conference with someone listening to their collector and manager break the law and try to intimidate me.
It looks like the meeting took place between 12:30 and 1:30 EST today, which would of been between 11:30 and 12:30 their time, via Global Crossings online meeting software.
I had given them every opportunity to resolve this matter prior to me filing suit against them and their attorney has stonewalled me. I made a very clear and cost effective offer in compromise to them and they never responded. The time has now by far passed for them to accept that offer.
I had mentioned to them I am a professional web publisher. I own over 150 web domains and provide content and SEO to several hundred other sources. There will be a professional redesign of this site in the very near future. I admit that in its current form it is ugly, but then again I never proclaimed to be a designer. My strong point is SEO and half assed content creation. I just have accepted this site as mine and will not turn over content creation to one of my writers.
If you are receiving calls from Federal Bond and Collection Service to your cell phone you are in luck. Hopefully they left you a message with their automated dialer and you still have a copy of the voice mail because each call from any of these numbers made via an automated dialer to your cellphone is worth $500 - $1500 under Federal Law. (866-594-8640, 866-594-8641, 866-594-8642, 866-594-8643, 866-594-8644, 866-594-8645, 866-594-8646 and 866-594-8647) Your state laws may be different so make sure you research before you sue them.
The Telephone Consumer Protection Act makes calls from an automated dialer to a cellphone illegal and in some states it is criminal unless they have your prior express permission. I don’t know of anyone that would give a collection agency permission to call a cellphone with an automated dialer!
I received a letter from FBCS Collections offering me a settlement on an account that has long been paid off which has been purchased by Midland Credit Management, a Junk Debt Buyer. I originally called them to get a web address so I could issue a cease and desist in the most timely manner. Having dealt with collection agencies before I knew that I needed to record the conversation with the agent, because collection agencies routinely violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
After speaking with their collector I was genuinely amused by her attempts to browbeat my into paying a debt that I do not owe and was amazed by her violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. After this call with America’s Dumbest Collection Agent I called to speak with a compliance officer and was transfered to their collection manager. He would not let me get a word in edgewise and also violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
He accused me of attempting to “shake down his company” and of baiting their simple minded collector.
Here is a short snippet of him accusing me of a “shake down” -
You will notice he used several declarations like entrapment and hearsay. Which are laudable to say the least. He also claimed that he knew how a judge will look at things. It is not a judge that Federal Bond and Collection Services needs to worry about now. It will be a jury.
She did not need to be baited to violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and with the way that their collection manager also trampled upon the FDCPA it seem to establish a pattern of abuse of collection agency laws. I don’t think any reasonable person could deduct that I baited their collector. Yes I did call them to see if they want to settle for their violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act but never even used that word in my conversation with them.
FBCS Collection Agency is very manic when it comes to collecting debts. They pull out all stops to try and intimidate people to collect nonexistent debts. I had received a letter from them regarding a Providian account that has long been paid off by my records and encountered Americas Dumbest Collection Agent.
When I called back to speak with their “Compliance Officer” I was transfered to their collection manager. After the attempted intimidation by the first agent I spoke with there i was not surprised when the manager proceeded to violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act as well. Listen to the short snippet of him violating the law.
Notice he tried to play attorney with me on the phone and advise me of the law. He also overshadowed my my validation rights and used false and misleading representations in an attempt to collect a debt which is a violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
I have tried to resolve this matter amicably with Federal Bond and Collection Services amicably to no avail now it looks like I will be forced to file suit against them for their violation of federal and state laws. The good thing is that the violations by the first agent and then by her manager it shows a pattern of abuse.
If you are having the same type of problems with them, abusive collectors, I have put together a special page that you can use to Report FBCS Collection Agency to the correct authorities. It gives links to all the online forms that you can use to draw attention to their abuse.
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has a unique law as far as having companies served there. If a company maintains a physical address in the state of Pennsylvania then they are not required to maintain a registered agent. So if you are wanting to sue FBCS Collection Agency all you have to do is serve their physical address. Which means you can serve them via US Mail.
The correct mailing address for service of process is:
Federal Bond and Collection Agency, Inc
6801 FRANKFORD AVE
2ND FL
PHILADELPHIA PA 19135-2107
Joseph Neary Sr. - President
Joanne Neary - Treasurer
Joseph Neary Jr. - Vice President
FBCS Inc is a fictitious name. They probably have contacted you under the name FBCS which technically is probably a violation of collection agency laws. I know I will add it to my complaint when it is filed. Also if you are trying to resolve a matter with them prior to litigation you would probably be better off to skip over John Neary, because chance are he cannot make a decision anyway without dear dad Joe Sr. saying it is ok.
If you feel that your rights have been violated by FBCS Collection Agency you have several ways to get their attention. Dealing directly with John Neary (jonh.neary@fbcs-inc.com) at FBCS Collections will not help you resolve any matters you may have with them. That is the reason for them having a special section on this site.
You do not even have to have direct proof of their violation of collection agency laws to file complaints.
Federal Trade Commission Complaint Form - Filing a complaint with the FTC puts the federal government on notice that there may be a rouge collection agency on the loose. While they do not answer or investigate each complaint if they receive enough of them they will investigate FBCS Collections. If you have had 6 contacts with them and you feel that they violated collection agency laws in three of those contacts file 3 complaints.
Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General - They are located in Pennsylvania so they are licensed by their state. You do not have to be a resident of Pennsylvania to file a complaint to their licensing authority for their violations of Federal and State laws that govern collection agencies.
Your States Attorney General - Report them to your State’s Attorney General if they are not the right place to report them they will inform you of the proper place. You will also want to make sure they are licensed in your state. It may be a violation of your State’s Laws for them to even contact you if they are not licensed in your State.
The ACA - They are a member of the American Collections Association you need to report them for each suspected abuse that FBCS Collection Agency commits.
FTC Identity Theft Division - As there is information online of FBCS Agent abusing consumers financial info if you feel that any contact with them would place your personal Identity in jeopardy report it to the FTC Identity Theft Division as well as the complaint form above.
While it may take you a while to file complaints with all of these organizations you can book mark this page and file them in your spare time if you feel the FBCS Collection Agency has violated your rights or caused you to be a victim of Identity Theft. If you have found this site chances are you are having problems with them already and there is power in numbers the more complaints that come in the more that the agencies you report them to are likely to take notice and start enforcement action against FBCS Collection Agency.
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act makes it illegal to threaten actions that they have no intention of taking. So if a collection agent refers to an out of court settlement of a debt that would imply that they have sued you. While technically any time you pay off a collection account voluntarily it is an out of court settlement but the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act uses the standard of the least sophisticated consumer. So for them touse the term “out of court settlement” without a court case being filed against you is an attempt to use deceptive means to collect a debt.
America’s Dumbest Collection Agent did exactly this when I contacted FBCS Collection Agency. She kept urging me to clear this debt legally and accept the out of court settlement. Personally I would NEVER pay a collection agency and the alleged debt that Federal Bond and Collection was attempting to collect from me has been paid. I had contacted them to resolve it and the young lady I spoke with and their collection manager both violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the national collection agency law, without letting me get in a word edgewise.
Keep checking back to keep up with FBCS Collection Agency and their illegal antics as I will be exposing them with all of the information I can find as well personal experience.
I found this interesting tidbit on the Bud Hibbs site regarding FBCS Collections :
Date: January 19, 2007
This Company is a SCAM I worked for Federal Bond and Collection Services aka FBCS for over a year. They are professional liars they will say anything to get your money. The company KNOWINGLY breaks the FDCPA every day. EVERY employee is on some kind of illegal substance. They hire people fresh out of prison regardless of their crime. Employees have been caught committing credit card fraud with consumers credit cards, when these people are caught they will be fired for a few months and brought back. Every person in there goes by a “dummy name” which is completely made up. Not only do they rip off consumers they rip off their own employees! Every day you go to work they change rules and then change them back within the hour. “Joe Senior” mentioned in a previous article is the owner, who is never there. They place people in managerial positions who have NO SKILLS AT ALL! The company is run by money hungry low lifes! This place is a circus to work in.
Although there is no way to verify this information giving a collection agency your credit card number or bank account info for any reason is asking for trouble. You have to go throuh a process if your personal financial information is misused and it may cause you tons of grief and expense if a rouge collection agent abuses your information. If you are being contacted by any collection agency you need to look into Identity Theft Protection Products. Collection agents for the most part unmonitored and are subject to misuse your personal financial information.
Personally I would never pay a collection agency but if you feel that you must only do so via money order. Even if they say that the offer is only good right now. Do not let a collection agent or collection manager talk you into giving them your banking or credit card info. you may be sorry that you did.
Becoming America’s Dumbest Collection Agent should probably be a tough bill to fill. One would think that a collection agent for a company that claims to be as professional as Federal Bond and Collection Service would have at a minimum the same vocabulary as a fourth grade child. The lady who wins the award does not know that a hyphen and a dash are synonyms. Where as my nine year old son in the fourth grade does.
One thing I find interesting is that FBCS Collections would employ someone, to handle money and confidential personal information, who does not have the ability to communicate above the level of a fourth grade student. This young lady does know how to attempt to intimidate people using poorly designed veiled threats, which is against the law.
Listen to her violate the law and make a fool of herself:
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act protects consumers against unscrupulous collection agents and agencies. It provides protections for consumers and allows them to sue collection agencies when they violate the law. I will dedicate this section of this site to exposing FBCS Collections and their long history of abusing consumers.
If you are dealing with them my best advice is to send them a Cease and Desist order. You must do this in writing for it to be fully effective. In writing does not mean mail exclusively. You can fax it to them at 215-288-9101 or use the form on their website. After they receive a cease and desist order from you they are allowed one more contact and that is it. Anything after that is a violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
If you are receiving calls from Federal Bond and Collection Service to your cell phone you are in luck. Hopefully they left you a message with their automated dialer and you still have a copy of the voice mail because each call from any of these numbers made via an automated dialer to your cellphone is worth $500 - $1500 under Federal Law. (866-594-8640, 866-594-8641, 866-594-8642, 866-594-8643, 866-594-8644, 866-594-8645, 866-594-8646 and 866-594-8647) Your state laws may be different so make sure you research before you sue them.
