Consumer complaint received 2024-07-18
Product: Debt collection — Private student loan debt
Issue: Written notification about debt — Didn't receive notice of right to dispute
Company: Continental Services Group, Inc. d/b/a ConServe (CA)

Hello, C.F.P.B.

I am writing this second complaint against Conserve because I want you to know what kind of tactics they are employing. I first wrote a complaint in XXXX, detailing how I was sent to collections for a private student loan debt I was never once billed for. I explained how all my tuition was being billed to and paid by the V.A. directly, and never once in all my years had I received a bill of any kind from this university. The collector Conserve also never billed me until I received a notice in XXXX of XXXX. Once I receive this notice, I call them and inform them I have never once received a bill from the University on this debt until the one I had just received in XXXX. I didn't know if the account was on my report, but I was happy to pay it if it was to be removed from my record. Conserve didn't do so, and now they sent me a response through the first complaint which only serves to show how badly run this company is. I now want to file a complaint against their bad behavior. 

I truly feel like I have to act and behave like a lawyer to get my point across as I have had to do plenty of research on this matter. In their response, Conserve pretty much called me a liar and said it was inappropriate to remove this account from my report. I am telling you right now that everything they have done up to this point has been inappropriate and the reporting of this account is also inappropriate. 

Conserve claims that they Obtained the collection on XX/XX/XXXX of XXXX, and they sent me a collection letter on XX/XX/XXXX of XXXX. I do not believe them for one second and I contest that Conserve sent me a notice of any kind in XXXX of XXXX. For one, I have no problems receiving mail whatsoever. I receive mail on a daily basis, and I don't have any bills or anything else that goes unpaid or unaddressed. If they claim they sent me a notice on XXXX of XXXX, then I ask them to prove it, as the initial notice I received from them was in XXXX of XXXX. That is why I called them in XX/XX/XXXX and informed them as much in that same phone call. 

Conserve also claims that they have been calling me at the number I provided in my complaint to you without being able to reach me. I definitely believe they haven't been able to reach me, but again, I contest they ever tried calling me. Had they done so, I would have called them back and figured out what their call was about and addressed the matter. I don't dodge or duck calls. I have no reason to as I don't have any creditors or collectors after me. I pay my bills on time, and I take care of my obligations. I believe the only reason they have my current phone number is because I gave it to them when I made my initial call to them. 

To follow along the lines of impropriety, when I look at the history of my credit report, I notice Conserve started credit reporting this collection in XXXX of XXXX. This was months before I receive my initial notice of this debt in XXXX of XXXX, and I called them and spoke with them about this matter for the first time. After becoming my own " lawyer '' and researching collection rules and regulations, I have found out that a collector may not credit report an account on my credit report before they communicate with me. They have to speak with me first before they are allowed to credit report. And even if they don't speak with me first, they have to send me a letter and wait a reasonable time before they credit report. That time frame being 14 days. 

Because I received the initial notice of this debt in XXXX of XXXX, and within days of receiving this initial notice I call them and I pay this account off in that initial call, Conserve had no right to credit report this account at all under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Below is the rule. 

Effective XX/XX/XXXX, an amendment to Regulation F, which implements the FDCPA, says that a debt collector can't report a debt to the three major credit reporting agencies, XXXX, XXXX, and XXXX, before first contacting the consumer. 

Specifically, before reporting a debt to a credit reporting agency, the debt collector must : speak to the consumer in person or by phone, or mail a letter or send an electronic message, like an email, about the debt to the consumer and then wait a " reasonable period of time '' ( at least 14 consecutive days ) to see if a notice of undeliverability comes back. 

To make matters worse, they lied and said I didn't ask for this account to be deleted in their records. That is an absolute lie as I did ask this to be removed from my record if I paid it. They are not going to tell me what I did and didn't say to them as I know I made it clear I wanted this to be removed from my record if I paid. Knowing what I know now, however, this account should have never been on my credit report in the first place. I've never dealt with a collection agency before until Conserve, but now that I have experienced first-hand their practices and their behavior, I understand why collection agencies are one of the most complained about industries. They have the nerve to tell me in a letter that I am lying when they are the ones lying to me. 

They lied in their letter and response through your portal when they said they sent me a letter in XXXX. They lied when they said they have tried calling me. They lied when they said I never asked for this account to be removed from my credit report. They also omitted facts like the fact I told them in my initial call on XX/XX/XXXX that the letter I had just received days prior was the first notice of any kind I had been given regarding the student loan debt Conserve was trying to collect from me. That should have been their first hint. The fact I paid it on the spot was also an indicator that I don't dodge or duck bills. And because 14 days had not passed since they mailed me their initial notice, they had no right to have reported this back in XXXX of XXXX. 

Again, I am complaining to you about Conserve and their behavior and want this account removed from my credit report as reporting it in the first place was improper. According to the F.D.C.P.A., it is also illegal.