Burt and Associates review: DECEPTIVE TRADE PRACTICES AND FRAUD 20

These scheming so called debt collectors are harassing a lot of people it seems. My story is the following:

Mercantile Adjustment Bureau left a voice-mail on my cell phone at 8:30am this morning June 3rd 2009. A man by the name of Brad said to call him back immediately in regards to an important matter. He left his phone number and extension as [protected] ex:3091. He also left a case number to reference.

I called back the number on my lunch break and was able to reach his assistant named Kate. Kate asked for my case number and explained I owed a $14, 000 dollar debt to American General Finance. I explained to Kate that this debt was over 5-7 years old and under a chapter 13 bankruptcy years that I had filed in 2001 or 2002 and was for a personal loan.

She said that Mercantile Adjustment Bureau represented American General Finance and this debt was still owed. She said that American General Finance would be willing to settle for $7, 000. I told her that I currently live pay check to pay check and did not have that kind of money. She then offered me a settlement of $5734.35 and said I could pay it in two monthly payments.

I was confused as to why I still owed this debt, but I was frightened too because she said that if I did not make payment plans then it would go to an attorney I would go to court and the judgment against me would require the whole 14, 000 to be paid back as well as all court and attorney fees. I was so scared, but a little relieved to hear that she could settle all this for $5, 734.35. I was almost grateful to her for reducing this amount significantly for me from $14000 to $5, 734.35. I told her I would try to borrow the money from friends and family to settle this.

She said she would need my checking account number today to lock in the deal and to call back if I need it cancelled. I gave my checking account number and routing number. She did not need a check number.

I felt good about locking the deal and felt that it would at least buy me time to do my research on this matter. I did my research and I found out that others have been threatened and scammed by this company all over the US.

I called Kate back immediately to tell her to cancel my checking withdraw that was scheduled for June 23rd, 2009 and to also cancel the 2nd checking withdraw scheduled for July 23rd 2009. She said she cancelled it and nothing would be withdrawn from my checking account on those dates. I asked for a receipt of confirmation however she stated that there was no way to do that.

I was still concerned that Mercantile Adjustment Bureau might do the electronic withdraw from my checking account on those dates or alter the pay plan however they wished to debit on different dates or different amounts since I gave them my routing and checking account number. I then called my bank and asked what I could do to block or stop these people from withdrawing funds in case they did not keep there word. My bank said that because Mercantile Adjustment Bureau only asked for my checking account number and routing number and not a check number with it, they could go in at anytime and withdraw. She advised me to open a new account and slowly switch everything over while I closely monitor the current account. Then she recommended closing out the current account. I'm in the process of doing this right now. What a nightmare. I thank the people who take the time to write these warnings and complaints all over the internet.

I acctualy want to thank Burt and Associates. Thanks to their high pressure, I have found a way to save my company. As general practice I record all phone conversations. Their representatve who gave one name, but e-mails under another, said enough insulting things, attemptive fraud, illegal practices and lies that my attorney is filing suit against them. It will be nice for those idiots to get my company back on track.

My business with Burt and Associates is always been positive, they collect my accounts when i can not get my money. On my experience with Burt & Associates for the past 5 years is been successful.

My experience with Burt & Associates is always been successful, they collect my accounts when i can't get them to pay on time, Burt & Associates has been a professional agency and i recommended highly.

Burt & assoc has collected more 20, 000 for my co. debtors
always cry when they have to pay Burt & assoc. has done a good job
for me keep it up

This reply is directed to Justice in America and to this website.

My name is James Carroll. My services have been retained by Burt and associates.

The owners of Burt and Associates have asked me to review for litigation a case against the persons like Justice in Amercia that have posted on several message boards and blog posts negative and false information that has and is being seen perceived as libelous, slanderous and defamation.

We kindly ask that you either remove this post and comments or return a response with Justice in America's legal contact information so that this person can be added to the Defendants in the case being presented in Dallas County Texas.

We appreciate your response regarding this matter.

Some guy named Rick Michaels (?) has called twice. I talked to him both times, gave him the check number, amount & date of payment.

Inviolation of the FTC fair traded agreement, he has contacted third parties asking them if our company is still in business & lying that he has been unable to contact us.

I will be contact with my lawyer today!

We have been contacted repeatedly by Burt and Associates by such unlikely people as "Clint Foote" or "Jack Johnson" or "Kyle Chissolm", not as the debtor but as the employer of a debtor! They demand info on our employee such as date of hire, pay rate, etc which they say is "public information" related to a possible lawsuit of our employee.

These guys are very slick and very forcefull.

I have filed acomplaint with the FTC.

ATTENTION ALL CONSUMERS:
In regards to Burt and Assoc. if you have had your consumer rights violated please go to the Federal Trade Commision web site and file a complaint against them. with your help we can put them out of business for good!.
the FTC webisite is: https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/
Lets Show these bad boys just how bad we are! Stand up for your rights!

Burt & Associates are using unlaw tactics to collect debt, by harrasing, intimidating, talking to neighbors, employees, threating to sue, etc.. look what happened to another debt collection agency who did the same thing. as a consumer " you have rights" don't fall for their unprofessional acts, they are just a bunch of failed telemarketers who have nothing else to do but harras hard working people like you so they can collect their portion of your hard earned money. If you choose to pay the debt pay it directly to the person or company you owe and for the amount of the orginal debt. any thing you pay over the original debt is their fee. let them go get on government welfare and food stamps were they belong.

According to the FTC’s complaint, filed by the Department of Justice on the FTC’s behalf, the defendants participated in, or controlled, the actions of debt collectors whose unlawful practices included false or deceptive threats of garnishment, arrest, and legal action; improper calls to consumers; frequent, harassing, threatening, and abusive calls; and unfair and unauthorized withdrawals from consumers’ bank accounts. The complaint also alleged that the defendants failed to adequately investigate consumer complaints or discipline collectors, and collectors who were terminated for violating the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) often were rehired within a few months.

In 2008, Academy Collection Service, Inc. and its owner, Keith Dickstein, paid $2.25 million to settle FTC charges that Academy collectors violated the FTC Act and the FDCPA while collecting debts, and that Dickstein failed to stop the violations. The settlement order announced today, negotiated by DOJ and the FTC, imposed civil penalties of $375, 000 and $300, 000, respectively, on Albert S. Bastian and Edward Hurt, who oversaw Academy’s Las Vegas collection center. The judgments were suspended upon payment of $7, 500 each, based on their ability to pay. The full judgments will become due immediately if the defendants are found to have misrepresented their financial condition.

ATTENTION ALL CONSUMERS: HELP IS AVAILABLE, Please E-mail us your complaint to legaljustice4u@yahoo.com
lets legally stop these illegal Debt Collection Practices

all these complaints and still making calls,
must mean something. stop crying cause you can not pay your
bills properly. you buy something, normal course tells us we have to pay.
fdcpa [censor]s is consumer. you speak so highly educated but yet dont read laws you quote.
fdcpa has no bearing on commercial debt. idiocy like this is high you people are debotrs.
lack of common sence, detail, and most of all, lack of willingness to listen.
show interest to pay the bill and actually pay, see how the exper. changes.
rember, we all know half of these rants are more ficticious than your lame disputes.

Be educated! The FDCPA nor FTC can do anything. They only can regulate consumer debt. Do not answer the phone calls from Burt and Associates. Do ask for validity of debt, including original application, bills, etc. Do so by certified mail. Do not engage in conversation, nor disclose any information to them. Do hire an Attorney. There are some of us out there that actually dispute the debt for good reasons. A reputable company will let you know how they will proceed and follow through, not make threats and harass. Ignore the hostile person sitting behind the desk, making phone call after phone call after phone call after phone call getting ignored, and they won't have a job.

Kile is a complete idiot. He is even harassing my lawyer. Little do they know they have harassed the wrong lawyer. Do not answer their calls, and do not email them. A fun little game I played yesterday was answering and then hanging up. He called back a total of 13 times. Some of us have good reason for fighting disputed debt. Good luck and DON'T ANSWER THE PHONE!

Burt and Associates crossed the criminal line yesterday when they told me that if I didn't pay my son's debt they were going to have him arrested. We'll see who get arrested!

These guys are calling me almost daily at work. I hung up on them a couple of times. Then they left a message with my employer's HR Manager advising they had "important questions" about me and gave her a file number. HR manager gave me a "Head's Up" via email that they called and asked me what she should do. I told her not to call them back because calling me at work was a violation of Fair Debt Collection practices. If they want to contact me, they can do it in writing. She didn't return their call and I've saved the email as evidence of their violation. About a week later the calls started up again. Now I just pick up the receiver and place them on hold without talking to them. Hopefully they will get the hint that my employer is not going to help them in any way. Glad I found this thread. I'll be contacting Legal Justice.

THEY CALLED ABOUT A DEBT I MADE WITH WAMU BANK CHASE BOUGHT WAMU WHEN WENT UNDER AND LEFT WAMU WITH DEBT .DO I WAMU OR CHASE?

these guys are ### - tried to make 3 monthly payments and they harassed my secretary saying it wasn't good enough. what a bunch of degenerates