McCarthy Burgess and Wolff: Is it a collection agency?

Welcome to the Community :D I'm still checking, but I can't find anything on them yet. Have you sent them a debt validation letter? When did this debt occur, and when was the last payment? If this debt is legit, they may make payment arrangements with you, but make sure that you are dealing with the person who actually has your debe. Feel free to ask questions, we are here to help!..KAren I deleted your duplicate posts for you..

ignor them, they'll go away eventually

Bub, I'm sorry but I completely disagree. The "ignore" tactic never works out well in the long run. Languages1 needs to handle this effectively from her side before this CA decides to take her to court.

If it is a legitimate debt, and she is financially able to, she needs to see if she can work out some sort of payment plan. If it is not a legitimate debt, then she needs to request validation of this alleged debt. She also needs to keep everything documented, so if she does go to court she can proved she attempted to resolve this issue before it went that far. Also it's good to have documentation of fdcpa violations, if any, so she can sue them if needed.

Believe me, and I'm speaking from personal experience on this, burying your head in the sand will not make them go away. And I'm sure a few others on this forum will agree with me on that.

Find contact info and send dv letter certified return receipt.If they prove debt is viable,then it is time to open discussion to settle the account.

My suggestion is to educate yourselves on the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act. This act protects you, the consumer. There are statutory damages of up to $1,000 per violation of this act. I was awarded enough to pay the bill in full and get a bit for myself. Every collection agency, law office, bank etc.... is required to follow this Act. This company has been violating this act and if you are Bankrupt, the Bankruptcy Stay. Educate yourselves and agencies like this will stop harassing you and treat you like a consumer, not a bad person who is having financial problems.

Only collection agencies are governed by the fdcpa.

If the entity in question is McCarthy Burgess and Wolff then fdcpa does apply as they are a law firm specialized in collections and are themselves debt collectors by legal definition as they provide third party collection services.

McCarthy Burgess and Wolff
MBandW.com
26000 cannon rd.
Cleveland, Ohio 44146
ph.440-735-5100
fax.440-735-5110
Hope that is what you are looking for.

Is McCarthy Burgess and Wolf a scam? They've been calling my cell phone# for several months, always 3x in a row. I've never used my cell phone# to open any type of account that has a financial obligation and haven't changed my home phone#, so if they are a legit collection agency wouldn't they have the rest of my accurate contact data? In fact, I've had my home phone# and address in place longer than my cell#.

Answer and see what they want.

McCarthy Burgess and wolf collection have been calling me for months (always having to leave a message on my answering machine) attempting to collect on a contract with AT&T. Unfortunately, AT&T violated the contract in a substantial way and no further money is owed. This information was told to them many months ago but they still try to call.

They were also told by letter many months ago not to call but they have ignored it. They call once every week or so.

I look forward to them taking me to court if they choose to do so. They will lose because I have a copy of the contract and proof of the substantial violation of it. A contract is a contract is a contract and until the violation of that contract became known to me regular payments were made on it.

I am still attempting to fix the problems created by their violation of the contract. As of today there are still things to "try" to fix and I am guessing it may never completely happen.

This company appears to have a few screws loose and doesn't seem to understand English too well.

In ref to the above post, when I wrote my letter telling McCarthy Burgess and wolf collection to stop calling I also asked them to send me a copy of the contract. As of today I still have not received it. I therefore don't believe they want to provide proof of money owed as they are fully aware of what the contract says.

They are evil and dishonest people. I have recieved calls lying, threatening me, my children,. my business, and they even produiced a fake bank payoff letter for a loan I had-- for me to send them money (that loan- btw is completely paid off) -- I have had threatening letters, calls "can't wait to destroy your reputatuioin",..."cant wait to see you in court"....etc etc......her name was TERRY MURRAY (maybe a fake name). They haraas after I sent letter saying it was paid, I field complaitn at D.A., at BBB and at the bank they represented.

horrible, ugly unprofessional and dishoest firm....

They have called me repeatedly also. "Terry Murray" if that's a real name has threateneed me, my children's credit, puting liens on my home and employer-- all kinds of ridiculous illegal conduct. I gave them my attorney's name, she then pretended to ba an attorney. II asked for proof of the debt (a developemnt loan) and she refused to send it. I told her if it was legitimate (of which I knew it was paid in full- AND I HAVE FULL BANK RELEASE)- to send me a bank release and I would pay in full- She then faked a letter from my bank. I have written and demanded no more contact but that hasn't mattered. She now leaves messages "I can;t wiat to see you in court"...and "I canl;t wait to fuile a lien". I truthfully can;t wiat eiother...I hope they file an illegal line. I have filed a complaint with the D.A., the BBB, and the Consumer Proetction Agency, and am making it my personal mission to shut them down for their fraduluant activities.

Why are these people still in business? Why don't you report them to the Bar Association? If so why hasn't anything been done? I say that we should all get together and file a complaint and/or keep calling them and harrassing them. See how they like it!!

They are not a law firm. They are skilled at sounding like lawyers over the phone.

Yes, I too have received my first call, however unlike the rest of you I have yet to get negative feed from these people. Since they think they are calling my "Company" and that I am the "Owner", I specifically requested that they send me an itemized statement of the charges that are owed to my address, as I was unaware that the accounting department neglected to pay this debt for LTD Commodities (a magazine my wife charged at). Now, if they send the itemized statement, then I will pay it, knowing that it is due, but when you take the power role away from them as I did, they will quickly back down...attorneys or not. Besides, they don't know the size of my company, or what kind of attorneys I have in my corner. :)

Besides, one plus I have is that my wife works in the collections department in the medical field. She knows the laws, and she's technically our "Company" lawyer. So if they do decide to cross the line, she is required to know the FCPA laws and I can have her put them back in their place.

As far as threatening you or your family, once they cross that line, I believe that the amount in question is considered null and void should they decide to take you to court to get it.
Just make sure that you write down the date and time the threat was made, and unfortunatly, stopping the calls won't happen until you start using terms like, "If you don't cease and desist from calling this number, our attorneys will bring you to court for harrassment". Or use my personal favorite, "If you want me to keep my job, stop calling, or you really aren't going to get paid..." LOL

Best of luck to you all.

Contac me iof you would like to join my action (first read the fair Collection Act), There is up to $500K damages for them breaking the law.(if there is a group filing not just one4 person)..in my case they did so in several areas.

They are definately not altogether. I have 2 accounts (yes times are tough) that went past due, one for sure I know that my wife needs to pay, the other (previous car insurance) is one that I have demanded them to show proof that I actually owe the amount they claim I do (early termination fee, which btw was never on the original policy) by sending me a copy of the document with my signature (from Nationwide Insurance....thank you Ron Nichols....)

Dispite the requests to send me an itemized statement, to prove that I owe these amounts, and requesting time and time again to not contact me on my cellular phone (which is the only phone I have and is my business phone as well), they continue to harass me. At least 3 calls a week.

fdcpa states that once you have spoken to a representitive they may not contact you for another 2 weeks. (Line one crossed). It also states that they may not use threats such as, "We will make sure your credit rating is never clean" etc.

So, if these are attorneys (and they are not) then yes, reporting them to the Ohio Bar would take some wind out of their sails, and reporting to the BBB, c'mon, that doesn't do anything but slap them on the wrist. What honestly needs to be done is to have a government agency go in, verify the debts and clean up their records.

Heck, my wife still gets calls from Sprint for a phone bill that has been paid in full since 2001...who do we blame for the problems? Well, take a close look at the three credit agencies, Experian, Equifax, and Transunion. If you look at your free report from these 3 agencies, you'll see that their information doesn't mesh. Outdated information, misinformation...no wonder our country is in so much trouble financially...the main credit companies can't even be in synch with one another for one person's credit history...

So in short...request proof and have it mailed, keep your records (bank, credit, etc) and if it's a matter of the item being paid, contact the original company that sold your account, and deal with them directly. Chances are, they will remove you from the collections list, if you use a bit of leverage (stating that if any harrassment persists, an attorney will be contacted to resolve this matter...and this includes financial damages...)

Best of luck to you all, as I know these are hard times, which is why these collectors are coming out of the woodwork to get money.

they left me a message today about a business i sold 2 years ago. they mentioned a company i owe money to but have never done business with during my ownership. i am not calling them back.

I spoke with a representative of AT&T YellowPages.com in person yesterday. He told me that McCarthy, Burgess and Wolfe is not a "real" collection agency but an agency used by AT&T for purposes of intimidation.

I am doing further research to confirm this.

Our secretary answered the phone today, after their 7th time calling, and again, stated no one was in. He wanted the owner's wife's cell phone and she told him that was none of his business because she doesn't own the company. Then he made a bold statement "She will when her husband dies."

My secretary told him that he crossed the line and hung up. He called back three more times and she let it go to voice mail. She took it as a threat and was very upset that he would even go that route with her.

They don't have the correct amount that is owed because the original creditor and the collection agency don't communicate. The original creditor takes our payments but "Todd McGuire" (if this is his real name) get's ticked because I don't send the money to him.

I've sent certified letters requesting them to correct amount they are stating we owe because their figures are wrong. They don't write back with the requested information, they call and say "We need to quit sending them nieve letters."

I have contacted an attorney and will do whatever I can to get them under control. Their tactics are horrible and they try to get under anyone who answers the phones skin. It is down right harrassement. Uncalled for behavior.

They keep calling me about a $40.00 debt that I have already paid twice.

A collector by he name of Gary Rose at this law firm above called me and insulted me on a debt included by my previous company in the bankruptcy papers. I tried to explain that the debt was included in the bankruptcy filling and I can give him my attorneys name, telephone # and the court # and he start
insulting " do you think you are getting a free ride" you dirt mexicans (I am not even mexican) I can believe people like this even existed.

These guys left me a message on my work number - which concerned one of my renters - as she didn't call them back - they found out who owned the house - then (stupidly) used some "finding" software and came up with my work number (when my home number is far easier to find from the county tax records) - They asked me if I could ask her to call them regarding an "account" - as I had checked this forum before returning their call - I was expecting this - his name was "ROBERT MURREY" - fake name? - or - too much inbreeding? -

I called them using Skype - I didn't feel the need to have my caller ID enter their records.

Ignoring them does work - but - as they do have robot dialing - they will keep ringing. It seems that the amount owed governs what kind of collection agency gets used.

I suspect that these kind of harassing collectors get paid a simple commission when the debt clears - From my one experience with similar collectors - it does not go farther than that ---

Interestingly - I have a similar bunch continually calling me asking to speak to my father - who recently died - after the first few times - explaining that he passed - when they asked "Could I speak to Mr XXXXX" - I replied "Sure - let me give you a contact number XXX-XXX-XXXX - its a clairvoyant - you'll need one". The phone calls did seem to stop after that.

For one persistent agency - I used call blocking to block their number - problem solved - at least the "calling part" - as they were trying to collect medical bills from my father - I didn't have much fear of any consequences.

The one time that I had to deal with these people (on a personal basis) was when the gym screwed up my credit card - and started trying to charge the expired one - even though they had the correct one on file.

They were unbelievably rude - so I was unbelievably rude back - it actually felt good to have one of them squirming ---

I would bear in mind that the more time that they spend on the phone with you - the less time they have in the day to earn commission from other accounts - so - one of the best ways of annoying them - is to keep them talking

Also - when in financial trouble - sometimes you just want to "shout" at someone - these people make excellent targets - it could be considered therapy.

McCarthy, Burgess & Wollff are not lawyers. They make themselves look like lawyers but they are NOT lawyers. This company buys accounts for pennies on the dollar of what is owed. They add their own fees (usually high ones) and the employee that gets you to pay actually what they say you "owe" gets a commission based on how much money they bring in to the company. That's why if you know the debt is legit than pay the original debt holder. Not the collection agency.
And as far as the Better Business Bureau (BBB) logo they use....Anyone can join the BBB and pay to use their logo. Filing a complain with the BBB will net you NOTHING! The BBB does nothing to the company because they run the risk of not getting members to join. Duh!!! People!!!
The best way to stop them from calling you is to CHANGE YOUR PHONE NUMBER!!!!!

And when they call anyway, hang up on them immediately. This way the morons will call back ( they can't help themselves) and leave their filthy messages on your voice mail. Great fun to listen to later at the Attorney General's office.....

What you are all missing is that this debt is not subject top FDCPA. The OC is YELLOW PAGES, so be definition this is not Consumer Debt, it is Commercial Debt. Invoke FDCPA all you want, the CA is free to ignore it.

The problem with just changing your phone # is that they will look up your job and your relatives and bother them, too. No, you need to file the proper complaints with the proper authorities, and then SUE them if they persist. Pass go *and* collect your $1000.

By the way, if they buy the debt, then they are the OC, even though the FTC still treats them as a collection agency. But, you can settle with them for a smaller amount because they profit anyway, if you don't wish to go on the legal attack mode....

How does a law firm threaten illegal action? Can't be too good of lawyers, I'd say. I came across the website of a PI who looked into this company's officials, none of which were licensed by the Ohio Bar Association, despite being a so-called law firm. Strange...

I'm not even the one they've been trying to contact here. It's my boss. They've been calling repeatedly for her, and, since she's the owner, she's in and out all the time. Every time that she's not here when they call, the woman on the phone yells at me for it, even though I've already explained the situation to her. She's also left messages describing the debt in detail, which I was PRETTY sure was illegal. My boss has been working with them to pay off the debt, too, so it's a little weird that they keep treating all of us like criminals in the meantime. I understand the whole make-debtors-feel-like-scumbags-until-they-finally-pay-up deal that seems to be the way of all collection agencies, but is it really necessary when you're talking with debtors who are cooperative and are already making payments???

oh wow i am so glad i am not the only one. They have called me everyday for an equipment lease payment which i sent the equipment back certified mail and received signed confirmation from the post office they say i owe the company 3,000. for the returned equipment. Just like the above folks they will not accept my receipts or will not show a copy of my contract they lie and lie and lie, they call me and offer me a quick release if i pay part of the money they say is owed BUT I DONT OWE ANYTHING

Yes, I can tell you how to deal with these freaks.

Write up a Sworn under Penalty of Perjury GRANTOR status Declaration. Sequence: When you sign a 'Contract', the Banks, Companies, etc don't tell you that they have already accessed your Trust account being held at the U.S. Treasury Department and have already been paid in advance. Then they bill you for 100% tax on top of that. So they're double dipping. Then they list your Account number on Fidelity.com and get 2.5% interest PER DAY off stealing YOUR Signature, seal and SS # to willfully and maliciously leverage bonds/mutual funds in your name unbeknownst to you then they claim those funds which are yours but they fill out a 1099A for abandonment and keep those funds because you didn't claim them! You had no idea! So what you do is do the Sworn under Penalty of perjury Declaration that you are the GRANTOR, You do a signature rescission but leave the signature for A4V/R4V, Irrevocably Terminate all beneficiarys and Trustees. As GRANTOR appoint yourself as Sole Beneficiary and make the CFO or Prosecutor or Judge the FIDUCIARY TRUSTEE and force him/her to not only pay the bills, but also to return to you all the monies, payments, Dividend checks they withheld from you illegally. These thieves not only inverted the trust on us, making us the Trustees and them the Beneficiarys, they've never sent the required mandatory by Law Dividend checks!!!! The Courts have authority over you in 2 ways. First is secret (implied) Power of Attorney. The second way is Assumpsit/Presumption. So add this to your Declaration:

SWORN UNDER PENALTY OF PERJURY DECLARATION

I hereby Declare & Swear that I did not in the past, do not now or in the future intended, intend now and never do intend to purposely or otherwise avail myself or be held in economic and/or involuntary servitude, peonage, slavery, benefits, privileges, titles of nobility, Trusteeship and/or opportunities offered.

Get this notarized and recorded at your County Recorders office. Sent this out with instructions to the new Trustee. Congratulations, you are now the new Beneficiary and no Court or stinking ESQUIRE has any authority over you.

They keep calling and leaving messages on my machine. Several times I have answered and it was still same recorded message. I do not owe any money. How do I get then to stop?

I have received your letter concerning account Personal information removed for your protection, Shazzers and in response I would like to dispute the validity of this transaction due to a breach of the contract with the original company. I was issued faulty equipment which I was never able to use even for one transaction. I was mislead by the sales representative at Humbolt Merchant Services. I never knowingly contracted any services with Global Leasing nor did I receive any services from them. Every attempt to reconcile this matter has come to global leasing requesting money from me having provided NO SERVICES. This is unacceptable. My contract says I have the right to terminate the contract without penalties and that at no time will before mentioned companies access my bank account and withdraw money, which they did on 3 occasions without authorization. To resolve this matter I have offered to return the faulty device and
dissolve thew contract. Since I have not received any services or money from either of the companies involved I do not feel obligated to pay any more money to either company. I haven't done anything here but lose money to a company whose representatives intended to rob me from the start and I will not submit to this shameful, way of doing business.

We are not affiliated with this company, this is a public forum, please contact this company directly, thank you, Shazzers

I got a letter stating that mbw was contracted by mbw for 164.00. It does not tell me who the original debt is owed to so i cant even tell if it is legit or not. Nothing on my credit report stating i am i collections for 164.00. I am thinking it is a scam.

get a DV letter out asap.send it certified mail return receipt.stop them before they really get started as this is a bottomfeeder.

The fact is, they aren't attorneys. You can run the names of all their prinicpals and they don't come up.

Check at: http://www.sconet.state.oh.us/AttySvcs/AttyReg/Public_AttorneyInformation.asp

I thought I was insane when these guys started calling me about three months ago. Wrong key stroke at Iron Planet and placed a bid in a $600.00 truck. I called iron planet and explained what happen and they said they could see what they could do to remove the bid (was closing in 2 days). They failed to remove it I refused to purchase the truck and now they want $250.00 from me for not paying for the truck.
Two months later along comes McCarthy and his dubs!! They just keep calling!!! I told them from day one that I refuse to pay the bill and go ahead and take me to court --- NOPE, they just keep calling. I sent them a letter telling them to stop calling and still they call three to six times a day!! Talk about having a screw loose. I got on the phone with Maine AG office and by the laws here if you write them a letter telling them to stop calling you phone they have to stop. I guess they just can't read English in their office!! I have been very nice in all of my calls back to them never raising my voice or anything and still they seem to think if they call and call their going to get a crumby 250.00 - NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN!!
OK, I got that off my chest ....

MB&W is a collection agency, not attorneys. They must adhere to FDCPA and TCPA for all CONSUMER claims. Of course, if this is a commercial claim, the FDCPA does not apply.

-Jersey Guy

Quote:

These guys just called me and tried to collect a debt they say I owed from a company I have never heard of or used, are these guys for real?????

Quote:

I don't think they are really attorneys - they use the banner to make it look like they are, but I believe they are only a parasitic debt collection agency feeding off the blood of other legit companies!

I have the same issue with this place. They claim I owe them money however they will not submit documents. So I wrote them a letter stating that they are legally obligated under Fair Debt Collections Practices Act section 8.09 to validate all claims and provide documents. I further wrote that if they contacted me once more without submitting the docs I will personally go after the agency, their license and the attorneys for harassment and abuse. They have not called me once more.

Quote:

They collect commercial debts FDCP do not apply.
You can write or call the Attorney General in your state, file a complaint with them , other government agencies, and the BBB
They must present proof of the debt they are collecting on, when you request it.

Wow! I'm really glad I came across this website! I own a plumbing company and MBW has been contacting me trying to collect a bill from a local utility company. One of our workers hit a electric line while trenching on a jobsite. However, the problem is that the line was only buried 6 inches underground (which isn't what local codes require). But the thing that makes me the most angry is that the utility company had been out to this particular jobsite over 2 years ago when another contractor damaged the line, and instead of burying the line deeper, they basically patched it up and left it like that. Two and a half years later, we cause damage to the line. But when the utility company comes out this time, the decide to run a completely NEW line buried at the correct depth and think I'm going to pay over $2,000 for what they should have done a long time ago. MBW won't be getting a dime from me. I've already sent them a letter stating why they won't be collecting from me and even went and dug up the old line and took pictures to prove the utility company's negligence. MBW does try to give the impression they are attorneys, but I couldn't care less. I know how these type of scum work!

As long as you make payments to Company that you actually owe the money to even if it's only $10.00 a month they can do nothing to you. Do not fall pray to there scare tactics. They have been calling me for months and I continue to pay on my bill and MaCarth, Burges & Wolff can do nothing to me. They are a scam, most likely bought up lots of debts for $1.00 and now are trying to make a killing on everyone they can.

Thought I would add my 2 cents since my husband and I are filing bankruptcy and I didn't see any posts relating to our situation. Our filing is personal and they called us stating that they knew about our personal filing but that the collection call was for the business and they demanded that we pay our bill. I told them to call our attorney. I asked if they wanted the phone number and they said yes. Then, before I could give them the phone number, they demanded payment again. I said you need to call my attorney and do you have the phone number and they said yes and hung up. We haven't received a call since, so I'm assuming that they won't call since they know that they cannot ask for money once a person files for bankruptcy AND this debt is personal, not business. My husband signed the contract representing himself, not a DBA or LLC business. Hope this helps someone.

Just recieved this email after 5 missed calls from MBW on my cell phone, it's an email with NO details of account balance account number, etc.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


From: Kunes, Ralph
Subject: HOME DEPOT 6922
To: XXXXXXXXX
Date: Wednesday, April 28, 2010, 11:02 AM


PLEASE PAY YOUR BILL.



Ralph Kunes

Account Representative

McCarthy, Burgess and Wolff

26000 Cannon Road

Cleveland, Ohio 44146

(440) 735 - 5100 ext. 4256

(440) 735 -5110 fax



_________________________________________________________

This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify the system manager. This message contains confidential information and is intended only for the individual named. If you are not the named addressee you should not disseminate, distribute or copy this e-mail.