Aspen National Collections is a debt collection agency is bound by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Learn more about the company and how you can stop harassing debt collection calls.
Aspen National Collections is a legitimate third-party debt collection agency based in Florida. Aspen National Collections has received consumer complaints alleging violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), including illegal communication tactics and attempting to collect debts not owed. If you have been contacted by Aspen National Collections, make sure you understand your rights before taking action.
According to its website, Aspen National Collections employs professional, “carefully trained” debt collectors to recover debt on behalf of its clients. Aspen National Collections contracts on a contingency fee basis with its clients. This means that Aspen National Collections is highly motivated to collect the maximum amount possible on each individual debtor because it is paid based on a percentage of the total amount it collects on behalf of its clients.
Aspen National Collections utilizes different approaches to different classifications of debt. Aspen National Collections’ timeshare division “first became involved in the timeshare, or vacation ownership, resort industry in 2000, assisting resorts located throughout the United States and in Mexico in the recovery of consumer debt related to monthly installment loans and annual maintenance fees.”
Aspen National Collections’ education division assists small schools to larger universities “with all types of educational debt such as student loans, federal and Perkins student loans, K-12 educational fees, nursing loans, and student fines.”
The collection staff of Aspen National Collections’ utilities division is “trained to understand the client’s specific service, as well as the socio-economic environment of the consumer.” Aspen National Collections also provides collection services for other types of consumer debt by “partnering with clients to understand their service or product, the nature of their debtors, and creating effective, customized programs to improve the performance of their portfolios.”
Aspen National Collections states that it does “abide by all requirements of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), ensuring that the collection of your bad debt is done within the parameters allowed by law.” However, there are no links or references on their site to consumer protection resources, laws, or enforcement agencies.
Aspen National Collections is licensed, bonded, and insured, and is certified in the handling of trust accounts. Aspen National Collections is a member of the American Resort Development Association and the American Collectors Association.
Aspen National Collections “is a national debt collection agency with specialized expertise in consumer debt collections for companies involved in timeshare or vacation ownership resorts, educational loans, utility cooperatives and other niches.”
As a third-party debt collection agency, Aspen National Collections is required to adhere to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), a federal law that protects consumers from abusive debt collection tactics. Nevertheless, consumers have filed complaints accusing Aspen National Collections of violating the FDCPA. Those accusations have included claims that the debt collection agency has threatened to sue consumers without actually intending to do so and talking to third parties about consumers’ debts. It’s imperative that you know your rights under the law before speaking with Aspen National Collections debt collectors.
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Aspen National Collections is accredited by the Better Business Bureau (BBB), which issued Aspen National Collections an “A+” rating, despite the presence of 9 complaints against Aspen National Collections in the past three years, only two of which have been resolved in the past 12 months. Eight of these complaints contained allegations related to Aspen National Collections’ billing and collections practices, while the remaining complaint contained allegations related to Aspen National Collections’ services and advertising. Since August 2013, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has received 88 complaints against Aspen National Collections, 85 of which contained allegations related to Aspen National Collections’ debt collection practices, while the remaining complaints contained allegations related to credit reporting and mortgage services. In addition, Justia, one of the largest online legal databases in the United States, lists at least 25 federal cases of civil litigation involving Aspen National Collections.
Are you asking yourself…
Aspen National Collections could be calling for a number of reasons, all of them related to debt collection:
If you’ve been contacted by Aspen it’s important to know your rights under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. If they’ve violated your rights, you can take the agency to court and sue for statutory damages of up to $1,000 – along with court costs and attorney fees.
First you can write a cease and desist letter. Explain to Aspen National Collections that they have the wrong person and insist that they stop calling you. Make sure to send your letter via certified mail with a return receipt requested. If debt collectors from Aspen persist in calling you, make sure to keep a log. Note the date and time of each call, the name of the debt collector, and what was said. Under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, debt collectors, who violate the law, must pay consumers up to one thousand, dollars plus attorney’s fees. A fair debt attorney can represent you at no charge, and can readily evaluate your case. It’s also important to file complaints with the Better Business Bureau and with the Federal Trade Commission.
No. If you’ve been contacted by Aspen, you have the right to sue them in federal court if the debt collection agency has violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Signs that you may be on solid legal footing are:
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act was put into law in order to protect consumers like you, but there’s a catch. While the government sues debt collection agencies that egregiously violate the law, it doesn’t sue agencies on behalf of individual consumers. Instead, the FDCPA has what’s called a fee-shifting provision. This means that, if you sue and win, then the debt collection agency has to pay your court costs and attorney fees. Fee-shifting levels the playing field so that you can assert your rights.
Yes. Aspen National Collections can sue you if you owe the debt, however, threatening to sue or serve you with papers if they don’t intend to do so is a violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Additionally, after receiving the first collection notice, you have 30 days to dispute the debt. If you dispute the debt, then Aspen is required by the FDCPA to prove that you do, in fact, owe the money. A debt collection agency isn’t allowed to sue you if, for example, the debt is past the statute of limitations or if you do not legally owe the debt. It’s a good idea to speak with a fair debt attorney if you’ve been served with a summons or legal complaint.
Yes. However, Aspen National Collections cannot threaten you to garnish your wages and garnishment can only only occur if Aspen files a lawsuit and obtains a judgment against you. It’s common for consumers to ignore notice of a lawsuit; if you don’t appear in court, the judge may automatically rule against you. Debt collection agencies have been known to avoid serving consumers with notice to increase the odds of obtaining a judgment. This is called “sewer service” or “gutter service.” The bottom line? If wage garnishment takes you by surprise, talk to a consumer attorney who can fight for your rights.
Yes. Aspen National Collections can report debts in collection to the three major credit reporting agencies – Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax. Once a debt is reported to the credit bureaus, it will appear on your credit report and will impact your credit score.
Yes. However, as with wage garnishment, a property lien can only arise out of a court judgment against you. If Aspen files a lawsuit against you and the judge rules in their favor, then the debt collection agency has a right to collect that money. One way of doing that is by putting a lien on your house or property. That’s why it’s imperative to respond to legal papers and to have an attorney by your side who will fight on your behalf.
Yes, Aspen National Collections can call you at work however there are strict limits about what Aspen can say or ask about you if they are calling your at your place of employment. If you want them to stop calling your job, you should tell them not to and you say that your employer either doesn’t allow those types of calls or it’s inconvenient for you. If they keep calling after you have made this request, it’s actually a violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act for them to continue to call you. These laws prevent calls to work when you’ve told them not to, so it’s important to make that clear to the debt collector calling you. Take the date, and time, and the name of the person that you spoke with when you asked them not to call at work and then consult with an attorney about your rights
Yes. Again however, there would be strict limits to what they can say. It would be illegal, for example, if Aspen called your family and discussed your debt with them. It might be easier to say that the ONLY reason a debt collector can contact your family is to obtain or confirm your location information so that they may contact you. That is the only exception to the law regarding third party contact. Collection calls are annoying enough, but when a collector is calling your friends, family, co-workers or place of employment and discloses information about your finances, the annoyance can quickly turn into harassment. Under federal law, debt collectors cannot discuss your debts with your children, roommates, and in many states, even your spouse.
No. Aspen National Collections – or any other debt collection agency like Aspen for that matter – has no authority whatsoever to arrest you. In fact, threatening you with arrest or jail is a violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. While so-called “debtors prisons” are illegal, only non-payment of things like traffic tickets can lead a judge to issue a bench warrant, which in turn can lead to arrest.
Yes. You can sue Aspen National Collections if you believe Aspen violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. The FDCPA says that debt collection agencies that violate the law must pay consumers up to $1,000 in statutory damages, as well as court costs and attorney fees. That’s why engaging a fair debt attorney to represent you in an FDCPA lawsuit typically doesn’t cost you anything out of pocket. The attorney that agrees to take on your case knows that the debt collection agency will be forced to pay their fees.
If Aspen National Collections – or any other debt collection agency – is calling you to the point of harassment, using abusive or profane language, or violating the FDCPA in some other way, it’s time to fight back. Under the law, you may be entitled to up to $1,000. At Lemberg Law, we won’t charge you a dime out of pocket, and we only get paid when you win. Call us today for a free, no-obligation, case evaluation. We’ll get the justice that you deserve.
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