NCO FinancialLearn What To Do If NCO Financial/NCO Group Contacts You
Please note: DebtCollectionAnswers.com is not affiliated in any way with NCO. Our goal is to help you learn how to deal with debt collectors and resolve your debts. We have provided a link to NCO's website, and their contact information below, in the background section. Many consumers who have been contacted about a debt with NCO Group will see “NCO Fin” or “NCO Credit Services” listed on their credit reports. In fact, the first time you learn about a collection account with this company may be when you find it listed on your credit files. Like any other collection agency, NCO Financial Services is required to follow the debt collection laws found in the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, as well as state laws, and the company says on its website that it has developed procedures to follow the law. At the same time, this is a large bill collector and some consumers have reported problems in dealing with them. How to Deal With NCO Collection AgencyIf this company is listed on your credit report, but you have not received correspondence about a debt, you can contact the company through the website link in the background section below. Keep in mind, though, that contacting the company may result in them contacting you to try to collect a debt from you. As we recommend in our e-book Debt Collection Answers: How to Use Debt Collection Laws to Protect Your Rights, be sure you keep good written records about your conversations and correspondence with them. Do You Have a Complaint About a Specific Collection Agency?
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Not rated yet Background InformationNCO Financial Systems Inc. NCO Group Pays Largest FCRA Civil Penalty to DateIn 2004, the FTC announced that NCO Group Inc., one of the nation’s largest debt-collection firms, agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) because it allegedly reported inaccurate information about debtors accounts to credit reporting agencies. The agreement assessed a $1.5 million fine, the largest civil penalty ever obtained in a FCRA case at that time.The FTC’s complaint against NCO Group, Inc.; NCO Financial Systems, Inc.; and NCO Portfolio Management, Inc. did not accurately report the date that the original consumer account had first become delinquent before being placed for collection or written off. Debt collectors are required to report this information when they report collection accounts to the credit bureaus. Without that information, credit reporting agencies cannot remove collection accounts from consumers credit reports when required. This protection in federal law helps ensure that outdated debts – debts that are beyond this seven-year reporting period – do not appear on consumer’s credit reports. Violations of this provision of the FCRA are subject to civil penalties of $2,500 per violation. The proposed consent decree ordered the defendants to pay civil penalties of $1.5 million and permanently barred them from reporting those inaccurate dates of delinquency to the credit bureaus. NCO was also ordered to develop a program so that consumer complaints about this issue would be corrected quickly. NOTE: The Commission files a complaint when it has “reason to believe” that the law has been or is being violated, and it appears to the Commission that a proceeding is in the public interest. The complaint is not a finding or ruling that the defendant has actually violated the law. This stipulated final order is for settlement purposes only and does not constitute an admission by the defendant of a law violation. A stipulated final order requires approval by the court and has the force of law when signed by the judge.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Settlement with NCOIn January 2006, Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett reached a settlement with Pennsylvania-based NCO Financial Systems Inc. The Attorney General's Bureau of Consumer Protection reported at that time that it had received more than 800 complaints against NCO Financial since November 2003.The Attorney General's Office alleged violations of the state's Consumer Protection Law and Fair Credit Extension Uniformity Act, as well as the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. These alleged violations included engaging in or using false, deceptive, or misleading representations or means in connection with the collection of debts. Corbett said that many consumer complaints involved claims that NCO Financial improperly contacted consumers at their place of employment, or called at unusual times the company knew, or should have known, were inconvenient to the consumer (for example, calling debtors before 8 a.m. and/or after 9 p.m.) Consumers also complained that representatives the agency used obscene or profane language and tried to threaten, annoy, abuse, or harass them. The attorney general raised allegations that the company communicated with consumers after they had been told in writing that the debt was in dispute or that they wanted the debt collector to cease contact. NCO Financial denied the allegations while agreeing to change certain practices as well as pay the Commonwealth the sum of $300,000. Better Business Bureau Reports on NCOWe researched the Better Business Bureau reports on this company as of July 5, 2009 and found the following data:Number of complaints processed by the BBB The agency maintains an "A" rating due to its handling of the complaints filed.
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