Consumer complaint received 2026-06-17 00:00:00
Product: Debt collection — Other debt
Issue: Written notification about debt — Didn't receive enough information to verify debt
Company: Monterey Financial Services LLC
State: AK

Complaint narrative:
This account was assigned to Monterey Financial Services, XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX, with an original balance of {$1400.00}. The account is held jointly between myself and another co-debtor. I was never contacted prior to this account appearing on my credit report, despite being an equal co-debtor with independent rights under the FDCPA, including the right to notice and the right to request validation. I first learned of this collection when I reviewed my own credit report. By XX/XX/XXXX, the reported balance had increased to {$2000.00} with no explanation or itemization provided for the {$520.00} increase. This unexplained increase raises concerns that Monterey Financial Services may be attempting to collect amounts not authorized by the original agreement, in potential violation of XXXX U.S.C. XXXX ( XXXX ). On XX/XX/XXXX, I spoke with a Monterey Financial Services representative by phone. During that call, I attempted to negotiate a settlement and offered to pay the maximum amount I was able to. The representative stated Monterey Financial Services could not negotiate or reduce the amount for this type of account. I also verbally requested an itemized statement and supporting documentation, which the representative stated Monterey Financial Services was unable to provide. I additionally asked whether Monterey Financial Services could send me their internal policies regarding debt negotiation and settlement options, and the representative stated she could not provide this information either. During this same call, the representative verbally quoted a balance exceeding {$2000.00}, which was already higher than the amount reported on my credit file at the time. Following that call, I sent a formal written debt validation request via XXXX XXXX Mail XXXX Monterey Financial Services on XX/XX/XXXX, which they received on XX/XX/XXXX. Under the FDCPA, Monterey Financial Services was required to respond within XXXX days with proper validation of the debt, including an itemized accounting. The deadline to respond was XX/XX/XXXX, and Monterey Financial Services failed to respond by that date. Despite never validating the debt as legally required, Monterey Financial Services reported this account to a credit reporting agency on XX/XX/XXXX 27 days after receiving my certified validation request, while the debt remained unvalidated and formally disputed. In my written validation request, I specifically demanded that Monterey Financial Services cease all collection activity, including credit reporting, until the debt was properly validated. Despite this explicit demand, Monterey Financial Services reported the account to a credit reporting agency anyway, in apparent violation of the FDCPA. As of that report, the balance had increased further to {$2000.00}, again with no itemization or explanation provided. I additionally noted a discrepancy in Monterey Financial Services ' contact information : the phone number listed on my credit report differs from the toll-free number listed on the company 's own official website, raising further concerns about the accuracy and transparency of the information they report.

Company public response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation