Consumer complaint received 2020-09-15
Company: Populus Financial Group, Inc. (F/K/A Ace Cash Express)
State: CO
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Payday loan debt
Issue: Written notification about debt
Sub-issue: Didn't receive notice of right to dispute

Complaint:
I have been getting frequent calls from this company. They left a voice message saying it was important to call them back because it was time sensitive. I called back and the woman that answered the phone gave only her name and that the call was being recorded. I advised I had a missed call from them and was calling back. She asked if I was calling from the number they called. I advised that I was. She said she was going to try to locate the account. She then said it looks like they were looking for XXXX XXXX is that me. I said yes. She then asked if the last four of my social was XXXX. I answered yes. I would jut like to note that anyone could have said yes and not been me, because she provided me with this information. I then asked who she was. She said she was with XXXX XXXX and they were a debt collection agency. She did not give me the mini Miranda. She did not advise that this was an attempt to collect a debt and any information obtained would be used for that purpose. She did not state if she was a debt collector or an attorney, yet she mentioned moving forward with legal action. As a previous recent debt collector for a debt collection law firm, I immediately recognized the error. I can recite it in my sleep. She told me it was for an Ace Payday loan from 2014. I immediately informed her that I did not have an Ace payday loan in 2014. She then argued that someone was making payments on the account using a XXXX XXXX bank account and gave the last four numbers of that account. She never gave me the account number for original account or for their office. I responded that I did not have a XXXX XXXX bank account in 2014. She said again that payments were being made on this. I advised It was not my account. She stated that they would move forward with legal action against me, trying to scare me. I advised that we both know that I had not been served. She said something along the lines of, not yet. She never verified my address. She stated that she would send me validation. I asked for their address. My intention was to submit a dispute in writing and to report their violations. She said that she needed to locate my local address because she was calling from XXXX Texas. I said okay. I was on a long hold. When the hold music stopped there was another party that came on the line. He stated his name and that he was a compliance manager. He asked if I was disputing. I advised that I was. I advised that she never verified my address and that she provided me with the last four of my social that I never gave it to her. He responded with they are not required to verify my address. He would be correct in that statement as they could also use my date of birth. However, how can they send me validation of debt as requested if no one verified my address. I responded with I also never received the required FDCPA letter advising me that the account was placed in their office. He agreed that they are required to send me the letter but said nothing to indicate it was even sent. I advised him that I was not given the mini Miranda and that there were multiple violations made on the call. I advised that she was supposed to be getting me the address. I asked how they were going to address these violations. He responded with they are not going to give me the address. I advised that they were required to do so. He started arguing that they were not and if I had any questions I could go to their website and listed it off very quickly without spelling out the name. I stated that it sounded like I was going to need to seek out an attorney and he hung up on me. I called back to let them know I did not want any further communication from them other than the dispute information that I requested. The same male answered the phone. I advised him it was rude of him to hang up on me. I gave my name and my phone number as I was not given an account number to reference. I advised that I was putting them on notice because I felt harassed by them and that I still wanted those documents I requested in regards to the dispute. He responded by hanging up on me for the second time. I gave them an opportunity to address my concerns about the violations on the call, but they thought it was better to change the subject and hang up on me.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation