Consumer complaint received 2017-09-27
Company: Eastpoint Recovery Group, Inc
State: CA
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Credit card debt
Issue: Took or threatened to take negative or legal action
Sub-issue: Threatened to sue you for very old debt

Complaint:
On Monday, XXXX XXXX, XXXX, XXXX XXXX with Eastpoint Group contacted and left a voicemail message for someone living in my house who is not related to me or in anyway connected to my financial data. This person shared the voicemail with me, and it sounded like a scam call attempting to collect information about me. 

Tuesday, XXXX XXXX, XXXX, XXXX XXXX from Eastpoint Group left a message on my home phone. I retrieved the message on Wednesday, XXXX XXXX, XXXX, and called her back. She explained that she was calling to collect a debt and had sent a letter regarding this debt. I told her that I did not receive a letter and offered to call and settle the debt with the company directly. She told me that the debt had been sold to her client, XXXX, and that XXXX would begin to take legal action against me the next day, Thursday, XXXX XXXX, XXXX, if I did not pay the debt in full on Wednesday, XXXX XXXX XXXX. She said that they would take me " to court '' and sue me for the amount, I would have to " pay legal and court fees '', my " credit would be ruined '', that they would " seize property and place a lien on [ my ] car '', and that she did n't understand why I had n't paid this debt because I " have credit cards, good credit, and can pay '' the amount. She continued with a list of actions they would take against me. 

Prior to placing the call, I searched for information about Eastpoint Group because both calls sounded suspicious. I found that Eastpoint was a collection agency and that they had several complaints filed against them. After she concluded listing all the actions they would take against me if I did not pay the balance in full on Wednesday, XXXX XXXX, I offered to pay a portion of the amount due with the idea of setting up an automatic payment plan. She refused and repeated the actions she had previously listed. I explained that her actions were over-reaching by contacting someone not affiliated with me, and by threatening me with taking me to court. I requested contact information for her client, XXXX, which she declined to provide. 

I requested that she remove the other person 's contact information ( to which she originally denied having contacted, then followed up by giving this person 's name, saying that the person lived in my home so she had the right to contact this person ) from my financial information. 

Although I spoke calmly throughout the call, she was very combative and threatening. After she had concluded again with list of actions they would take, I responded by telling her that I knew Eastpoint Group had been reported multiple times for contacting the consumer improperly, disclosing debt to third parties, threatening legal action / lawsuit / consumer arrested / jailed, and noting states where their actions were particularly egregious. She denied every instance and said that these complaints were submitted by " people who do n't want to pay their debt ''.
It appears that they may not have had my correct address, which would explain why I did n't receive the letter. She forwarded my call to another representative to verify my information, and the address they had on file contained two additional numbers making the address incorrect. 

I paid the full amount because I 'm starting a new, small business and I can not afford to go to court, nor do I want my name dragged into the courts or anything disparaging said in conjunction with my name or business. Yes, I made a mistake and forgot about a debt. I 'm responsible for that and willing to rectify it. The issue remains that contacting people not connected to me and threatening me while I 'm calmly trying to work towards a solution is unacceptable.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation