Consumer complaint received 2024-01-26
Product: Debt collection — Other debt
Issue: Took or threatened to take negative or legal action — Seized or attempted to seize your property
Company: AVANTE (AK)

Avante USA , Ltd. attempted to repossess equipment held in estate ( probate ) of my deceased father, by hiring services of a towing company to act as their agent to come to my house on XX/XX/year> without having made any direct, identifying or two-way communication with me, all while knowing that the matter should've been addressed through legal probate process. In the afternoon of XX/XX/year>, towing company employees arrived in unmarked vehicles, without notice or identification, and without identifying who they were acting on behalf of, while demanding that my husband and I give them my father 's tractor. I explained that my father was deceased, that the tractor wasn't here and is being stored elsewhere, while the matters of my father 's estate are being addressed through probate. Multiple times we requested the employees, who were acting on behalf of an unidentified entity ( Avante USA ), to produce and provide us with legal or authorizing documentation to legitimize their demands and actions. They stated they didn't have any, but that if they had to come back for the tractor that the police would become involved and 'they ' ( this still unidentified entity, Avante USA ) would take legal court action against me. I explained that I was just recently provided ( first week of XXXX ) with the legal documents through the State of Alaska Court that had authorized me as Personal Representative to attend to matters regarding my father 's estate and stated I needed legal authorizing documents from them or the unidentified entity before I could do anything. The agents then said they had the phone number they could call of a person ( still not identifying the entity 's or person 's name ) that 'wanted to talk to ( me ) ', and that they would call this person on their phone now. The towing company employees moved their vehicles to allow our heating XXXX to leave and go about his business. I then called my attorney to review this current matter with him, and when I returned to my doorstep, the men told my husband that the person they were trying to call wasn't answering their phone. The employee who had been holding a stack of papers throughout this time had finally handed the papers to my husband as they turned to leave. Upon reviewing this paperwork, we were able to identify that the towing company had paperwork from a ( hitherto unknown ) company by the name of Avante USA , Ltd. ( at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX # XXXX, XXXX, TX XXXX, Ph : XXXX / XXXX ) who had contracted the services of XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, to act as an 'agent ' on their behalf, in their attempt to take possession of my deceased father 's XXXX tractor XXXX Attached is a copy of the paperwork the man gave my husband, with instructions from XXXX XXXX of Avante USA to inform our neighbors of their intent to take possession of the equipment and to ask our neighbors to call them if they see the equipment, and to 'feel free to call them ( me and my husband ) and demand the equipment ', and 'You can let them know we will recommend XXXX proceed legally and secure a writ if they do not give the equipment to you because we will. ' also saying ' ... when an Agent is at the property speaking with the customer give us a call on speaker and we can let them know exactly what will happen if they do not give the equipment to you.. At no time did the tow company staff identify themselves as being agents of Avante USA , Ltd. ( until they were leaving ), nor did they appropriately identify or provide proof of their authority to conduct these actions while threatening us, or identify what legal authority they had the right to do it under. On the following day, XX/XX/year>, the tow company called my husband 's cell phone, and had conferenced in someone identified as XXXX XXXX, who denied that her 'agents ' had threatened us with police and legal court action ( which is untrue ) and said that she already knew my father was deceased when I mentioned the matter of estate probate, that she 'did n't have to make contact with me ' in advance of sending towing company and didnt address the matter at all of providing proof of authority to seize my fathers property. XXXX then claimed that what my husband and I were doing is " illegal '' acting and that we didn't intend to pay the debt due. I promptly corrected XXXX on her " legal '' advisory and assumptions, refuting them while reminding her that this is the first contact shes made with me and that its always been my intention to legally resolve the matters of my father 's estate as the personal representative of my father 's estate, but not in the absence of obtaining the needed legal documentation or outside of due process, to which she hung up the phone on us. During that phone call and subsequent emails she stated she would only send me a copy of the payoff amount she would request from XXXX, which as of the date of this updated complaint she still hasn't done. I've received another email from her saying they were hiring someone to watch my father 's property and to seize the equipment without recourse unless I paid them immediately, once again in the absence of providing legal documentable proof of being authorized to take such actions. The actions of Avante USA 's and agents of ( whether directly or indirectly ) were inappropriate, misleading, harassing, disruptive to the peace in my community, and unethical if not illegal.