The Los Angeles Better Business Bureau (BBB) has been flooded with complaints about a debt collection agency they rate as an "F," according to a recent article in the Ventura County Star. The company, Commercial Investigations Inc., is located in Van Nuys, CA.
Reviews of the company posted on the BBB website from business owners who hired (or considered hiring) this company to collect debts for them suggest that the company needs some major customer service/business management training.
Complaints from consumers posted on the site include reports of the collection agency calling repeatedly after they were told to cease contact, foul language, and sending unsecure faxes about a debt to a debtor at work. This type of conduct is prohibited under the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, and some state laws as well. All in all, the BBB lists 177 complaints, 78 of them unanswered.
In other news, New York Attorney General Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo finally shut down a New York collection operation that consisted of at least nine debt collection companies across Western New York, run by Buffalo resident Tobias Boyland. Several months ago, the firm was the subject of a Dateline NBC exposé in which victims were threatened with immediate incarceration if they didn't pay. Boyland's staff impersonated police officers and used heavy'handed tactics to scare debtors into paying.
This begs the question, "What took them so long??"
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Gerri
Detweiler – Personal finance author and Credit Advisor for Credit.com, Gerri contributes budgeting, debt
recovery and savings information online. She is also the co-author of Debt Collection Answers: How to Use Debt Collection Laws to Protect Your Rights.