Consumer complaint received 2018-01-27
Company: COMMUNITY CHOICE FINANCIAL, INC.
State: OH
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Payday loan debt
Issue: False statements or representation
Sub-issue: Indicated you were committing crime by not paying debt

Complaint:
I was contacted originally on XX/XX/XXXX via cell phone by a woman named XXXX XXXX. XXXX XXXX claimed to be an associate at an entity called " XXXX XXXX XXXX ''. She stated ( in a voicemail which I have saved ) that I must contact her by the end of the day to avoid legal action being taken for a pending legal complaint against my name and social security number in the state of Ohio. I called back and was told I owed a debt of XXXX to " buckeye credit solutions '' for an unpaid installment loan originating in XX/XX/XXXX. She also stated that I had committed fraud by closing my bank account used to obtain the loan. I did have a bank account closed at that time because someone committed fraud against it. I did not close it by choice. I was found liable for the charges made to my account and was forced to close the account. I did not report it to the police, I wasn't aware that I should. I told XXXX XXXX I was unaware of the debt. I almost made an agreement to repay the debt because I was scared of being sued, even if I did not owe it. I am XXXX XXXX and on XXXX. My memory is poor and I was and am still unsure if Im responsible for this debt. My husband and I decided against giving money to these people. We received no communication from them for months until yesterday ( XX/XX/XXXX ). They contacted my husband on his cell phone, even though they were never given his number or authorized to contact him. I called them back and spoke to a XXXX XXXX, this time claiming to be from an entity called " XXXX XXXX XXXX ''. XXXX XXXX stated that I owe {$720.00} to " checksmart '' for an unpaid installment loan originating in XX/XX/XXXX and once again, told me that I would be sued for the debt of I did not pay it. He made reference to a court docket number " XXXX XXXX ''. When I told him he can not do that he said he would notate my response as a direct refusal and ended the call by saying " good luck in court ''. Today ( XX/XX/XXXX ) I received a call on my landline from " XXXX XXXX XXXX '' and talked to a woman named XXXX. I did not think to get her last name. I was told again that I owe the same debt mentioned above and I will be sued if I do not pay it in full. I told the representative that I am unsure whether I actually owe this debt and asked if I could call the original creditor for verification. The debt has never appeared on my credit report and to my knowledge I did not take out any installments loan in XXXX. She stated that " XXXX XXXX XXXX '' purchased my debt from " checksmart '' and therefore " checksmart '' would be unable to verify anything for me. She sent me an email, which I will attach to this complaint as documentation, listing my alleged original account number, a balance of {$220.00} and stating that the current creditor for the account is a company called " XXXX XXXX XXXX ''. It also lists the original creditor as " buckeye credit solutions '' again. I will be sending a letter requesting full documentation and proof of this debt as none of this adds up, whatsoever. I also believe that even if I do owe this debt, it is beyond the statute of limitations for collection. This would make it unlawful for any company to bring legal action against me. The amounts and names keep changing and at this point I am simply scared and confused.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation