Consumer complaint received 2019-11-22
Company: MRS BPO, LLC
State: AZ
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Other debt
Issue: Communication tactics
Sub-issue: Called before 8am or after 9pm

Complaint:
I started receiving calls XXXX at XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX  ( I answered and after they said they were with XXXX and they were looking for a specific person I informed them that they had the wrong number and needed to stop calling. ) XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX. I called XXXX customer service explained to them that i was receiving calls from a group impersonating XXXX there is a big difference between the real XXXX automated service and the limited capability employed by these numbers which leads me to believe that MRS Assoc is running a fake line to identify and trick their debtors as XXXX confirmed their systems had no record of calls to my number. I then received a text message this morning at XX/XX/XXXX stating " Please contact MRS Assoc. rguarding a XXXX XXXX matter at XXXX. This is an attempt to collect a debt and any information obtained will be used for that purpose MRS is a debt collector. X : unbrty. 804. Acquisition of location information [ 15 USC 1692b ] Any debt collector communicating with any person other than the consumer for the purpose of acquiring location information about the consumer shall -- ( 1 ) identify himself, state that he is confirming or correcting location information concerning the consumer, and, only if expressly requested, identify his employer ; ( 2 ) not state that such consumer owes any debt ; ( 5 ) not use any language or symbol on any envelope or in the contents of any communication effected by the mails or telegram that indicates that the debt collector is in the debt collection business or that the communication relates to the collection of a debt. 

805. Communication in connection with debt collection [ 15 USC 1692c ] ( a ) Communication with the consumer generally Without the prior consent of the consumer given directly to the debt collector or the express permission of a court of competent jurisdiction, a debt collector may not communicate with a consumer in connection with the collection of any debt -- ( 1 ) at any unusual time or place or  a time or place known or which should be known to be inconvenient to the consumer. In the absence of knowledge of circumstances to the contrary, a debt collector shall assume that the convenient time for communicating with a consumer is after XXXX o'clock XXXX  and before XXXX o'clock XXXX, local time at the consumer 's location ; Fair Debt Collection Practices Act FDCPA Written by : XXXX XXXX The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ( FDCPA ) is a federal law that limits the behavior and actions of third-party debt collectors who are attempting to collect debts on behalf of another person or entity. However, it does not apply to your original creditor. The Federal Trade Commission ( FTC ), the nation 's consumer protection agency, enforces the FDCPA, which prohibits debt collectors from using abusive, unfair, or deceptive practices to collect debt from you. If you feel you are a victim of unfair debt collection practices, contact the FTC immediately.

THE FAIR DEBT COLLECTION PRACTICES ACT As amended by Public Law 111-203, title X, 124 Stat. 2092 ( 2010 ) As a public service, the staff of the FTC has prepared this following complete text of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act - 1692-1692p. The format of this text differs slightly from the actual U.S. Code. 

801. Short title 802. Congressional findings and declaration of purpose 803. Definitions 804. Acquisition of location information 805. Communication in connection with debt collection 806. Harassment or abuse 807. False or misleading representations 808. Unfair practices 809. Validation of debts 810. Multiple debts 811. Legal actions by debt collectors 812. Furnishing certain deceptive forms 813. Civil liability 814. Administrative enforcement 815. Reports to Congress by the Bureau ; views of other Federal agencies 816. Relation to State laws 817. Exemption for State regulation 818. Exception for certain bad check enforcement programs operated by private entities 819. Effective date 801. Short Title [ 15 USC 1692 note ] This title may be cited as the " Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. '' 802. Congressional findings and declarations of purpose [ 15 USC 1692 ] ( a ) Abusive practices There is abundant evidence of the use of abusive, deceptive, and unfair debt collection practices by many debt collectors. Abusive debt collection practices contribute to the number of personal bankruptcies, to marital instability, to the loss of jobs, and to invasions of individual privacy.

( b ) Inadequacy of laws Existing laws and procedures for redressing these injuries are inadequate to protect consumers.

( c ) Available non-abusive collection methods Means other than misrepresentation or other abusive debt collection practices are available for the effective collection of debts.

( d ) Interstate commerce Abusive debt collection practices are carried on to a substantial extent in interstate commerce and through means and instrumentalities of such commerce. Even where abusive debt collection practices are purely intrastate in character, they nevertheless directly affect interstate commerce.

( e ) Purposes It is the purpose of this title to eliminate abusive debt collection practices by debt collectors, to insure that those debt collectors who refrain from using abusive debt collection practices are not competitively disadvantaged, and to promote consistent State action to protect consumers against debt collection abuses.

803. Definitions [ 15 USC 1692a ] As used in this subchapter -- ( 1 ) The term " Bureau '' means the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection.

( 2 ) The term " communication '' means the conveying of information regarding a debt directly or indirectly to any person through any medium.

( 3 ) The term " consumer '' means any natural person obligated or allegedly obligated to pay any debt.

( 4 ) The term " creditor '' means any person who offers or extends credit creating a debt or to whom a debt is owed, but such term does not include any person to the extent that he receives an assignment or transfer of a debt in default solely for the purpose of facilitating collection of such debt for another.

( 5 ) The term " debt '' means any obligation or alleged obligation of a consumer to pay money arising out of a transaction in which the money, property, insurance or services which are the subject of the transaction are primarily for personal, family, or household purposes, whether or not such obligation has been reduced to judgment.

( 6 ) The term " debt collector '' means any person who uses any instrumentality of interstate commerce or the mails in any business the principal purpose of which is the collection of any debts, or who regularly collects or attempts to collect, directly or indirectly, debts owed or due or asserted to be owed or due another. Notwithstanding the exclusion provided by clause ( F ) of the last sentence of this paragraph, the term includes any creditor who, in the process of collecting his own debts, uses any name other than his own which would indicate that a third person is collecting or attempting to collect such debts. For the purpose of section 808 ( 6 ), such term also includes any person who uses any instrumentality of interstate commerce or the mails in any business the principal purpose of which is the enforcement of security interests. The term does not include -- ( A ) any officer or employee of a creditor while, in the name of the creditor, collecting debts for such creditor ; ( B ) any person while acting as a debt collector for another person, both of whom are related by common ownership or affiliated by corporate control, if the person acting as a debt collector does so only for persons to whom it is so related or affiliated and if the principal business of such person is not the collection of debts ; ( C ) any officer or employee of the United States or any State to the extent that collecting or attempting to collect any debt is in the performance of his official duties ; ( D ) any person while serving or attempting to serve legal process on any other person in connection with the judicial enforcement of any debt ; ( E ) any nonprofit organization which, at the request of consumers, performs bona fide consumer credit counseling and assists consumers in the liquidation of their debts by receiving payments from such consumers and distributing such amounts to creditors ; and ( F ) any person collecting or attempting to collect any debt owed or due or asserted to be owed or due another to the extent such activity ( i ) is incidental to a bona fide fiduciary obligation or a bona fide escrow arrangement ; ( ii ) concerns a debt which was originated by such person ; ( iii ) concerns a debt which was not in default at the time it was obtained by such person ; or ( iv ) concerns a debt obtained by such person as a secured party in a commercial credit transaction involving the creditor.

( 7 ) The term " location information '' means a consumer 's place of abode and his telephone number at such place, or his place of employment.

( 8 ) The term " State '' means any State, territory, or possession of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or any political subdivision of any of the foregoing.

804. Acquisition of location information [ 15 USC 1692b ] Any debt collector communicating with any person other than the consumer for the purpose of acquiring location information about the consumer shall -- ( 1 ) identify himself, state that he is confirming or correcting location information concerning the consumer, and, only if expressly requested, identify his employer ; ( 2 ) not state that such consumer owes any debt ; ( 3 ) not communicate with any such person more than once unless requested to do so by such person or unless the debt collector reasonably believes that the earlier response of such person is erroneous or incomplete and that such person now has correct or complete location information ; ( 4 ) not communicate by post card ; ( 5 ) not use any language or symbol on any envelope or in the contents of any communication effected by the mails or telegram that indicates that the debt collector is in the debt collection business or that the communication relates to the collection of a debt ; and ( 6 ) after the debt collector knows the consumer is represented by an attorney with regard to the subject debt and has knowledge of, or can readily ascertain, such attorney 's name and address, not communicate with any person other than that attorney, unless the attorney fails to respond within a reasonable period of time to the communication from the debt collector.

805. Communication in connection with debt collection [ 15 USC 1692c ] ( a ) Communication with the consumer generally Without the prior consent of the consumer given directly to the debt collector or the express permission of a court of competent jurisdiction, a debt collector may not communicate with a consumer in connection with the collection of any debt -- ( 1 ) at any unusual time or place or a time or place known or which should be known to be inconvenient to the consumer. In the absence of knowledge of circumstances to the contrary, a debt collector shall assume that the convenient time for communicating with a consumer is after XXXX  o'clock XXXX  and before XXXX   o'clock XXXX, local time at the consumer 's location ; ( 2 ) if the debt collector knows the consumer is represented by an attorney with respect to such debt and has knowledge of, or can readily ascertain, such attorney 's name and address, unless the attorney fails to respond within a reasonable period of time to a communication from the debt collector or unless the attorney consents to direct communication with the consumer ; or ( 3 ) at the consumer 's place of employment if the debt collector knows or has reason to know that the consumer 's employer prohibits the consumer from receiving such communication.

( b ) Communication with third parties Except as provided in section 1692b of this title, without the prior consent of the consumer given directly to the debt collector, or the express permission of a court of competent jurisdiction, or as reasonably necessary to effectuate a postjudgment judicial remedy, a debt collector may not communicate, in connection with the collection of any debt, with any person other than a consumer, his attorney, a consumer reporting agency if otherwise permitted by law, the creditor, the attorney of the creditor, or the attorney of the debt collector.

( c ) Ceasing communication If a consumer notifies a debt collector in writing that the consumer refuses to pay a debt or that the consumer wishes the debt collector to cease further communication with the consumer, the debt collector shall not communicate further with the consumer with respect to such debt, except -- ( 1 ) to advise the consumer that the debt collector 's further efforts are being terminated ; ( 2 ) to notify the consumer that the debt collector or creditor may invoke specified remedies which are ordinarily invoked by such debt collector or creditor ; or ( 3 ) where applicable, to notify the consumer that the debt collector or creditor intends to invoke a specified remedy.

If such notice from the consumer is made by mail, notification shall be complete upon receipt.

( d ) " Consumer '' defined For the purpose of this section, the term " consumer '' includes the consumer 's spouse, parent ( if the consumer is a minor ), guardian, executor, or administrator.

806. Harassment or abuse [ 15 USC 1692d ] A debt collector may not engage in any conduct the natural consequence of which is to harass, oppress, or abuse any person in connection with thecollection of a debt. Without limiting the general application of the foregoing, the following conduct is a violation of this section : ( 1 ) The use or threat of use of violence or other criminal means to harm the physical person, reputation, or property of any person.

( 2 ) The use of obscene or profane language or language the natural consequence of which is to abuse the hearer or reader.

( 3 ) The publication of a list of consumers who allegedly refuse to pay debts, except to a consumer reporting agency or to persons meeting the requirements of section 1681a ( f ) or 1681b ( 3 ) 1 of this title.

( 4 ) The advertisement for sale of any debt to coerce payment of the debt.

( 5 ) Causing a telephone to ring or engaging any person in telephone conversation repeatedly or continuously with intent to annoy, abuse, or harass any person at the called number.

( 6 ) Except as provided in section 1692b of this title, the placement of telephone calls without meaningful disclosure of the caller 's identity.

807. False or misleading representations [ 15 USC 1962e ] A debt collector may not use any false, deceptive, or misleading representation or means in connection with the collection of any debt. Without limiting the general application of the foregoing, the following conduct is a violation of this section.

I'm sure an investigation into these numbers would show that the numbers are in fact linked to the MRS Assoc. Further more the use of txt messaging to convey an attempt to collect a debt is the equivalent of sending mail with the stating along with the name that an attempt to collect a debt on the front of an envelope.

Company public response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation