Consumer complaint received 2023-03-21
Product: Debt collection — Other debt
Issue: Written notification about debt — Didn't receive enough information to verify debt
Company: TRANSWORLD SYSTEMS INC (IL)

I was first contacted by Transworld Systems Inc. and notified of my debt via phone call on XX/XX/XXXX. They notified me that they were calling on behalf of Illinois Department of Revenue to collect an overdue tax balance for my XXXX state income taxes. 

Prior to this call I never received any notice from the Illinois Department of Revenue that I owed state taxes. 

During this initial phone call on XX/XX/XXXX, Transworld Systems tried to get me to pay the balance over the phone. Since I was completely unaware of this overdue balance, I was worried it might have been a scam and instead asked them to send me written verification so I could confirm the balance was actually owed and pay securely online. 

I provided my updated address and asked that written verification be sent in the mail to my current address. I also immediately sent an email to the Illinois Department of Revenue asking them to verify the balance. I did not receive any response. 

A week later, on XX/XX/XXXX, I received a second phone call from Transworld Systems. Once again, they tried to get me to pay the balance over the phone. I explained to them a second time that I had not yet received a written notice in the mail, despite requesting one the prior week. 

After viewing my account, they informed me that the account noted that they tried to send a notice in XXXX, but it was returned to sender. I explained that I moved in XX/XX/XXXX and gave them my updated address the week prior ( on XX/XX/XXXX ). 

After this second call, I once again went to the Illinois Department of Revenue to see if I could somehow view/pay my balance online. However, when I entered my full name and social security number, it said no records were found. At this point, I felt like the calls were most likely a scam since I could not verify my debt with the Illinois Department of Revenue and had still not received the written verification I had requested. 

For this reason, I ignored the daily calls from the collection agency number. 

It wasn't until XX/XX/XXXX ( the date the letter is dated ) that the written verification letter from XXXX XXXX was finally sent and provided the information of the debt and directions of how to pay it online. 

After receiving the written verification, I noticed that in addition to the original balance of {$890.00}, they were also charging me {$43.00} in interest, a {$130.00} collection fee, and a {$110.00} penalty fee. 

I called Transwold Systems to discuss these additional fees and penalties. I explained that I'm more than happy to pay the initial balance of {$890.00}, I did not believe it was fair to be paying the additional interest and fees considering they failed to provide any written verification. 

During this call the collection agency confirmed the following dates : XXXX XXXX : The account was placed with Transworld Systems , Inc . 
XXXX XXXX : The initial written noticed sent by Transworld Systems was returned to sender. 
XXXX XXXX : Transworld System spoke to me for the first time. My address on the account was updated. A written verification was requested. 
XXXX XXXX XXXX Transworld System spoke to me for a second time and confirmed my updated address. A written verification was requested for a second time. 
XXXX XXXX : The written verification was sent via mail. 

Not only had the state failed to notify me that this balance even existed, the collections agency then failed to contact me in a timely manner to notify me that I had a debt sent to collections. 

It took them 49 days between having the initial notice return to sender and them finally contacting me via phone to notify me of the debt. It took an additional 58 days to send me a written verification after I requested one during their initial phone call with me on XX/XX/XXXX. 

They refused to acknowledge any wrongdoing and refused to waive any of the interest, collection fee, or penalty fees. Their only suggestion was to file forms with the Illinois Department of Revenue ( forms BOA-1 and BOA-4 ) and advised that it could take 10-12 weeks for the Department of Revenue to review those forms. During which time, they confirmed that the account would continue to accrue interest. 


I've included 3 attachments. One is a photo of the first and only written notice I've ever received for this debt which is clearly dated XX/XX/XXXX. The second one is the email I sent to the Illinois Department of Revenue asking to confirm the debt. In this email, you'll also see that I explained how I tried to view this debt on the state tax site but was unable to view it. The final attachment is the current balance shown on the tax collection website. No additional information or breakdown of the balance is provided online.