Consumer complaint received 2019-09-26
Company: ProCollect, Inc.
State: TX
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Other debt
Issue: Attempts to collect debt not owed
Sub-issue: Debt is not yours

Complaint:
Contacted ProCollect Inc based in XXXX, TX on XX/XX/XXXX about a debt that's on my rental history. I never received any letters from them, but when looking at my rental history, there is two separate amounts {$2400.00} and {$500.00} in collections. I contacted them to try make a payment plans, but they do NOT take payments in increments. The representative I spoke to wanted the money upfront aggressively and was extremely confrontational, then she offered me a settlement of nearly 50 % of what was owed on the two accounts. I told her I couldn't make the payments that day, I was just calling to get more information on theses accounts, but could make them in the next two weeks. She declared, " I'll just have to put refusal to pay. '' Confused and at this point, nearly having an anxiety attack, I told her I could make the payments as soon as I could with noting, I needed both account numbers. 3 DAYS later, on XX/XX/XXXX, the same exact representative leaving a voicemail on a Saturday stating I " needed '' to return her call. Confused again, I reached out and told every Procollect representative when speaking to a rep 3 days prior, I thought we had an understanding that I was going to pay in a few weeks. I ended up speaking to the same representative that spoke to XX/XX/XXXX and the conversation didn't go anywhere. When I told her they were breaking the law, she stated, " I'll just put refusal to pay today on your account and now you'll have to owe all of it instead of 50 % '' rudely with hanging up in my face. After the call, I had an anxiety attack, but definitely sought legal advice. We looked into Procollect 's track history of collections with horrible low rating reviews and according to several consumers they do NOT report to the bureaus when people do pay breaking federal laws extremely. Knowing this information, I contacted Procollect XX/XX/XXXX again asking for a different representative, but noticed the pressure to collect and was told I could use XXXX XXXX to send the payments to them. When putting the account number on their website, you don't see what you owe or or ANY statements. We held off on the payments, but contacted the original rental property to validate the debt and property manager told me there was no record of any debt. Procollect Inc should NOT be in business. If there is a debt legitimately, I don't mind paying, but to handle business one must know how and that's for sure. Aggressively harassing consumers and can't validate debt isn't one of them. As far as I know Procollect has put intentionally debt on people 's credit ( including mine ) that isn't validated. The reviews also report the company doesn't even send letters to verify payments. Speaking with my bank personally, they highly advised to never send XXXX XXXX and if I needed to make a payment make sure a receipt is given because with XXXX XXXX, once the money is sent off, it's gone. THAT'S SCARY and not to mention extremely illegal.

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