Penn Credit review: Misleading Deceptive Collection Practices 49

My daughter borrowed my car for six months, and aquired 17 parking citations totaling $193 for Down Town Athens Parking. I had no knowledge of these citations until a police officer knocked on my door one morning. The officer asked me why I had not paid the tickets, and I told her that they were my daughters tickets, but because the car was registered to me I would immediately take care of all the citations that very day before lunch. I drove all the way downtown, and paid the tickets in person in cash. End of story...Not quite...Three months after I paid the tickets Penn Credit Corp started calling and sending letters to me stating that I still owed $193. They harrassed me day and night (calls came right up to 9 pm on a daily basis with collectors shouting at me and talking over my explanations) At the first call from them I immediately called down town Athens court house, and their clerk informed me that all the tickets Penn Credit were trying to collect on had BEEN PAID IN FULL. I requested that they send Penn Credit a fax with the information that all tickets had been paid, and the clerk stated she would. Two weeks go by, and again I start receiving calls (up to ten a day) and another letter from Penn Credit asking me to pay for the same tickets. I again called down town Athens parking and they once again faxed Penn Credit requesting them to close my collections account as the tickets were all paid. It didn't do any good...To this date I am still trying to get Penn Credit off my back regarding these same tickets. They seem to have no regard for the work I have done to prove that the tickets have been satisfied, or the fact that their own client is clearly stating that I have paid in full. Therefore I have decided to sue them and Down Town Athens Parking for their total ineptness and disregard for the consumer credit laws of this land.

Antwackie:
PCC can't call you about the same ticket more than once every three days. Make sure the calls are from Penn Credit and not another unidentified caller. If you are getting a lot of calls from PCC it might be for each seperate ticket. OR your daughter acquired more tickets you didn't know about. Talk to a rep and ask for the information on each of the tickets, make sure you get the dates/ticket #/price/location of EACH ticket. Take it to Athens courthouse and match up the information. Get them to give you some tangible proof that you paid. Have them send it to PCC and to follow up fax it to them yourself. Better yet, have your daughter do it because it's her fault anyway. If you feel that strongly fax a letter of dispute as well as a written letter requesting a cease communication order.

beware of these ### calling your home looking for someone who does not even live at my home. I unloaded on someone lately and told them not to call anymore. I am going to file a complaint against penn credit from THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT in my state YES, your Justice Department in your state WILL investigate the problem. This is why you have a justice department. Use this department for ANY problem you have with anyone or any business . They are VERY powerfull. If fact they have more power than most attorney's.. Usually located in your state's capital city DO IT!

I just received a call from these ### again. I thought this was all straigtened out years ago. But it seems that there is another person with same last name that owes money they harrass me constantly about. I OWE NOBODY AND HAVE NO OUTSTANDING BILLS>>>GET IT ###S! Last time it took me over a year to get crap removed off my credit because of these ###s and I am completely fed up with this ###. I want to know if Attorney General can do anything with this. They had my credit so ###ed up in the past.
If you confront them, the cowards hang up and then call again the next day to collect for a bill that does not belong to me. They associate everbody with my last name and call for money. I WANT IT STOPPED COMPLETELY!
I asked why they were calling me and they said this was the number given. ###, I know the person and they would never have given them my number. They know better!

Oh Lord! ... the calls were for my husband's ex wife from debt collection agencies, including Penn Credit and were daily and numerous, 6-7 calls on "light" days.. We changed our phone number to an unpublished number (not even the Operator has the number) to avoid calls for her and the calls ceased for a year or so. Penn Credit somehow found out our unpublished number and the calls started again. I sent them an email that the person in question does not reside at our phone number along with her being divorced from my husband for years. They still called us. I had a screaming match with them due to the fact that my email was ignored along with responding to their rude and horrible behavior by threatening to contact the FCC along with informing my husband's ex wife to have them stop calling us which I am not sure if she did or not.. . After their last call about a week ago they informed us (very rudely after I threatened them with the FCC) that they banned our number and so far the calls have finally stopped for now. I also added our number to the "National Do Not Call Register":.https://www.donotcall.gov/faq/faqdefault.aspx. If it starts up again, we will pursue it legally and place a harassment suit against Penn Credit and/or however or whoever it will apply to. We are disgusted with this whole thing. And the bottom line is, we ARE NOT going to change our phone number again because of this immature and irresponsible nonsense that has nothing to do with us!

Harrassing phone calls and letters over a non existent bill. Rude calls demanding information without telling me why they are calling. They expect me to give them info but they refuse to do the same.

They lied to me about what doubt I was paying. Had me pay I bill that was already forgiven. Don't pay until u know u have confermation on what bill you are paying. They are shady..

they have ties to middle eastern front companies that have been proven to be international terrorist orginizations

I never received a bill for medical services then i received a collection letter from Penn Credit. I had made two payments online when i received this offer for a lump sum settlement payment of $17 as well as three other payment arrangements. Obivously i took the offer. a month later i receive another letter from Penn Credit stating that i still owe $87. i called and told them i made a lump sum settlement of $17 why do i stilll have a bill if it was a settlement offer. They said that was only for the one charge ( i had two separate charges one for $24 and the other $168.79). No where on their website did it say the settlement offer was only for a portion of the total bill. Why was that offer only for the $24 charge when the other three offers on the webpage were for the total amount? What a hoax!

My Mother in law passed away in Nov and here it is Dec and Penn called to collect on a bill we are more than happy to pay. They won't tell me what the bill is for, but asked for a death certificate. Not once did she say I am sorry for your loss just "When did she die" Excuse me? I told her we were paying all her bills and to please tell us what it was for and how much. I can't do that. Well then write it off if you can't tell me what and how much, how am I going to pay? I told her I would tell her all the bills that I just sent out checks for and she can tell me if it is in that group. You don't even have to tell me which one. I read every one of them to her and asked was it in the bunch sent out? I can't tell you that...UGH! Look she can't sue you for speaking to us...she is DEAD! Do you want to get paid or not? Not one note of empathy or thanks for my trying to help her do her job. WHAT A JOKE! Also my husband was POA for his Mom and I had to tell her the law is once they die POA is no longer valid. Honestly the rude unfeeling woman on the phone had me fuming, so glad my grieving husband didn't have to deal with her.

I always tell them to "sue me". You think I owe the money, sue me. I don't think you will. In fact, I would be willing to be you won't sue me. I know you won't sue me and you know you won't sue me. So you can either cease calling me or we can move on to another subject. So how else may I assist you? If they try to repeat the demand, then I just tell them, "I'm sorry, we have already covered that subject, so how else may I assist you?" Always be polite, it really gets them fired up.

Oh wow, Penn Credit Corp is some kind of rip off company, I have no idea who they are funding, but I promise you they are funding someone. Over the course of the last 6 months they have called my unlisted number and tried to collect for money I owe Allstate Insurance and Vonage. Now that would be neat if I ever had Allstate or Vonage. After a bit of research I found out that Penn Credit has had over 200 complaints to Pennsylvania's Better Business Bureau over the past 3 years. Finally, including the name Penn Credit, the company has 5 names and a wealth of ignorant human beings working there. One thing you can always do is politely remind them that they are calling to collect falsified debts, especially when you ask them to validate the debt.

At least they talk to you. I got several calls daily and they hang up when I answer.

I am being repeatedly called about a bill from Publisher's Clearing House, another fraudulent company. I have not bought anything from them for years, and if I still owe anything it is because what I ordered was broken, dead or not as presented.

Comment above was mine.

We started receiving calls from Penn Credit approximately 1 week ago and in fact, they just called at 1:46 pm on 05/10/15 (MOTHER's DAY) and there system could not detect that voicemail had answered. Oh how stupid. My husband lost his job 07/2012 and we lost our house and had to file bankruptcy, so we have NO past due bills because everything was included in the bankruptcy. The only bill we have now are for our truck payment (which is current), our rent (current) and utilities (all current). We have received absolutely nothing in the mail from them to explain why they are calling. Plus, if we don't know the number or person, we don't answer, that is what voicemail is for. The Illinois Attorney General is very good at going after companies that are frauds, don't do as they should, so if this keeps up, I'm filing a complaint with their office.

I recently received a letter from this place. I live in the state of MD, and they are saying I owe $493 in back taxes to the state of maryland. I don't get why the Maryland government would hire a debt collector, especially one out of state. So I called them, the lady asked for my case number, I told her I didn't have it, so she asked my name number and all that. She said oh man I can't seem to find anything on you, I can't find where they placed your records, can I have your SSN? I said absolutely not, she gave me an attitude when I told her no, sucked her teeth over the phone, and said well I can't find your file. I said miss if you were a legit collection agency all you would need is my name, and I'm just going to contact the state of MD about this. Then she hung up on me.

Penn Credit calls my house twice a day asking for some person I've never heard of. I told them three times already and they still call. This has been going on for 2 weeks. They are gonna push me to seek legal action.

Dear sir or Madame !
to whom it may concern,
my complain is the next ! I got a balance of $ 227.00 for Con Edison outstanding !
1-- just reminder that I don, t have any con Edison account since 2013 !
2-- I live with my roommate and I share the utility bills with her !
3-- the utility bills coming under ( Lilia Bermudez ) at address located below .
86--18 60 th Rd Ap 301 Elmhurst NY 11373 .
4-- for any more question or evidence just don't hesitate to call us at [protected]

After getting the run-around from my insurance for an entire year regarding an ambulance bill (they couldn't figure out if it was provider participating or not -- FOR A YEAR!), my bill was sent to this collection agency. The first two times I called to get the bill sorted out, I spoke with two very nice customer service representatives. The final time I called, this time to actually pay and settle the bill, the customer service rep that I spoke with was so incredibly rude that I simply cannot believe she is employed in a customer service position. She spoke over me, told me that I was telling her things she already knew, and asked me if I only called her to reiterate what I had told the previous customer service rep on my previous phone call. When I informed her that I was just trying to pay, she spoke over me, gave me attitude, and wouldn't even let me give her my payment info. After 10 minutes of this ridiculousness, I hung up on her (while she was still slinging attitude at me, by the way), and just paid online. I really wish I had gotten the name of this horrible angry woman before I hung up, because I would gladly file a complaint against her. Other than that, I had no problems with Penn Credit and the other reps were very helpful!

Penn Credit guys are blatantly scammers. Debt collectors are required to send out written notices. But these crooks call you randomly and try to pressure you into sending them money while they still have you you on the phone.

If you have any doubt at all, check out this FTC website:
http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0149-debt-collection

Here is the relevant portion on that page:
Every collector must send you a written “validation notice” telling you how much money you owe within five days after they first contact you. This notice also must include the name of the creditor to whom you owe the money, and how to proceed if you don’t think you owe the money.

These guys are unscrupulous scammers. Debt collectors are required to send you a written notice. But these crooks call you repeatedly and try to pressure you to send them money while they still have you on the phone.

If you have any doubt at all, check out this FTC page:
http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0149-debt-collection

Here is the paragraph of interest:
Every collector must send you a written “validation notice” telling you how much money you owe within five days after they first contact you. This notice also must include the name of the creditor to whom you owe the money, and how to proceed if you don’t think you owe the money.

I owed for the court only $400 they took over and made it $670 and they charged my credit $200 down payment for a payment plan then after that they charged my account the full amount and when I tried calling they never did anything about it and Ignored me.

I recieved a letter today from Penn Credit demanding I pay 359$ for running a red light (on camera) in Sarasota County.
Firstly, I haven't lived in Sarasota for 4 years nor was I in town the date of the violaton.
Secondly, they claim the city tried to mail me before going to collections, the city sends my parents jury duty notifications but can't do the same for a traffic violation?

Something fishy going on here for sure.

this company keeps calling my elderly mother all day long, it takes her awhile to get to her phone when she answers it they just hang up on her. only once she answered and got a person asking for someone she don't even know. she told them that person don't live there and she don't know them but they keep right on calling.

time for collection bully.com

I am receiving calls from [protected] multiple times a week. I answer the calls when I am home and it immediately disconnects. I have never spoken to a live person. There are also voicemail messages left that are automated and cut off.

Here's the thing- the company is calling my home about an unnamed debt. They are using only a portion of my name, which makes it an extremely common name. When the representative comes on, they cannot tell me the number they called, the company the bill is from, or even the state of the address they think the person they are calling lives at. And, if I say to them, I am this person you have named, and provide my contact information, they have now connected me and my information to this debt. My information is now a known address for whomever it is they think they are collecting from, whether is it me or it isn't. It is why there are so many addresses listed on credit reports, some of which are misspellings and some of which are just wrong.
If this company is going to call me, they need to verify who they are and what business they have with me. I do not provide personal information to incoming callers. It's just basic common sense.

For the past month I've been ignoring calls from Penn Credit coming from [protected]. Finally I decided to try and speak to someone. After a few calls, I got ahold of a representative (Diego), who explained that Penn Credit is a collection agency.

After speaking to division manager Sean Foley, I discovered that in trying to get ahold of someone who owes money, Penn Credit simply starts robo-calling anyone with a matching name, even if the address does not match, such as is the case with me. I expressed annoyance at this practice, and Sean said "well, we're not doing anything wrong." I guess it is cheaper for them to robo-call the wrong person than it is for them to cross-reference my name and phone number in the white pages and realize they have the wrong person.

Of course I asked them to remove me from their list. I certainly hope they do. What an annoyance. He expressed surprise that there would be negative postings online about them. (It is not that hard Sean, just google Penn Credit and there they are.) Given a choice, I urge you to take your business somewhere besides Penn Credit.

why would you pay a collection agency anything? you never owed them anything. If for some reason you cannot pay due to lose of job or sickness, the people you owe can write this off as loss at the end of the year. this is their way of trying to collect double.. believe me i have this on advice from a credit lawyer.. collection agency are nothing more then rip off artist and con man

Please stop calling [protected]. The calls are very annoying even though we do not answer the phone, and you really have no business to discuss with.

I have experienced this same unprofessionalism and rudeness from several Penn Credit employees as well. First of all, they called a number of a elderly sick relative concerning myself, when they were informed that I didn't reside at that address and that the phone number didn't belong to me, my aunt and her nurse were spoken to very rudely and hung up on them...just to continue the harassment each day. The calls were coming in at all hours and interrupted her sleep. When they would answer the phone the employees were so rude and harassed her to the point of making her blood pressure rise and she had to go to the ER. However, today a call came and the person hung up on her once again, When I was notified, I called the number back to deal with them, but instead of getting a bad apple I actually spoke with a two very professional employees; the first was a woman named Samantha Curtis and the other was a gentleman named Zach. They both were the most professional and kindest people which resulted in a pleasant experience. So, yes Penn Credit has some terrible employees but I am thankful for the two good ones that I had the privilege of speaking with. I feel that it would be in everyone's best interest to train or re train their employees, in fact, it wouldn't be a bad idea to have Samantha and Zach train them.
No longer a victim of harassment, rudeness and hang ups. Jacqueline

My company received their collection notice in Nov 2016 for the employee withholding taxes for State of Virginia for Q2 and Q3 2011. We closed our account with the State a while ago. This is an absolute scam!

PennCreditCorp just called me about a 19 year old $90.00 parking ticket that they claim I didn't pay! They gave me some off the wall street address and I literally LOL on the phone and told them I would have to go to my bank and ask them to go back 19 years in hopes of proof that I paid the ticket? I don't think so! I told him I wouldn't be paying him anything and that I'm sure I paid the ticket, especially since they double within a month - I make sure I pay ALL OF MY PARKING TICKETS when I rarely get them. He said he would tell the client I wasn't paying the ticket and I told him to do just that! And how did they get my work number? Sneaky!