Wolpoff & Abramson, Eskanos & Adler, and Mann Bracken were each bought out by Axiant. Each of the law firms will continue appear in court under their firm names, and all of the attorneys will still be employees of the firms, but all of their collections accounts are now merged. All non-legal personnel (everyone except attorneys) now work for Axiant. I do not know what states Wolpoff and Eskanos have actual attorneys in, but Mann Bracken is set up in Georgia, Tennessee, North & South Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, D.C., and Texas. The Mann Bracken attorneys will take Wolpoff and Eskanos accounts in those states and sue. The same goes for the other entities - they'll take Mann Bracken accounts in their "live" states and sue. No word on who the CEO for Axiant is. Also, Mann Bracken is reaping the benefits of arbitration in Tennessee. When they sue on an account that has an arbitration award, they simply submit the arb award to the court for confirmation. The debtor cannot even challenge it. There is no possible defense. Debtors have 60 days to appeal an arbitration award with the forum. After that, they're screwed.
Read about Wolpoff's favorite tool: Arbitration at www.arbitrationjustice.com
August 2008 Wolpoff tried to get met for over $20,000 as they represented a collection agency. To make the long story short, we got it dismissed after shopping around for lawyers. We managed to get a lawyer that specializes in that field of debt collection. After Wolpoff found out they were messing with the wrong people they decided to dismiss it. But now we are in the process of suing the collection agency for causing emotional distress on something they were illegally trying to collect. Before they dismissed it I was checking with the court's web site about the case and noticed they tried to serve the summons at our old address. We had moved 6 months prior to the first notice of intent to file suit from Wolpoff. I told my laywer this and he said they'll do that just to get an easy judgment, even without my knowledge. This just goes to show how evil Wolpoff can be. That's what the people working with my lawyer said, that they are evil. I hope more and more people come to realize that they can get back at not only Wolpoff but other law firms and their evil schemes.
July 2008 This firm is why lawyers have such a bad rap. I received a letter saying that I owed about 1k; I called them up to find out about the alleged debt; and it turned out that they were looking for a different person with the same name, different ssn and different birthday. (Phishing, anyone?) They said that that was good news for me and that I could forget about it. (I now know to dispute this in writing even when it is cut and dry.) In any case, 6 months later I was served papers, and obviously if I don't show up to court, I'll end up paying someone else's debt. I called WA immediately. This time they were quite rude, hanging up on me, refusing to transfer me to a supervisor unless I provided my full social security number (which I didn't), auto-dialing my house to verify my home number-- they made it abundantly clear that they don't care if they are suing the right person or not, they just want the money. Today, 2 days before the court date, I called the court to try to get more information and they said that WA needs to reschedule a new court date and that the court will notify me by mail of when this new date is. Is there ANYTHING we can reasonably do to discourage such a blatant disregard of ethics?
June 2008 I hear Eric Smith is now using his charms at Wolpoff - he's the one that was responsible for bringing down the old Buffalo Lenahan group. He single-handedly stopped AMS and MacKinnon from collecting in Maine. Good to see Wolpoff is relying on old-school skills.
June 2008 Assignee of Whitehall You can beat these idiots!!! It's very simple. When they sue you, be sure to answer the summons in the court they are suing you in. You have to go to the corresponding court in which they filed to answer the summons. We got a dismissal after sending them a certified return receipt letter stating that we would fight them in court and show evidence against them that what they submitted as evidence was FALSE and a total lie. W&A's local attorneys here asked the judge to dismiss the case. Fight them...fight them hard! Don't give in and don't give up!!!
June 2008 WE BEAT THEM!!!! These blood suckers had their local office here in San Antonio draw up a bogus lawsuit against my fiancé for a debt that was assigned to her ex husband in their final divorce decree. Trial was set for June 16. When we arrived at Justice of the Peace Pct 3, Judge Cabellero's office, the clerk could not find her on the docket. Turned out W&A dropped the lawsuit on May 22. Talk about an answered prayer!!!!! All we have to say is...fight them! Fight them until you can't fight anymore. They will give up...especially in TEXAS!!!
June 2008 Received papers by law enforcement from Wolpoff and Abramson on intent to sue for credit card debt of $1800.00 plus court cost. I scheduled mediation in Dallas with Dispute mediation resolutions. Lawyer Laura Bedford represented w&A. I never received any correspondence from Wolpoff and Abramson before court papers. In mediation I asked for documentation on debt. She said the offices' computer system was down and as soon as the settlement was agreed on (today) and check issued she would go back to office and send me documentation. I wrote $400.oo check and agreed on $130. for 6 months. when I got home I did research on this firm and found this site. I panicked when I realized that she had my banking info. I closed my account and called Ms. Bedford .I asked her if the documentation had been sent to me. she said no and that her office did not have it , only the credit card company had it. I told her that I had changed the account and would send payment($400.00 ) money order as soon as I received documents. she became angry and said that I would now have to pay the original stated amount. I would not be getting a discounted rate. She denied that she ever told me that she had documents and that she would mail them immediately. Am I screwed? I think that she will take me to court now.
June 2008 On 2 occasions, from 2 different debt collectors, when requesting verification of these debts, I received pages and pages of credit activity for someone other than me. Also , I was repaying a debt that had gone to court, twice during the repayment I received notices that I was in default for non payment. They would return my payments to me marked "closed", then after they returned my checks addressed to me with my NYS driver's license # included in my address, they did this on more than 1 occasion despite being asked in writing to cease this violation of my privacy. I finally remedied this account with ANOTHER company collection agency. (Sharinn & Lipshie's Brian Hogancamp). You really have to stay on top of this bottom feeders.
June 2008 Bud I am so thankful for you and your honesty to help those who find themselves in debt. Yesterday when I arrived home their was an automated message left by W & A. They called one minute apart. One call from a 800-678-7720 and another from 301-882-9979. Because of you and the great info you have provided to me in the past, I am not letting this debt company get over on me. Mann & Bracken railroaded me into arbitration twice with NAF. I presented all documents but they were ignored and the attorney rubber stamped a judgment. The next thing I knew, Mann & Bracken then sold the judgment to a local attorney who sought to collect on it. I am now in fighting condition to stand up for myself and those who are unaware of the practices that these debt collectors are doing to hardworking people who may have fallen on hard times due to no fault of their own. I have not returned the calls to W&A because I am waiting for them to send me their typical collection letter, then I will proceed in contacting a lawyer and the State Attorney General. One thing I have learned through this debt collection ordeal is that you must never determine that these debt collectors have the power to destroy you--they don't! I am also aware that Mann & Bracken and NAF are in business together, it may not be on paper, but with a big of a wink and nod. Keep up the good work Bud and if you have any suggestions for us, please do advise. Thanks again!
June 2008 I have been receiving phone calls from 301-882-9975 repeatedly and when I answered and said I wasn't the person they were looking for they hung up and the calls kept coming. I had the unfortunate pleasure of speaking with their customer service person, Natalie on 6/4/2008. She was extremely rude, interrupting me constantly and raising her voice and would not connect me to her supervisor and hung up on me when I pressed to speak with someone other than her. I called the law firm at 1-800-850-0948 and pressed option 1 (option for wrong number being called) and spoke with Ms. Tyson who took my number and said they would remove it within 24 hours. I also reported Natalie and spoke with her supervisor, Ed Scrivener, who apologized to me and provided his number: 240-386-3382 and assured me the calls would stop and Natalie would be spoken with. Please call the office at the 800 number and/or speak with the supervisor Ed Scrivener to get these people to stop their illegal and rude practice.
June 2008
Anyone who gets a
summons from Wolpoff, take heart. Their filings are often
full of errors and I can tell you from personal experience
that they can be beaten. Seems that if they know legally
they don't have a leg to stand on, sewer service seems to be
their modus operandi. Heck, when that doesn't work, they
will conveniently try to send you to the wrong place for
hearings in order to get a default that way. The key to
beating W&A is to stay one step ahead of them and challenge
any and all documents submitted to the court.
Since they decided to back off and dismiss their claim, we
don't want them or their "client" to go home empty-handed.
Their "consolation prize" will be served by the end of the
week.
May 2008
There is no longer a
Wolpoff & Abramson, henceforth all combinations will be
known as Mann Bracken.
These guys are real morons, layering up just like usual.
Hank their brilliant CEO is giving everyone the title "Vice
President" - especially the genius Bruce Bredickas out of PA
and or NY. Bruce Bredickas has a problem with female
co-workers he would verbally abuse them and when they would
cry he would tell them to stop crying or go home without
pay, he did a lot of different mean things to the females of
this firm. "Vice Presidents" all around, they wish they were
VP's. What a joke. If this guy is rewarded with a fake title
to make him feel important or to prove his college education
was really worth it, the rest must be major idiots too. Get
a life and try working for a respected company that offers
their employees real incentives and treats them like real
human beings, wait these "VP's" couldn't get a job with one
of those....haha.
Mann-Bracken, LLC, 1 Paces West, Suite 1400, 2727 Paces
Ferry Road, Atlanta, GA 30339 Voice 678-801-2352 Fax
678-801-2355 http://www.mannbracken.com/ check out the site,
no "team" information or "Career" opportunities, don't
consider working with these extortionist pigs as a "Career",
it's not. Run as far from them as possible is the best
advice you'll ever receive.
Any government agency worth it's weight should regulate and
investigate Mann Bracken, Axiant and Wolpoff, et al.. and
subpoena all current & past employees to find the real truth
about this truly objectionable organization. The findings
would be eye-opening for certain.
May 2008 I have worked for W&A a few years back with BRUCE BREDICKAS who by the way used to work for MBNA as the big boss so put the two together. Yes, he is ruthless but I did not give him the power to respond to me in disrespectful ways. You must OWN your own power and know that these people DON'T HAVE ANY PROOF in about 95 % of the cases. As I have stated before I was the so called "paralegal" more like data entry. Always send out the Intend to Defend because my lawyer had about 10 counties and any given day about 30 hearing in10 counties and so you do the math! He couldd barely attend 3 and so I had to fax the District Justices EVERYDAY about 17 dismissals and continuances which they do not like and often refuse. Also a very important aspect of the Statute of Limitations is the fact, which they told us in training, that if the statute has run out you must NEVER ACKNOWLEDGE IT OR IT STARTS ALL OVER AGAIN and that is how they GET YOU! When I used to prepare the documents for the "petition to confirm the arbitration award" I could barely find 2 out of 10 copies of the agreement to arbitrate (MBNA), which by the way was sent out VERY ambiguously and signed without knowledge of what it was. Bud, please try to attach the Judge Wettick's decision about PA law denying this award and the need for the people in other states to point this PRECEDENT out and lobby for a change!!! "If you want to change the world YOU must be the change." http://www.quicktopic.com/31/D/VKrgQBn8w5D3t.html
May 2008 Unscrupulous, rude, snotty, greedy, unwilling to work w/ folks & real issues. I hope that the good people at Wolpoff & Abramson get all THAT IS FULLY DUE TO THEM. Laugh it up, Wolpoff & Abramson, there is special place in hell for crap of your ilk. What MUST it be like to have all that negative energy flowing their way?! just a matter of time, and the sins of the father. I wish them the very worst.
May 2008 You need to add one more Debt Collector to your list of Wolpoff & Abramson. Wolpoff & Abramson out sources their fraudulent debts on behalf of Palisades and others to a Collection Agency who hide behind the name of a law firm; the name of "Freedman, Anselmo, Lindberg & Rappe LLC." That would be: Louis S. Freedman, Steven C. Lindberg, Thomas J. Anselmo, and Robert H. Rappe Jr. They have been in the business of collecting debts here in Illinios for many years, and they recently have decided to join with Wolpoff and the rest of the gang. Be on the look out for these guys. They have been sued in Federal Court before as well for violation of the FDCPA and yes, they have lost. (See E.g., George Lockett v. Freedman, Anselmo, Lindberg, & Rappe, a partnership. Individually and doing business etc....No. 03 C 2992 Northern District of Illinois, 2003. Judge Joan H. Lefkow) If you need it. Mr. Louis Freedman's Attorney number is 26122. Wolpoff has decided to outsource their Illinois junk debts to him. Don't under estimate Mr. Freedman and his crew. They are very much involved in the State of Illinois in the protection of Junk debt buyers, and have been so for many years. Try about 25 years. Mr. Freedman and his cronies have been able to blanket themselves from registering under the Illinois Collection Agency Act without any recourse for quite some time now. If any of your visitors see his name on any documentation they receive, they should contact consumer protection attorneys immediately. I have also made it my personal mission in life to see him dis-barred, and I am slowly building my case against this fraud.
May 2008 Wolpoff & Abramson got me today in court. They bought a MBNA account that was charged off, they added 19% interest on it, and the appellant court ok'd it. I think it is horrible and dishonorable job, to be a lawyer and feed your family on someone else's debt. MBNA refused payment arrangements with me, when I informed them I had a new job, and earned less. They immediately charged it off and gave to Wolpoff & Abramson. I now have to pay 16,000 to a debt that was 2000. I believe these lawyers had friends in the appellant court to help them collect. This is a sick game. I know have to pay Wolpoff & Abramson a debt for the next 16 years, and I did not incur the debt with Wolpoff & Abramson.
April 2008 Based on the North Carolina NAIC website Wolpoff & Abramson are not licensed or currently registered to collect in North Carolina. LINK
April 2008 Wolpoff & Abramson also is a part of a collaborative between Bank of America and The National Arbitration Forum. Of course such is a violation of federal laws. However, if the Bank of America , Wolpoff and the National Arbitration Forum is pursuing you, file a complaint. File the complaint with the Comptroller of the Currency. Such is the federal agency that oversees national banks. File a complaint the more complaints the sooner this type of harassment will end.
April 2008 For anyone being served a summons by these agencies please beware that their standard suit form also resembles their collection letters. They say in the complaint that you have 30 days to dispute this debt, but you only have 10 to 30 days depending on the amount to file an answer with the court system. If you contact them they will convince you that you have come to an agreement but on the 11th or 31st day they seek summary judgment for not answer the summons from the court....so beware. deny everything and make them prove you owe them. Nine times out of 10 they can't.
March 2008
How I beat Wolpoff and Abramson
I was sued by Wolpoff and Abramson in 2006 in a County Court
of Law in Houston, Texas for $7500 plus attorneys fees. The
Petition was a crooked photocopied form that had some blanks
filled in by pen. The Plaintiff was “Centurion Capital
Corporation Assignee of Chase Manhattan Bank”. There were
hundreds of these Petitions filed within a day or two in the
County Courts alone, many of them naming a different
Plaintiff, but all of them being organizations belonging to
Wolpoff and Abramson. I was already familiar with Wolpoff
and Abramson’s blatant disregard for rules and regulations,
and decided to defend myself without an attorney.
Their one-size-fits-all petition was full of inaccuracies
and falsehoods. I filed an Answer on the due date, denying
categorically every one of their accusations. I also made a
request for a jury trial, which was granted. I was prepared
to confront these deceitful creeps in front of a judge and
jury.
I objected to most of their Requests for Disclosure. Since I
did not owe anybody anything, it was impossible to respond
to their questions. Then, I sent them a Request for
Production. They had 30 days to respond. After six weeks had
gone by without hearing a peep from their side, I prepared a
Motion to Dismiss and mailed it to the Plaintiff’s attorney.
A couple weeks later, the Court sent me a notice stating
that an Order to Dismiss had been signed by the judge.
March 2008
My wife is being sued
by these blood suckers on a 4 year old debt. She was served
on a Monday afternoon and we answered the service at one of
our local Justice of the Peace's here in Bexar County,
Texas. From what I understand, their attorney is out of
Dallas (Brent P. Burford TxSBA 03371000) and doesn't make a
majority of cases they file here. We sent them a certified
letter stating that we intend to defend and show cause that
their lawsuit is unjust and without merit. We advised W&A
that if they did not want a countersuit from us, that they
had 10 days from the receipt of our certified return receipt
letter (which they signed for Feb 21, 2008) to drop the
lawsuit.
I have a feeling they won't back down, but we can hope,
right?
This information is on
the attorney that is of record on the paperwork to sue my
wife in Bexar County, Texas for Wolpoff & Abramson. When I
did a Texas State Bar Association of W&A, they do not even
come up as listed but this attorney does. This is his state
bar info for Texas Brent Preston Burford
Bar Card Number*: 03371000
Work Address 5215 N O'Connor Blvd, Suite 1060
Williams Square Central Tower Irving, TX, 75039-3770
Work Phone Number (866) 593-8764 License Information
State Bar Card Number*: 03371000
Texas Licensed*: 11/01/1976 University Of Texas 05/1976
Practice Information Firm: Wolpoff & Abramson, LLP
Firm Size: 41 to 60 Occupation: Private Law Practice
2007 Wolpoff & Abramson, LLP sent me notice that they were suing me. They even had a process server deliver a summons. The summons had no court date. I was never notified of a court date. About two weeks later I got another letter stating that they had got a default judgment. They then continued to send letters offering settlement. Now they send me one wanting me to list all my assets and have it notarized. Problem is, state and federal law prohibits anyone to take property or garnish wages (except for child support). I have never received any paperwork or any notification from the court, everything has come through them. I don't even believe there was a court date.
2007 My husband was served papers (That he was being sued for $1024)in our front yard on my sons birthday in the middle of his party. Exactly ONE day before the statute of limitations would have ran out...how typical. We had 30 days to reply. He hired an attorney and denied the claim. We were then sent questions three different times (discovery)... by regular mail, and twice by certified mail. I guess they wanted to let us know that they weren't going to back down. We answered all questions in time and sent our own in as well. We then received notice that we had a court date. The day before the court date, they filed a non-suit. They played the game until the very last minute... and gave in when we wouldn't back down. We had been receiving phone calls for MONTHS.... daily. We never answered the phone when they called.. that is when we were served. We paid $750 for our attorney..... to get these freaks off our case.... and it was worth every penny. Hopefully this will deter them from trying this again with us. It was never about the money... it was about the principle. Once you settle or get a judgment against you... they will buy more of your debt and come after that too. Don't give in!
2007 Wolpoff & Abramson are really something else! I owe for a credit card over 5 years ago and this Wolpoff & Abramson company still calls my house probably about 10 times a day under the names of GSA, Omni Credit Services, Larry Roach etc. This HSBC credit card has been collected onby 7, count them, SEVEN different companies now. I'm sure they are all just proxies for Wolpoff & Abramson. Plaza & Assoc., Northland Group, Anchor Rec Mngmnt, Palisades, HSBC and Gamache & Meyers. Anyway, if the bill was only $2.00, and I had to spend $100.00 to not pay these folks, well, that's exactly what I would do!
2007 Think you have an agreement with W & A, think again...In September of 2005, I entered into an agreement (with the help of an attorney) with W&A to pay a debt ($700 per month for 26 months). I have paid the debt regularly. According to my calculations, the debt should be about paid. However, when I called to verify the debt, W&A claims that the final payment includes additional charges and fees of $7,000 which I must pay or they will execute the judgment. When I called them back again, they refused to talk to me, saying that they can only talk to my attorney of record. This is nothing less than fraud and extortion. How can they get by with this?
2007
They sued me and my
husband for 2 credit cards we simply could not afford to
pay. I hired an attorney who was nice enough to give me a
few ideas but basically said he wouldn't do anything for
less than $4000.
I answered every court filing with one of my own written by
me. The first response was just that I denied everything.
Then they filed a request for disclosure asking me to
produce every receipt. I countered with my own request for
disclosure asking for their copies of everything, including
how they calculated the interest on balances, my signatures
proving I'd made the purchases, how their legal fees were
determined and copies of legal bills itemizing what the fees
were for.
They then contacted me offering to settle. I verbally agreed
and told them to write up the terms we'd discussed. They did
not. They wrote up a really noncommittal response that
leaves the door open for them.
I am about to counter with a certified letter spelling out
all the terms I want them to agree to before paying the
settlement. The moral of the story is that yes, it takes
some work and effort, but you can get these people under
some kind of control.
And before anyone jumps on me for only paying half, let's
remember the exorbitant interest rates on these credit cards
that would have been illegal years ago, the fact that the
credit card companies routinely changed their remit to
address so my payment would be late and they could assess
late fees, and that they send the bills so late it makes it
difficult to even get the payments to them on time.
I am totally done with credit cards. They are a license to
steal, and then they compound the problem by doing business
with purchasers like W & A. Oh, and yes, I was subjected to
the "arbitration award" scam too.
2007
My story is, I recently
found out I have a Judgment on my credit file. Filed by
Wolpoff & Abramson, LLP. This was a surprise since I have
never been summoned to court on this matter. I have received
the usual letters from these people but had no knowledge it
was legit. Like I said, I never received any court papers on
this issue. They are representing Palisades Collections,
LLC. The original debt was with at&t mobile for a cell phone
bill. I called at&t and they have no record of my ss#. I
remember the debt and believe it to be less than $100.00.
However they are
saying that the debt is over $1,900.00 Do I have any
recourse for this judgment since I was never served a
summons? On another debt they own from a credit card co.
That is due to drop off my credit next year was just
reported as a new account. This after I challenged them on
all 3 credit bureaus.
2007
On October 11, 2005 I
received a Notice of Intent to Sue from Wolpoff & Abramson.
It was the first letter that I ever received for Wolpoff &
Abramson. The letter stated the following:
* They represent their client Great Seneca Financial Corp.
* Great Seneca Financial, assignee of Direct Merchant Bank.
* As a result of my failure to resolve this matter, they
have made the decision to initiate
litigation against me. They never gave me that option. Not
to mention I never dealt with Great Seneca Financial.
I am slowly clearing all my debts. Today I decided to look
into The Wolpoff & Abramson letter and find it to appear as
a fallacious tactic that they used and a form of extortion.
I was really disturbed with this method that they use.
Here is my arguments: A law firm cannot purchase a debt.
Wolpoff & Abramson used Great Seneca Financial who was a
subsidiary of theirs. Great Neck never was assignee of
Direct Merchants Bank as they stated, CACV was, date may 20,
2004. Instead of sending me a letter of settlement, they
sent me a notice of intent to sue.
2007 After receiving a letter indicating I owe $XXX.XX I called the office and have arrived at the following conclusion. They send out the same letter to all people with the same name in a geographical area. They expect the people that do not owe the money to call and complain verifying by checking the last 4 digits of your SS number. I call this fishing and the practice should not be allowed. BTW: It took 4 phone calls before I was able to speak with a para-legal as I was disconnected the other three times. Bet that wasn't a para-legal either.
2007 Hi Everyone, I too have been plagued by Wolpoff and Abramson. I feel it is important for everyone to know that this company will try their best to bully you into submission with phone calls and threatening letters. Stand up and fight back! There are laws on your side, they are detailed here, and on other websites (Google should be your new best friend). It’s important to NOT IGNORE letters sent to you from this or other collection agencies/lawyers. If nothing else respond asking for verification of the debt as in many cases the collection agencies cannot get it in a timely manner and know that without it they cannot move forward. If you ignore Wolpoff you are opening yourself up to more problems as they will just decide against you. Give yourself a fighting chance and make it as hard as possible for them to get a judgment against you! Good luck and keep your head up people!
2007 Again, the importance of leaving a way to reach you...I would not want to stand in front of GOD to answer for what they have done to the working man. We only owed Chase Manhattan 7,000 and offered to settle for 3,000 cash money. They would not take the settlement amount and instead told us that they would take us to court and get the full amount plus what ever other cost is accrued by them going to court. I'm Disabled at this time and my son has a heart condition and we pay for his treatment first before anything. I cant even get a lawyer in the DALLAS/FT.Worth area to help us when we tell them who the Chase Manhattan Attorney is. (We can think of 5 DFW attorneys unafraid of Wolpoff or Chase.)
2007 My husband and I were sued by W&A after their own attorneys filed a document with the NAF stating that we were never served with the arbitration documents. As soon as this document came out in the lawsuit, they non-suited the case against us. They truly are horrible.
2007 This collector forced me into bankruptcy ruining my credit. I attempted to work out a plan workable for both of us, but they wouldn't have it. I went through a divorce which created some problems, but this debt collector was the only I didn't settle as agreed or find dome compromise. I felt bankruptcy was my only option. My credit is tanked and I must start over, but I wasn't going to have them place a judgment on me I couldn't pay.
2007
OK They finally left a
message. Two of them in fact. Both times the caller ID said
COMCAST CABLE.
All they said was their name and their reference number and
to call back. The caller ID said COMCAST CABLE. Both the
answering machine and caller ID have the same time on it,
but I wrote the state attorney general, the FTC and BBB all
of them didn't seem to care, they just sent back information
about debt collectors, so what do I do with the proof that
they are pre-texting?
I sent them a request for validation, but waiting for their
reply and the phone calls started 2 X and 3 X a day instead
of once a day now. Thanks again for all your help. I'm
keeping photos and records of all calls.
Since this involves (by implication) cable, and the telephone system, wouldn't complaints to the FCC would be in order?
2007 These guys have a new trick up their sleeve. They are calling me using the number 240-249-7503 and the caller ID says comcast cable but when I do a google on this number, it shows up Wolpoff & Abramson. (It's called pre-texting, and it's against the law.) They never say anything. When I let the machine pick up, no message.
2007 I was extremely surprised when I checked my Bank Account and found it said zero. Just like so many other horror stories I read, I had no prior notification of this. I contacted the creditor. Wolpoff & Abramson and they told me I should be getting a letter in the mail. I have been told by many others since this, that this is not legal in the State of Florida because I am the head of household, have a dependent child and receive no child support. I have gone to the clerk of courts, filed an appeal and drove an hour to hand deliver all of the necessary paperwork to them. Is there anything else I can do to get my money back from these crooks???
2007 The debt collectors at Wolpoff and Abramson have been harassing my Father In Law at his home phone leaving multiple messages for an old debt of my husbands. They obviously have the wrong phone number associated with the address. The man that leaves messages claims his name to be "John Pauper". (Spelling?) Haha. Isn't that the name of the guy in the band The Blues Traveler? We had one other collection agency calling and claiming her name was "Nancy Travis". Wow, the names they come up with are pretty original! :)
2007 I used to be a W&A employee and would like to address a comment that was made on here. To the person who stated "To all of Wolpoff and Abramson employees...May you all rot in hell!!!!!!!!!" Honestly this is just needless and someone needs to grow up. People need to realize They are only doing their jobs, just like you do everyday. Do they enjoy going to work and being cuss out everyday? No!!! They are angry and heartless because 90% of people that call are rude, screaming or cursing at them. I left because I'm a happy person and cant stand being called heartless. Lord knows I can relate because I have my own dept that I owe. I was even garnished for one. Did I call that company and yell at them? No, because I know I owed the money. I didn't have the funds to pay but chances are it's been over 2 yrs since the bill was generated so honestly there has been plenty of time for you to make small payments you could afford. Did your parents ever tell you it was rude to judge without knowing a person? As far as the change to Axiant, its was told to the employees that it is a merger not a sell out and as of now they are still being paid through W&A
2007 it's actually, Eskanos & Adler, PC 2325 Clayton Rd. #8 Concord, California 94520 http://www.eskanos.com/ Learn from History....Great Seneca (feeder) = Wolpoff (firm) or, vice versa. now....Eskanos & Adler, Mann Bracken, Wolpoff (firms) = Axiant (feeder) or, vice versa. No Feeder = No Firm. Heavy Lawsuits, Exposure = Name Changes / Sell offs
2007
Breaking news- Come
Monday, July 23 -- W&A employees will be paid by Axiant...
W&A, is located in Rockville, MD Axiant, will be
run from Rockville, MD -- surprise?
Espinos, is located in San Fransico, CA
Mann-Bracken, is located in Atlanta, GA
Mann-Bracken, LLC 2727 Paces Ferry Road 1 Paces
West, Suite 1400 Atlanta, GA 30339
Voice 678-801-2352 Fax 678-801-2355 http://www.mannbracken.com/
Axiant will be the "mothership" from which the "firms"--
W&A, Espinos, and Mann-Bracken will obtain their support.
These "firms" Execs will become shareholders in Axiant.
In 6-12 months the "firms" will operate under one name (To
be determined). All attorneys will operate under their
respective "firms" until such time a name is announced.
All of this, stated by Ron Abramson in a conference to all
employees on Thursday, July 21.
Also, reported to have recruited a Top Exec from a major
Fortune 500 Company to join their organization.
and this:
EXTRA EXTRA READ ALL ABOUT IT!! RUMOR HAS IT WOLPOFF IS SOLD!! COMBINED WITH AN ATLANTA BASED OWNER AND ANOTHER CRAPPY ESKANOS AND ADLER COMPANY....SAME CRAPPY SENIOR MGMT, NEW LOSER CEO TO BE ANNOUNCED! DOWN WITH THE NEW AND UNIMPROVED AXIANT CORP...
2007
Hey Bud, what's up with the link posted for May 21, 2007?
Check it out! I haven't been able to get anything good from
it but a blank page or the W&A Payment Center since it was
posted! I certainly wouldn't want to join any Wolpoff &
Abramson newsletter at their site?!,..heck they probably
outsource their newsletters to Canada for all we know to
save on production costs... I'd rather subscribe to
newsletters produced in the good ol' US of A. hehe. Anyways,
the link is either dead or connects to the W&A Payment
Center, so beware! ...we certainly don't want to be
magically transported to their Payment Center, do we!? Not
sure why this is at the top of the thread?
P.S. Anyone know of any other fun links to humor us with? No
Payment Centers please.
(At the time the link was put up, it was an anti-Wolpoff site. Pretty good one too. We suspect there was a lawsuit or a payoff to change the situation.)
2007 Nice posting, Bud! But, isn't it true anyone can enter an email address and post something here on someone else's behalf without their consent? (Actually no - less than a tenth of all consumer comments make it to the web. Those with no email or suspicious email are quickly tossed aside. The remaining are subjected to a little critical review...)So, you may never know who the original authors of some of these posting are. Guess that's what makes it good. Heck, let's use one of Stuart's or Ron's email addresses and post something on their behalf! Ha hah. They probably have something interesting to say about this site. Perhaps we should open up the forum for comment by the owners themselves? Give them a fair shot to dispute all these comments? LOL. Bet they won't show. There are way too many that might be true to even begin to dispute them all. Let's call it... The Wolpoff Challenge! (To see an active effort to challenge the things consumers write, visit the Curtis O. Barnes page.)
2007 See Sayyed v. Wolpoff & Abramson, United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (May 9, 2007) - A debt collection law firm does not enjoy "common law litigation immunity from liability to debtors for misstatements in pleadings and interrogatories that may violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act . . ." Reported in 23 ABA/BNA Lawyers' Manual on Professional Conduct page 267
2007 It is true the service records for this company are very questionable. If anyone would go to the Philadelphia Municipal Court (PMC) at 10:00am on Tuesday's or Thursday's of any month and visit Court Room 4A you would witness FDCPA violations, questionable service records and above all deception and unfair practices by a Company who takes advantage of low-income minorities in the State of Pennsylvania, up to 150 people on each day. Sometimes the employees who negotiate the deals with the debtors (who show up) never give the FDCPA. The attorney certainly does not provide it when speaking with a debtor. And, if they never give the FDCPA there is procedure in place for when these folks return to their Office in Camp Hill and enter the details of "the deal" into their computer systems it documents electronically as though the FDCPA was given, when it fact it might not have been. If you are being sued in the Philadelphia Municipal Court (show up for the case) question the service records, do not take a judgment for the full amount ever, ask for a continuance, ask for documentation and question the Statute of Limitations. In many cases this company has in the past adjusted SOL's in their favor, undermining law-abiding citizens who have no knowledge of such activity. The process server does a very questionable job as the posting listed below states. After all, think about it when a someone is "serving" possibly 1200 people per month and Philadelphia Municipal Court also gets about say $80 X 1200 people = $96,000 per month, wouldn't there be some favoritism? Maybe even some possible fabrication of documents? Of course, there is. There is a lot of revenue involved to support a Company, which is in consistent violation of the Law and has a track record of deceptive and unfair business practices. It's a shame the Commonwealth of PA or at least the PMC and it's Commissioners plays a part of this fiasco and illegal wrong doing.
2007 Got a call from these folks, who initially called my father (same name) in VA. He stated to them that he was not me and, when asked what year he was born, they said, "Oh, the person we're looking for was born in ****." They provided him with their contact information, the alleged debt information (an already paid-off credit card from 1999!), and told me to call them back so that they'd leave him alone. I happened upon your site when I googled "zombie debt collectors," and utilized the statute-of-limitations page, nearly memorized the W&A page, and printed out my free MD resident Big 3 report. Card was paid off for a lower amount in 1999, and now these a******s want $6000. Debt was satisfied with original creditor...'nuff said! I called them, told them that, as a MD resident, I didn't consent to having our conversation monitored and/or recorded (I assumed that this took place). The gentleman with whom I spoke (a "Mr. Bruce") seemed quite agitated that I didn't want to give him my SS# to verify that I was who he wanted me to be. I told him to send me a verification letter in the mail, but he said he couldn't until he could verify my identity. I stated that we were at an impasse, I had no debt in the name of the creditor he named, and that that was the end of our conversation as far as I was concerned, and to please cease and desist any further communication either with me or with my family. So far, so good. Thank you VERY much, Mr. Hibbs. Without your guidance, I know I would have hemmed, hawed and stammered my way into setting up some sort trouble for myself!
(Still, keep an eye out for below the radar activity, NAF filings, etc.)
2007
I am a previous employee and I maintain a relationship with
a current employee and can tell you for certain:
The internal company directory of employees which used to be
over 1200 is now indicating less than 750 employees - this
directory lists not only employees in the main office in
Rockville, MD, but also their remote locations.
Some employees' salaries were cut during and after layoffs
(which began February 9) - some upwards of 20%!
Some current employees are afraid each day if they will have
a job or end the day with a job.
The current employee (who verified comments to me I read
here about lay offs, etc.) is nervous enough for fear of
reprimands for maintaining contact with me.
There was a meeting held at the headquarters location after
lay offs happened stating the cuts were due to their growth
happening too quickly and due to other companies "catching
on" to W&A buying loans for pennies on the dollar. Others,
wanting to buy the same loans for the same cheap rates have
created bidding wars and now not only can W&A not get their
loans cheap, they are losing funds trying to get rid of
current loans - having to sell them for less than they
originally paid.
This specific website was also mentioned by Mr. Abramson
himself as he tried to dismiss comments published here as
untrue. They also have sold or will be selling their
Great Seneca portfolio.
2007 Just in case they ever sue you for a debt, here is what has happened. W&A served me by a private process server. Her way of doing business is to leave her card in your door and ask for you to call. To avoid lies about being served in some other way-I took the service, to protect myself from default judgments. It worked. I got my papers, contacted free legal aid to apply for low income legal aid. If you have been served, they (legal aid) work a lot faster to refer you to their legal aid. (That's if you don't have the income for a NACA attorney. Free aid is better than no advice at all.) The free legal aid attorneys are too busy to help me now, to represent me, I am "pro se" in my case, but they can help with violations of debt collection laws...they did ask about that-may have given me an attorney for that. What they were able to do so far was to help draft a letter to file an answer with the court before a default judgment could be entered, and they are going to help with writing a draft of a "judgment proof" letter soon...this letter may cause this suit to be dropped...sometimes it works.
Be sure they serve you properly, get legal help if you can get it, and respond right away to avoid a default judgment. If you do not agree with the allegations on their lawsuit, or are uncertain if there is truth and proof of what they allege...in your answer filed with the court, you can deny all allegations and demand absolute proof of every allegation. This is not legal advice-that is what advice they gave me, and how it has kept W&A from getting a default judgment against me so far. If you need legal advice, consult an attorney, like from NACA, or your nearest free legal aid office. I am keeping in mind that I did send a Cease and Desist letter to W&A at their main business, but a creditor (alleged) is using their local W&A attorneys as the "creditor" attorneys...so it seems they can get away with that because they are attorneys for a "creditor". On a different account, I paid an account in full to an original creditor, to end contact from these same collectors/"attorneys". (I could not afford to do so-I sacrificed and they still forced their way into my life with this lawsuit anyway.) I am patting myself on the back for filing an answer with the court right away to prevent a default judgment. Make them prove everything, absolutely, to a court judge...Get an attorney if you can, or go the library and read up as much as possible if you need to go to court "pro se." Know when and how to write documents like an attorney if you have to...
2007
They did not provide the court proof of the alleged debt
that they filed a lawsuit against me. We went to court
end they wanted to strong arm me into a dismissal on
the spot before we went before the Judge. The Judge told
them they had thirty days to give whatever they had to file
the lawsuit against me. He said that they had to give this
and it would be dismissed. He set another hearing for Feb
22, 2007 GUESS what!!!
I was there and they (Wolpoff & Abramson) did not show up so
it was dismissed with prejudice.
The Judge asked me if they mailed it to me (the document)
and of course they had not.
ALL I can say to you and your readers ALWAYS write them a
validation request and discovery. If they do not come up
with a original debtor and account number (along with proof
of this being yours to begin with) they drop the case
against you. They are working off a list that just has a
name and an amount from their debt buyer client (which is of
course really W & A) and this is usually Great Seneca and or
Centurion Capital (as in my case)
As Soon as I had these court documents stuffed in my door I
asked for validation from them and also answered it to the
court within the 20 days. If I had received something
in the mail before they filed suit it would have been better
but I GOT NOTHING since they had my wrong mailing address.
This was not my debt and I will counter sue them for
harassment I think and costly me time and money to fight
this thing for 6 months. These people back off from most
people who question the validly of the debt.
2007 As far as Wolpoff running out of money and hopefully going out of business.. what does that mean to someone that is currently dealing with them and avoiding their calls? The calls are now down to only once a day and none on weekends. Should I deal with them at all? It's the wounded animal that's most dangerous. They aren't gone yet, but they are hurting. It might be less expensive and more beneficial in the long run to invest in a naca.net attorney instead of Wolpoff.
2007 I was not one of the 600 laid off. I believe that # may actually be higher. They have closed several sites of theirs, put on a hiring freeze, ended overtime, and FIRED hundreds of employees. These employees were not laid off with severance pay. They were fired with no pay, no unemployment and no references. Wolpoff & Abramson is going bankrupt! This is the beginning fo the end. Thanks to sites like these and informed consumers, dirt bags like this won't exist much longer. Mr. Wolpoff will have to trade his sports car in for a KIA.
2007 I have worked for Wolpoff & Abramson and let me tell you- they even treat their employees unethically. This is one of the WORST companies to work for!! They lie to their employees, steal money from their paychecks, force them to work while fire alarms are going off, refuse to pay decent wages and break every labor law there is! Do not trust anything that has to do with W&A! They will do anything and I mean anything for the almighty dollar!! Were you among the 600 laid off last week?
I rec`d a letter from this agency about a debt they allege I owe. They sent me a notice saying they were going to file charges and take me in front of the local District Justice, unless I called them and set up payment plans. I called and told them what I could afford. They were very rude and said they could not accept my payment of $75.00 every 2 weeks. I told them that's all I can afford at the time. He said "Well, I'll see you in court then." I have been sending them the $75 faithfully, every 2 weeks since the hearing (which, I did not go to...what's the point?) They have been cashing my checks, but still send me letters saying this payment is not satisfactory. They are also not willing to give at all on the finance charges or the interest, so therefore, I am afraid I will be paying for this the rest of my life. I am not even positive that I do actually owe this debt as they said, but their threats worried me enough to start paying them. I feel they are rude and they contradict themselves often.
Bud Hibbs Staff Response: Perhaps you should educate yourself about the point of NOT missing these hearings - and why it does no good to try to deal with a debt collector. The information is on this site...
Bud, I'm a debt collector myself but this company is way out of line, even for Buffalo. The ever famous dialer system calls my home 4-6 days a week, yesterday will mark the 3rd time I've answered my phone to the dialer system, tried to reach a representative that never came, and the dialer system remained on my line for at least 45 min, blocking all my incoming calls.
Funny thing is, their looking for my ex-roommate who I have a current ph# and address for, and am willing to give them. I cant get a hold of them by phone or e-mail. 80% of all collection agency's in Buffalo are corrupt, some follow every law out there, and respect consumers rights. The company I work for only collects on local medical and utility bills, charged off at the latest last summer, the people we call know who we are and know the company's we are collecting for. we have got to get this scummy agency's out of Buffalo. I'm willing to help in anyway.
These bottom feeders are suing me for $1305 which they say I owe HSBC, Bank of Nevada. I have no record of this account, they are threatening summary judgment. I requested validation in June 2005 they never responded. The suit was filed 10/2005. I am not paying for debt I have no record of. The process server for W&A pounded on our door for 30 minutes this morning. SOME MUST STOP THESE BOTTOM FEEDER LAWYERS.
Staff Response: Be careful of the summary judgment. If you fail to show up, they win. Have you seen this page?