CCA Collection Company Of America Deceptive Collections Practice - Liars for Cingular Wireless Collections!!Denver Colorado

We have never opperated out side of california and have never collected on cell phone debts... I can not comment on the their collection agency "CCA Collection agency of america" I Belive it is. 

Collection Company of America, CCA, Collecto, Inc., EOS CCA, and many other trade names assicated with this company are illegal.

They have registered many trade names with the Colorado Secretary of State.  Do a search on each of their trade names, as well as Collecto, Inc., and the newest one EOS CCA (EOS HOLDINGS)  print each of their applications.  In court the representative presented certificates of license, however the Attorney General's Office lists their licenses as inactive, accept for one, and it is not the one registered to Collecto, Inc.  Make sure you do your homework.  If you have enough of the evidence to prove they are an illegal "Trade Name", you may be able to sue for thousnads of dollars.  Some of the violations award specific damages, while others award actual damages.

Regardless of weither you owe a debt or not, this company if properly sue will not see a dime of your money. Not paying your bills is not a defense that can be raised against you. Everyone falls short at one point in time. If you have collection companies knocking on your door, it is because they purchased your debt at pennies on the dollar. Most collection companies will not sue you, but when they do, make sure you do your reseaarch on them. There are less than a dozen collection companies in america who are in good standing. Most of them will argue, curse, and get irritated when you tell them you are not gonna pay them. They are fueled off of agression. You never have to talk to them, and if you write them a letter telling them not to contact you, they have to follow your request, or they can be sued. Record your calls with them, and make sure you mail letters certified. CCA, Collection Company of America has been sued many times, and have lost many lawsuits for violation of the FDCPA. One of the Parent Companies they claim to be Collecto, Inc. recently lost a class action lawsuit, see Castro v Collecto, Inc. My sugestion to you regardless of weither or not you owe a debt, is to #1 mail a letter requesting validation of the debt, a written notice of assignment, and a full accounting record of the debt, to include all payments you have made, outstanding balances, and what exactly the debt is for. Remember that they have the burden of proof that you owe this debt. Most of the time their records are not accurate, and they will avoid persuing accounts that are inaccurate and incomplete. They have to validate the debt as their own. In my case they representative said that if that I want that information I can go to the hospital and request it myself. That is her big mistake, I am not the one required to obtain that information, the burden is hers, and not mine. #2 File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission, and the Secretary of State, as well as the Attorney General. The more complaints they receive against these people, the more they will persue them. See the case of The United States of America v LTD Finalcial Services. This case was brought by the Federal Trade Commision after hundreds of complaints were filed against a collection agency that violated the FDCPA against hundreds of people. It takes a lot of complaints to catch the attention of the FTC, and States. The forms are located on the websites of all theses agencies, and it doesnt cost a dime, you dont need an attorney, you just need a valid complaint. Makes sure you save copies of all correspondences. False reporting on a credit report is also punishable in criminal courts, as well as monitery damages. Do your homework on these people, and know that it is illegal to conduct business under more than one assumed name. These people have registered and actively use at least 6 names that I have found so fa in Colorado alone. I printed the applications to the Secretary of State, and printed their license status off the Attorney General's website. #3 sue them, sue all of their trade names, and stick to it. Eventually something as big as another class action lawsuit will bring these people to their knees, or at least force them to create new alias'.

I just submitted a rip off report on CCA however I have actual documentation on a promise to remove the collection from my report because as the email stated, I was never contacted about the collection and it was not my account, it was my daughter's account. I am seeking legal council to fight this and contacting the news agencies for their support in exposing this fraudualnt company.

It is not CCA's or 'singular's" fault
No wonder you work for a bottom feeder collection agency - last time I looked it was Cingular/AT&T
Enough said

I worked for this company, though I was in a different branch.

It isn't CCA's fault, not singular's fault that something went wrong with closing the account.

As for not removing things from your credit report, CCA cannot do that, but once your amount is paid, it and Cingular knows, etc it will get taken off. How long it takes for that, I'm not entirely sure.

But it sounds to me you misinterpreted what they were saying to you.

I received a call tonight from a "Gail" with "CCA." My mother-in-law does not live with us and is suffering from dementia. We are unclear why this company called us. It's highly improbably that she has taken out any credit in the last 3 years because of her health. Here's how the conversation went:
ME: Hello?
CCA: Hello, is Ann there?
ME: No. Who is this?
CCA: This is Gail
ME: Gail who?
CCA: Just Gail
ME: And you aaarrre ... ?
CCA: Just looking for Ann. Is she there?
ME: But who are you calling for, I mean, from what company?
CCA: I'm with CCA
ME: What does CCA stand for?
CCA: Nothin', it stands for nothin' (she has slight accent)
ME: CCA stands for nothing? How can that be? It must stand for something. It's an acronym for something!
CCA: No it doesn't. It isn't.
ME: I think you're lying to me. I cannot do business with you.
CCA: Would you like to talk to my supervisor?
ME: Yes!
SUP: Hello, this is Sara from CCA. We need to speak to Ann
ME: (I explained that her what her underling said, that CCA stands for nuthin')
SUP: That's true. It stands for nothing.
ME: Where are you calling from?
SUP: I cannot say. Are you Ann?
ME: No. She's my mother-in-law and has dementia. I cannot let you speak to her unless you tell me the nature of this call, who you are, where you're calling from.
SUP: I cannot tell you.
ME: Then I cannot do business with you. CLICK

It didn't take me long to Google "CCA" >collection agency
P.S. Gail called me back again this evening, as if she hadn't called already. I reminded her that she had and that I had done some checking and found numerous fraud reports about their company and practices. (I asked if calls were recorded. "Maybe," she said). I cited to her what I had learned (real name, office locations, etc) and asked her why she just couldn't tell me that in the first call. She said I was very rude and asked me why I was being like this. Um, because you called me, Gail, at my home, looking for someone who doesn't live here and since you refuse to give me a phone number and identify the nature of the call, I cannot put you in contact with my mother-in-law. She said, "well you already know all this so what's the problem." GAWD! Talk about table-turners and railroading. Gail hung up on me this time.

Moral to this story: If a (collection) company cannot even as much as be honest about who they are, the real name of their company, where their offices are, or are not transparent through a caller I.D. system, hang up ... or have some fun like I did. I will be calling their corporate offices tomorrow morning (800-681-4300) and lodging a complaint. I do not want Gail to lose her job, but I do want to appeal to them to at least identify themselves in the future -- and remove my phone number from future calls. Anne doesn't live here. Nothin' I can help them with.

So you can prove in court that they did something illegal.

yes they record calls themselves and they edit those calls so they can state whatever the bottomfeeder wants it to playback. However those doctored recordings can be determined for court purposes whether it was edited or not. You do have to request the court do this check on it.

Recording phone calls and whether you have to notify the other party is BASED on YOUR state laws. For instance in TX, you are not required to inform the other party that the call is being recorded.

www.budhibbs.com - is a consumer advocate website that specializes in issues with Collection agencies. An excellent resource for anyone who is dealing with any collection agency - they do have a list of the worst agencies in the country as well.

The last thing a collection agency wants you to know is that YOU HAVE RIGHTS!
And they have laws they are required to follow. You can sue them for violating those laws.

I see the bottom feeders are out in numbers..

First off, taping the conversation. The OP lives in Utah. Utah Code Ann. 77-23a-4: An individual legally can record or disclose the contents of any wire, oral or electronic communication to which he is a party, or when at least one participant has consented to the recording, unless the person has a criminal or tortious purpose in making the recording.

Since the OP lives in Utah, Utah law takes precedence. The taped conversation would be very admissible in court. Furthermore, in Utah, I wouldn't have to tell you I was recording the call. If it was me, I would be suing you in Federal Court (which would have jurisdiction).

The bottom feeder next spouts: "Also, CCA does monitor some of their calls, but does not record all calls that come in, and even if they did, they are not required to provide these tapes to you as they are the property of the company."

Its called discovery. and YES you would have to provide these calls, unless you illegally hid them at which time I would asked the court to grant summary judgment.

I would encourage the OP to seek legal counsel and sue the bastards...

First off all I can say is wow, Im not suprised. Let me disect this 'collectors' statements.

First a little background on me... I have years of experience with federal and state laws which protect consumers.

Statute of Limitations on phone service is 2 years, which means anything beyond that and the collector has no legal standing and is waisting time and money.

Regarding the statements that this guy makes saying that it wouldnt be admissable in court in the state of MA... Not all consumers are in MA, which means, if I had reason
to sue your company I would file in MY state. Also if you are initiating a call to a one party state, that person does not have to advise he or she is recording

You also say that CCA does not record all of the calls, but if they are recording, then they must advise so, which means the other party is free to record as well.

In other words your 'speil' is highly incorrect.. but we have come to expect that from you scumbags...

Next your claims that negative info MUST stay on your credit file for 7 years and cant be removed... WRONG, The FCRA does not require reporting. Information can be removed, and not just by dispute.

Also neither PIF or settling help your credit any, infact paying resets the SOL and causes more problems.

CCA is a junk debt buyer and attempts to collect past SOL, and threatens to sue, which is violation of the FDCPA, (misrepresenting the legal status of a debt)

Consumer - You should have gotten it in writing or worked with the Original Creditor. You can still get this removed with some research.... unfortunately because you dont have anything in writing you have no legal a standing.

*I* am not *your* attorney, and you are not *my* client, nothing in this typing can be taken as a attorney-client relationship.

As an ex-employee of CCA, I can review what David has said happened, but also offer advice in regards to the advice that he gave.

David wrote:
Anyway Just wanted to warn all of you when dealing with these liars. Please record your calls with them so you do not fall victim of their deceptive practices.

I do not suggest this in any way - it sounds counterproductive, but the main offices for this company are based out of Massachusetts, and the evidence would likely not be admissible in court (and potentially set you up for a civil lawsuit by the collector for illegally taping the conversation, which you will have basically admitted to by submitting the tape).

In this case, it can't be circumnavigated by announcing that the call is being recorded; while I was employed, if a consumer announced that the call was being recorded, collectors were trained to request you stop recording and not to speak to you if it was believed you were recording the call. If you did stop recording, you obviously have no recording. If you continued to record, then you are again in violation of the above.

Also, CCA does monitor some of their calls, but does not record all calls that come in, and even if they did, they are not required to provide these tapes to you as they are the property of the company.

Ok - that's my spiel about audio taping and legality. Here's my spiel about what happened specifically to David.

Once something goes on your credit report like this, it's on there for seven years unless it is removed via a dispute. Paying the bill in full (or part via settlement) is not a dispute - it's in fact, quite the opposite.

There are certainly credit benefits to paying the full amount rather than the settlement, especially in low balance situations like the above; taking the hit of a settlement against your credit rating for a low balance transaction like a cell phone bill is actually a pretty horrible thing to do, when you think about the credit ramifications versus the cost to rectify.

Does that make what this collector said/did correct? Of course not. If you were promised that this would be removed from your credit pending PIF (Payment in Full),
then you were ill-advised. That being said, if you didn't have something in writing to back up what was said to you, then unfortunately it is somewhat of a 'shame on you' situation.

Many times, collectors would say the default/charge off 'would be taken care of' on the consumer's credit report, but usually that meant that their credit report would be updated that the debt was either paid in full or settled in full - again, which stays on your credit for seven years, but also, again, is much better than a default or a charge-off.

Finally, CCA is hired by AT&T (Previously Cingular). From a professional standpoint, I personally think it's unfortunate that you judge your experience with Cingular based on the conduct of an outside agency assigned to collect a debt. I personally have had nothing but good experiences with AT&T; they are simply in a tough predicament of having to hire outside collection agencies to collect on these outstanding bills.
They went with CCA, and while your experience (and those of approximately 4 others from ripoffreport.com) has not been up to par, against the national average the number of complaints and consumer issues that CCA dealt with are far below the national average for a company of its size.

I know alot of time has passed since you wrote your entry to ripoffreport.com - and please, I hope that people don't think I am only defending CCA - I know that things happen in this business as described above - I am just stating as an ex-employee that the occurrences of these issues at CCA are (or were while I was employed) lower than the national average, and it was part of their internal mission statement to strive to continue that pattern.

Good luck!
Mr. Ex
Massachusetts