Consumer complaint received 2026-04-28 00:00:00
Product: Debt collection — Federal student loan debt
Issue: Threatened to contact someone or share information improperly — Contacted your employer
Company: Williams & Fudge, Inc
State: IA

Complaint narrative:
I am filing this complaint regarding concerning and potentially improper debt collection conduct by Williams & Fudge , Inc . On XX/XX/year>, I received an inbound phone call at approximately XXXX XXXX CST on my phone number, XXXX. During this initial call, the representative attempted to reach XXXX XXXX but refused to identify the company she was calling from. When I asked who she worked for, she refused to provide the company name. I also directly asked whether she was a debt collector, and she refused to answer that question. Instead, she stated only that the matter pertained to a personal matter for XXXX XXXX. During this first call, before identifying the company or confirming the nature of the call, the representative : - Indicated that she may need to contact XXXX family members to locate him - Stated or implied that she had a list of family contacts provided by XXXX - Indicated that she may contact XXXX place of employment At no point during this initial call did the representative identify the company or confirm that she was a debt collector. Because the caller refused to identify herself or the company, I placed a second call at approximately XXXX XXXX CST on XX/XX/year> to determine who had contacted me. During this second call, the representative ultimately identified herself, to the best of my recollection, as XXXX XXXX and provided the email address XXXX. However, prior to confirming my identity, she again refused to identify the company and refused to confirm whether she was a debt collector when directly asked. During the second call, prior to my identity confirmation, the representative : - Continued to refuse to disclose the company name - Continued to refuse to confirm whether she was a debt collector - Referenced recently received activity, updates, or a ping associated with XXXX and his workplace - Claimed that XXXX had previously provided family contact information directly to Williams & Fudge, which is not accurate to my knowledge, as there has been no prior business or communication with this company before this date - Continued to press for identity confirmation while withholding company identification - Stated, when I referenced applicable debt collection laws, that she does not know anything about debt collector laws- Refused to provide a general company email address and instead provided only her individual work email, stating she did not know the companys general contact information Only after I stated my name did the representative disclose that she was a debt collector, that the call was an attempt to collect a debt, and that she was calling from Williams & Fudge. This sequence of conduct is concerning because the representative refused to identify the company and refused to confirm the nature of the call while simultaneously referencing contact with family members and my workplace. In context, these statements appeared to pressure me into confirming my identity before I knew who was calling. I understand that debt collectors may attempt to locate a consumer. However, the timing, tone, and manner of these statementsparticularly when combined with refusal to identify the companyraise concerns regarding compliance with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Specifically, this conduct raises concerns under : - 15 U.S.C. 1692d ( 6 ) failure to provide meaningful disclosure of the callers identity during the initial communication - 15 U.S.C. 1692e use of potentially false, deceptive, or misleading representations, including statements regarding how my information was obtained and references to activity, updates, or a ping associated with my workplace - 15 U.S.C. 1692b use of third-party contact references ( family members and employer ) in a manner that may be interpreted as coercive or as leverage during an identity dispute Additionally, the representatives statement that she does not know anything about debt collector laws raises concerns regarding training, oversight, and compliance procedures. I have already submitted written notice directly to Williams & Fudge documenting this interaction and requesting validation of the alleged debt, preservation of records, and written-only communication. What I want Williams & Fudge to do : I am requesting that Williams & Fudge conduct a full internal review of both calls from XX/XX/year> and provide a written response. Specifically, I am requesting : 1. Full written validation of the alleged debt, including : - Name of the original creditor - Full itemized balance - Any fees, charges, interest, or collection costs added - Documentation supporting the validity and ownership of the alleged debt - Documentation showing Williams & Fudges authority to collect this alleged debt 2. Written confirmation that no third-party contacts, including family members, friends, acquaintances, or employers, have been or will be made except in full compliance with applicable law 3. Written confirmation that all future communication will be conducted strictly in writing 4. Preservation of all records related to this matter, including : - Call recordings - Call logs - Internal notes - Account activity history - Records showing how my phone number, family contacts, workplace information, and any other contact information were obtained 5. Internal review of the representatives conduct 6. Confirmation that this account will be permanently withdrawn, deleted, and closed by Williams & Fudge 7. Confirmation that this account will not be sold, assigned, transferred, placed with, referred to, or returned to any other party for continued collection 8. Confirmation that Williams & Fudge will not report this account to any credit reporting agency, and if any reporting has already occurred, that Williams & Fudge will request deletion Because of the conduct described above, I am requesting that this matter be resolved by permanently closing and deleting the account and ensuring it is not transferred or pursued further. I would prefer to resolve this without further escalation, but I am filing this complaint due to the concerning nature of the interaction.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation