Consumer complaint received 2022-08-01
Company: Eastern Account Systems of Connecticut, Inc.
State: MI
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Other debt
Issue: Written notification about debt
Sub-issue: Didn't receive enough information to verify debt

Complaint:
Eastern Account Systems is attempting to collect on a debt I do not owe. In response to CFPB complaint XXXX, they claim " The debt in question are for the balances owed on a XXXX bill for service provided XX/XX/XXXX through XX/XX/XXXX. '' To be clear, my lease ended at the address at which they allege I owe a debt at the beginning of XX/XX/XXXX. Now, it is not possible the alleged debt is for a service period in which I would have allegedly not paid for over XXXX ( XXXX ) years. The amount I allegedly owe is around five-hundred forty ( XXXX ) dollars. If that amount is divided by the number of months in the range quoted, it is less than the cost of any of the cable/internet services provided by XXXX. 

Eastern Account Systems alleges that they mailed a shortly after placement with their office in XX/XX/XXXX, " An initial collection notice was mailed to you to the address provided in this complaint, at no time was this correspondence returned as deliverable. '' Just because mail was not returned deliverable doesn't guarantee the parcel was delivered. In fact, the timing of placement was at the end of the omicron wave. What this means is that it is entirely possible that the parcel was lost due to the delays in processing of the mail at mail facilities due to short staffing. There is only one ( 1 ) central mail processing facility for the entire state in which I live and it is one of the top ten ( 10 ) most populated states in the nation. What this means is that Eastern Account Systems allegedly mailed notices without delivery confirmation during a period of upheaval caused by the omicron wave. Given that the USPS warned the country of mail slowdowns beginning in XX/XX/XXXX due to staffing issues caused by the omicron wave, for which those staffing shortages continued to be an issue AFTER the alleged account was placed for collection with their office, it is entirely disingenuous to claim debt collection notices were delivered fulling my Right of Notice and Opportunity to Be Heard under the FDCPA. It is far more likely Eastern Account Systems took advantage of the situation to provide leverage by way of collection item in my credit files. That is predatory behavior and constitutes an unfair practice under the FDCPA. 

Eastern Account Systems response to XXXX claims, " Several attempts were made to reach you by phone as well without a response. '' This is curious as Eastern Account Systems is acknowledging they bombarded me with calls. If I look at my phone history there is a repeated phone number that my phone marked as spam which called at least three ( 3 ) times a day over the last six ( 6 ) weeks without leaving a message or identifying themselves when requested. However, I have a phone screening application that prompts unknown numbers to identify themselves and the purpose of the call. That number has repeatedly chosen not to provide the information and instead chose to disconnect from the call. The name of the caller is not displayed during the call but shows up in the transcripts of the call. In looking at the transcript it identifies the caller as " Eastern Account Systems. '' Each time the call was screened, my phone notified them that I was using a screening tool and asked them to identify themselves and the purpose of the call. Screenshots clearly show Eastern Account Systems chose to disconnect the call rather than do disclose the information requested. In other instances they failed to leave a voicemail. 

Disconnecting a line without telling who they are is prohibited under the FDCPA and constitutes harassment under the FDCPA because it is a refusal to identify themselves. Their identification could have been This is a call from Eastern Account Systems attempting to reach <First Name><Las Name>. Eastern Account Systems chose not to do such and thus repeatedly engaged in whose sole purpose was to to annoy, abuse, or harass me. That is how it is defined under the FDCPA. 

Given the broad range over which Eastern Account Systems alleges a debt is owed, covering from the beginning of a lease until beyond the end of a lease at that address, it would seem they are misrepresenting the amount owed, likely because they do not have the necessary information to verify and validate what specifically the alleged debt is for. Under the FDCPA that is considered a misrepresentation of the alleged debt. 

Finally it is worth mentioning how these prohibited practices are magnified for someone with a documented XXXX of XXXX  and the complications to that condition from the current pandemic. I contracted the XXXX virus on ( XXXX ) separate occasions : XXXX XXXX XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX. Both periods of XXXX were followed by periods of XXXX which combined has only fully resolved in XX/XX/XXXX. Multiple publications have stated that long-COVID recoveries on average take around fifteen ( 15 ) months to clear. My particular symptoms during long-XXXX  were/have been XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX all of which are thought to be the result of XXXX XXXXXXXX and XXXX as the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. I have also experienced delays in prescription renewals for the medications I use to manage my XXXX  symptoms. Disruptions in regular consumption of these medications can cause XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX In my particular case, the medication is used to manage the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX that I would experience without the medication. The compounding/comorbidity of these two ( 2 ) conditions, long-XXXX  and XXXX, make it especially difficult for me to communicate via phone or computer during periods of XXXX XXXX 

To reduce the amount of pain experienced during long-XXXX  I took measures such as screening my calls. As I did not receive any of the alleged collection notices, I had no way to communicate with Eastern Account Systems to dispute the alleged debt. If I were to have received a debt collection notices, in absence of the notices itself, I can not be sure that it does not discriminate against individuals with XXXX. Dispute of debt is required to be in-writing. Absent an electronic system by which to deliver disputes in-writing, I would be compelled to mail any sort of dispute. And, to ensure it was delivered, and contrary to the practices of Eastern Account Systems, I would have had to mail it from a post offices so that my mailed dispute included tracking/delivery confirmation/return receipt. A trip to the post office to dispute a debt may seem like a rudimentary exercise for someone that is not XXXX, but for me it would have meant exacerbating the symptoms listed above, endangering myself and others. 

Overall, Eastern Account Systems has engaged in predatory collection practices that it knows or should know are unfair and illegal practices under both the FDCPA and the XXXX. In fact, Eastern Account Systems failure to identify itself in phone call screenings, and failure to leave voicemail messages constitutes practices designed to harass individuals as a leverage when collecting on alleged debt. A failure to ensure delivery of mailed notices when the USPS has repeatedly announced staffing difficulties through the omicron wave, and months beyond, is a tactic to leverage collection of an alleged debt by placement of a collection item in a credit file that damages the credit-worthiness of an individual by decrease in credit score that reduces a consumers availability to obtain everything from employment, to financial services and access to financing/credit. An individual with a XXXX is likely to face more obstacles to activities that would otherwise seem routine. The joint DoJ and XXXX statement on XXXX and long-XXXX  make this clear. Even in a nominal environment it would be difficult for individuals with XXXX to engage routine practices, let alone in a dysfunctional environment brought on by the pandemic, especially if medication is used to manage an underlying condition, and that condition is exacerbated by reduced access to medication and a XXXX XXXX and long-COVID thereafter. 

Leveraging questionable practices that are incompatible with the current situation of the XXXX pandemic results in unavoidable discrimination against consumers who have XXXX that pre-date the pandemic, and those who have become XXXX as a result of XXXX and the resulting period of long-XXXX. The discrimination is far more apparent when those who have comorbidity of a pre-pandemic XXXX and XXXX due to XXXX and/or long-XXXX. 

While it may be unintentional, the practices of Eastern Account Systems, causes disproportionate harm to individuals with XXXX and that is the epitome of XXXX XXXX  and harassment.

Company public response: Company disputes the facts presented in the complaint
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation