I fell victim to these idiots last year.  I felt, as some of the posters, that I created a debt so I owe that money back.  So I did the "right" thing and agreed to make payments. I've repaid over half of the original amount.  Recently I ran into some major money issues due to medical issues.  I tried numerous times to contact JPFrye and discuss this with them to see how to resolve it without success.  So I contacted my bank and put a stop payment on them.  Next I know, they changed the appearance of their company and the amount they withdrew and defrauded me out of money!  That money was to pay a couple of doctors so I could continue treatment, but Frye just fraudulently removed it from my account.  Stay away from them...they are bad news.

John P. Frye is a cousin to the Woolwine brothers, Kelly and Richard, who operate Atlantic Credit and Finance. They make the guys in Deliverance look sophisticated.

Frye is a hack attorney. He can't win a case in court due to poor documentation from the Woolwines. Call his bluff. Do not pay these people. Make fun of them, ask them if they really squeal like pigs. Ask who has the "purtiest" mouth in the office.

If they bother to write to you (form letter), send a debt validation letter, send it certified mail. Frye and his people are barely literate, you may never hear from them again.

I ve been called at  my seasonal part time work, and my daughters been harrassed. Im 62 lost my job over 2 yrs ago when my knees gave out. Kept up with things til a yr ago when unemployment and part time work ran out . I exhaused my 401K with their payments and interest rates. Now Im on Minimal SSI and partially disabled. On VA care.Livin with a friend for rent and his good graces but that wont last after April. Before they throw me in prison there'll be a fight.

BS....they create this money out of thin air. They are the thieves. Which came first ? people ore banks? what gives them the right to stand between you and your value? Bankers deserve NOTHING. Take the wool from your eyes.

no you don't get arrested/ it clearly states in court papers when you are sued that you can win judgement but that the courts cannot force a person to pay you and that they do not go after them to collect money for you. if you don't show up for court, the can issue a warrent but 99% OF THE TIME YOU JUST LOOSE BY DEFAULT/




its nice you are in a position to pay you bills and/or save money but until you have been in others shoes, don't laugh or belittle them= your time is coming. What about the young couple that has a child born with a terminal disease and loose their home, and everything they have- bad people? or just loving parents that give their all to keep their child alive. What about the father who is injured on the job and now disabled? It can depleted your savings and everything you own in the twinkle of an eye.

I pity you-

NO YOU CANNOT GO TO JAIL FOR THIS AND they are in violation of the federal debt collection laws by telling you that. Know your rights= they cannot call you at work when you tell them not to= they cannot harrash or intimidate you or be abusive or rude, The collector and the company can be fined. If its an attorney, file a complaint with the State Bar association. know your rights and let them know you know them.

This 866 number is a fraudulant scam sales agent that sells legitimate software through pay pal - the software is not downloaded or delivered as promised - But you think it has...

I agree with the Beyond Statue of Limitations, According to a TD advisor when going over my credit report over 10-15 years ago he stated that anything beyond 7 years will fall off the credit report and advised me not to worry about it! At this point Im being accused of owing money on a credit card that is past 7 years old according to this company, I didnt even have a credit card 7 years ago! I altho did have one over 10 or 15 years ago and I had them all paid up and cut up at the time! I keep a close tab on my Credit reports and their is nothing on my credit report in regards to this arrears. I do not recall having a Scotia Visa at anytime up until now and that Card is not in arrears! So either I have had some sort of Fraud done or this company is mistaken.

I got a call for owing apparently $3000+ for a credit card with Scotia bank! I said I have a Credit Card with Scotia bank and I am not in arrears with it! they said this is an old Credit Card. THey had my Sin information etc. Said it was an old card! I said that I have seen my credit reports and that I do not have an outstanding credit issues with any company or with Scotia and that Im not paying for something I do not have, the woman said that this was an old card possibly something from 7 years ago, I said I didnt have a credit card 7 Years ago! she said Ohh I mean and then she apparently didnt know from how long ago this credit card was! I told her Im not paying for something just because you say I owe! I hung up,  I got a letter in the mail a few weeks ago and Ignored it! I havent had any calls since until today so its been two weeks since I got the first call!

Hey dumbsh!t.  These debt collectors don't just harrass people with debt... oftentimes the debtors have long since changed phone numbers... yet these debt collectors keep dialing the same old numbers for YEARS.  We were harrassed up to seventeen calls a day when we moved into a new area, and the debtor had been dead for over a year (information which was EASILY verified on the internet, but which the debt collectors never bothered to do).  One debt collector even accused us of being a relation (like that would have mattered) simply because we told them to look up the death on the internet.  We changed phone numbers, and now get calls from NEW debt collectors for someone else.  Did it ever occur to you that people get credit by providing false phone numbers in the first place?  These debt collectors should be responsible to VERIFY who it is they are calling first and foremost, but they don't because it is easy to automate and use recordings illegally.  Get a clue, jerk, not everyone is a debtor but these debt collectors buy old records for PENNIES on the dollar in the hopes of harrassing people into paying debts that are beyond the statute of limitations.  I have encountered others who have also been harrassed by debt collectors after getting a new phone line, even though they aren't the person who accrued the debt.  The calls go on for YEARS.  What simpleton you are.  Really.

MAYBE YOU SHOULD JUSY PAY YOUR DEBT AND YOU WOULDNT BE IN THE SITUATION YOUR IN

You can claim what you want about the company but I am here to tell you that I am looking into your boo and am realizing you are not reporting correct information. It is pretty funny that I can not find your boss John P Frye listed in some states that he is trying to collect in. So if you want to talk smack to all these people that do have a point then back it up with credible information. I should not have to play ring around the rosy to find him. I am a credit auditor and deal with collections like this on a daily basis and know that they are NEVER reported correctly.

this a fraud this lady called me and said i owe some money to some company named i never seen before she tries to make you agree to what ever she is saying the lawe should handle this asap. this are people just harassing me and taking my time from real important things

hi you go f*** you r self

Alright farmer, this isn't the place to state your brilliant political opinions. You're helping no one.

I got a call from this number and have zero debt and almost perfect credit. They have no reason to contact me. Seems like a few others have had this problem. I didn't answer, I don't usually with numbers I don't recognize. Hopefully they leave me alone, I have nothing to do with their company.

Pay your bills folks.  Save money in case you suffer an unexpected hardship and you need it.  Common sense really.  Stop blaming others for your own problems.  I bet you all voted for Obama didn't you?  Part of the 99%?   That makes you a joke.  Yeah, you see, expecting someone else to support you is just sad.  In most states, if you don't pay your debts, then you will be sued.  You are clueless.  They will garnish your wages and bank accounts.  Depending on how much you owe, if you ignore paperwork regarding your ability to pay, then they can issue a bench warrant for your arrest.  Don't agree?  That's fine.  You're the one complaining.  I'm laughing.

I received a call asking me to return a call to 866-392-3100 X 3244. He would not give any information about the nature of the call or business. I'm glad I checked before calling back

I had a massive heart attack and was out of work for months.  I turned in vacation days paid off my card in November.  They call 6-7 Times a day telling me I didn't pay.  I sent copies of the checks twice.  They r A-holes.  They are unbelievably rude and I told them I would happily haul their a** into court.  They call and talk s*** now like 2yr olds.  They threaten and lie. FYI if u pay any amount consecutively they can't take you in to court.  I got that from an atty when this first started..

Received a message from this number, Georgia says she's calling from the Law Offices of John Frye a debt collector.  Have received other calls showing no name, different numbers and no messages, when I researched the various numbers it showed debt collector.  I am still employed, from 1 year ago, had to break my apartment lease because I was layed off, notified apartment manager, cleaned the apartment and moved out, the apartment manager imposed hefty penalties and charges and turned it over to a collection agency.  I could have stayed there in the apartment and not paid rent and forced them to spend money on attorneys to evict me, but I chose the higher road I moved out and gave them the keys with a clean apartment that was ready for the next tenant, instead they penalized me by imposing $8000 in all sorts of charges.  I'm still unemployed, unable to rent a place.  8 months ago, I was close to getting a job, but because the debt collector put this collection on my credit report the company would not hire me.  I live here/there, sleep in my car sometimes, I'm receiving unemployment which will run out soon, and I've checked various state/local programs and the resources aren't there for a single healthy woman.  No other resources.  Due to the economy, I'm one of hundreds of thousands of people who have the education and/or experience but have been unable to find work that allows me to rent a place and start a new.  Being in a raw survival mode, I don't need the psychological harrassment from debt collectors.

You are stupid, they are calling me and I have no debt and I don't owe anybody anything. Even if people owe someone that doesn't make it ok for them to harass anyone and its nothing at all like robbing a bank. You are the sad one.

Stop calling

I'm the Dewayla Ross. They called Residents that lived in the complex I managed. They called my job several times a day. Once the vice president was in my office an I even let him tell them do not call my work. They still did. They called my home an harassed my young son which was about 10 years old at the time. I had a lot of medical bills an got behind on a few things. I had plan on catching up but after that harassment let's just say they were the one that never got paid. It was the principle. I feel like after all the complains to the BBB maybe company will change it's way of conducting business. I should have suid them!!!

they keep calling my work place

This place just called me looking for my ex sister in law and her new husband!!!!!!!  I have only had this number for one week.  How did they connect me to her and find me at this new number.  This is low..... calling ones ex family members for a debt.  I just hope they dont keep calling and what do i do if they do?

A Roanoke debt collection agency celebrated as the one of the nation's fastest-growing companies routinely harasses debtors and violates federal law, according to legal proceedings and complaints filed with consumer advocates and a state government agency.

Atlantic Credit & Finance Inc., a company that buys defaulted credit card debt and tries to recover it, has been sued nearly two dozen times in federal courts and at least twice in state courts for alleged violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. The federal law spells out what debt collectors can and can't do when attempting to collect debt from consumers.

Allegations in lawsuits and complaints against the company describe an assortment of illegal tactics used by collectors to get debtors to pay up, including repeatedly calling their employers after being asked to stop, and posing as attorneys.

In the past three years, the Better Business Bureau has received more than 100 complaints about Atlantic Credit & Finance, and the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services has received 31 complaints.

Company President Kelly Woolwine declined to respond to questions about the lawsuits and complaints, saying it was against company policy.

Other representatives from Atlantic Credit & Finance and affiliated companies also declined phone and e-mail requests for comment.

Most of the complaints against Atlantic Credit & Finance and its affiliated companies allege that their collectors harass debtors and their employers to intimidate debtors into paying. But it is illegal for debt collectors to tell third parties about a debt and to call a debtor's place of employment when they have been asked verbally not to. Though it buys the debt, Atlantic is considered a debt collector under the FDCPA.

Debt collectors must altogether stop contacting a debtor if that request is in writing, though the collector may still notify the debt-holder that it intends to pursue a "specified remedy."

While many think the FDCPA is being flouted across the industry, many debt collectors have not received as many complaints or legal filings as Atlantic Credit & Finance, according to a database of federal lawsuits.

Two other long-standing Roanoke-area debt collection agencies, CCA Collections and SCA Credit Services, had only three federal FDCPA lawsuits over the past 10 years. Both are members of the Better Business Bureau, which means they must respond to complaints and maintain a "satisfactory" record.

The pressure of constant calls at work from Atlantic collectors stretched Dewayla Connor of Texarkana, Texas, nearly to the breaking point.

She said an Atlantic collector called her over and over at work despite repeated requests to stop. When the collector called her boss, Connor feared for her job. When the collector told a resident at the apartment complex she manages about the money Connor owed, her supervisor was furious, she said.

Connor said she didn't have the $850 they said she owed on what she thought was a $200-limit credit card, but she was afraid her job might be in jeopardy.

"If I had the money, yeah, even though I don't think I really owe it, I have to start thinking about my son and job. I would have paid to save my job if I had had the money," Connor said. "It was embarrassing. I mean, I wanted to leave my office for the day. It really affected my work."

Connor complained to the Better Business Bureau.

Richard Tierney, a Massachusetts resident, had an employer who was not as understanding when he continued to get calls from an Atlantic collector even after he asked them to stop calling him at work. He sued Atlantic last year in federal court for alleged FDCPA violations that he said got him fired from his job.

The case was settled in Tierney's favor on July 30. The settlement amount was not disclosed because of a confidentiality clause requested by Atlantic and agreed to by Tierney, according to Tierney's attorney Christopher LeFebvre. The agreement prevents any of the parties from talking about the terms of the settlement.

Two lawsuits filed in Texas this summer detail allegations that are similar. Michael Ford of Harris County filed suit against Atlantic in June, alleging that a collector called his employer and his home so frequently that he was forced to unplug his telephones. According to the complaint, the collector would call back after Ford hung up on her, often as many as 10 times in a day.

Stephanee Horton also sued Atlantic in June in Texas, claiming that collectors called her office so much that her co-workers were able to recognize their voices. When told that Horton was not in the office, collectors responded by calling the co-workers "liars" and demanding they put Horton on the phone, the complaint said.

The settlements for Ford and Horton came within two months of the initial filings and also included confidentiality agreements.

There's no doubt that debt collection is by nature an unpleasant process, said Julie Wheeler, president of the Better Business Bureau of Western Virginia. The recourse when consumers owe money is more complicated when debt is unsecured, such as with credit card accounts. Unlike cars or mortgages, collectors can't physically repossess past-due balances. But unpleasant is not the same as illegal, experts say, and sometimes people do exaggerate claims because they are upset.

"In the situation where someone's trying to collect debt, there's not a nice way to do it," Wheeler said.

Still, the unusually high volume of unanswered complaints earned Atlantic Credit & Finance an "unsatisfactory" report with the BBB, she said.

"I haven't independently verified [each incident], but by the fact that we've received this many complaints with the same string of information flowing through them leads me to believe that that is what's taking place," Wheeler said. "We do look for patterns, and hearing the same things from people all over the country - there's a pretty good chance that there's proof in that."


Growing company

Atlantic Credit & Finance's expansion has been meteoric. Atlantic, started as a basement operation by brothers Kelly and Richard Woolwine, was named to Inc. magazine's top 50 fastest-growing private companies in 2002 and 2003. The company projected $65 million in 2004 revenue, and has another office in Columbia, Md.

In May, plans were announced to open a new center in Henrico County under the name Virginia Credit & Finance, which the company said would be a "servicing partner" of Atlantic. And it has plans to open offices in West Palm Beach, Fla., and Phoenix in 2005, according to a press release.

In June 2003, Atlantic was awarded a $150,000 grant by the Virginia Department of Business Assistance to train the 226 workers it planned to add to the payrolls at a new Roanoke office on Orange Avenue. The company had used only about half the amount as of August, the department said.

The grant was part of an economic development recruiting effort, where Virginia competed with Maryland for the site relocation and expansion. About 260 people work at the Roanoke office, according to a job advertisement the company ran on Aug. 25 in The Roanoke Times.

The company is in ways much like any other rising star. It was even honored this year for its first employee fund-raising campaign for the United Way.

But most corporations do not have an internal telephone directory in which employees are listed by name and working alias.

Strategies to collect debt at Atlantic Credit & Finance ranged from honest and polite to deceptive and outrageous, according Bryan Cruise of Roanoke, who said he was once one of Atlantic's highest-earning collectors.

Cruise said repeatedly calling a debtor's employer was a common technique, and frequently his own most effective tool. Cruise worked at Atlantic two separate times for a total of more than three years. He is currently employed elsewhere and said he now regrets much of his time at Atlantic.

Other collectors apparently used more creative tactics: Cruise said he once heard someone call a debtor's neighbor to ask where they were. Learning that the person was shopping at a nearby Wal-Mart, the collector called the store and had the person paged over the loudspeaker to the front desk to talk to them about a debt, he said.

Others threatened to have debtors arrested, or screamed profanities at them over the phone, Cruise said.

After initially working on the collection floor, Cruise later worked in a newly formed compliance department, where part of his job was to respond to lawsuits and agency complaints.

Other former employees contacted for this report declined to speak on the record.

Collectors would also tell debtors that they would place liens on their houses, garnish their wages (both of which are illegal in some states), or even have them arrested, Cruise said, tactics similar to those alleged in lawsuits against Atlantic.


Settlement history

Matthew Johnson, senior research and compliance attorney at ACA International, a trade association of debt collectors and creditors, said he could not comment on whether Atlantic Credit & Finance or its affiliated companies have complaints lodged against them or have been subject to disciplinary action. It is made public if a company is suspended or expelled from the association, which happens infrequently, he said. He said that, in general, most ACA members "try to do it right."

Both Atlantic and The Law Office of John P. Frye are ACA members. Members of ACA are required to agree to an ethical code of conduct. The Law Office of John P. Frye lists an address next door to Atlantic, and has sent out collection letters for Atlantic.

Johnson said that generally speaking, it is not a good strategy for debt collectors to settle every case that is filed against them, especially if they are wrongly accused.

"Agencies don't like to settle too much if they think they've got a solid defense," he said. While it can be more cost-effective to settle cases, companies that settle too often might open themselves up for more lawsuits, Johnson said.

Cruise said he did not know of a time when Atlantic had won an FDCPA case in court. All of the court documents found for this article showed that Atlantic settled cases.

Representatives of Atlantic Credit & Finance declined to comment on the issue.

Private enforcement - allowing consumers to sue for statutory damages and litigation fees over violations of the FDCPA - was built into the design of the law when it was passed in 1977. The Federal Trade Commission oversees broader enforcement of the FDCPA and takes action against the worst offenders. But few attorneys specialize in fair debt collection cases, and the FTC's resources are limited, consumer advocates say.

Thomas Kane, coordinator of FDCPA enforcement and education at the FTC, said he could not comment on whether Atlantic Credit & Finance is or has ever been the subject of an FTC investigation. The company has never been publicly fined or prosecuted by the FTC, Kane said.

Atlantic Credit & Finance is affiliated with at least three other companies: The Law Office of John P. Frye, Virginia Credit & Finance, and Rosewood Hudson & Associates. Its Columbia, Md., office was set up with the name Rosewood Hudson & Associates, but it later merged with Atlantic.

"Rosewood Hudson holds itself out as being a law firm, when in fact they are nothing other than a collection agency. That was the primary target of our lawsuit," said Brian Bromberg, an attorney in New York City who sued Rosewood and Atlantic over calls made in July 2002. In the suit, which was settled for $1,500 plus attorney fees and court costs, answering machine tapes showed that a collector called the plaintiff claiming to be an "asset investigator for the law firm of Rosewood Hudson," Bromberg said.

Virginia State Corporation Commission records show that Rosewood Hudson & Associates merged with Atlantic Credit & Finance in March of this year. But it did not list Rosewood Hudson as a law firm.

Earlier this year, plans were announced for a new company called Virginia Credit & Finance, which is to be a "servicing partner" of Atlantic, according to a press release from the office of Gov. Mark Warner. It will be located in Richmond.

Consumers have also received letters claiming to be from both Atlantic Credit & Finance and The Law Office of John P. Frye. The Virginia State Bar officially lists John P. Frye as a lawyer who has an office in Mechanicsville.

Steve Conley, an attorney in Louisiana, filed a lawsuit in federal court Aug. 20 against The Law Office of John P. Frye for sending a collection letter to his client Herbert S. Williams. Conley said the letter illegally implies that Williams would be sued.

"If a consumer gets a letter that says he's going to be taken to court, he knows the price of poker just went up," Conley said. "So if the attorney is not involved in this file, and if it is, in fact, a collection agency masquerading as a law firm, then that's a very unfair and deceptive practice."

John P. Frye is not licensed to practice in Louisiana, according to its state bar.

"The letter conveys the impression that the lawyer is going to file against the debtor in court in Louisiana. The letter is deceptive if the lawyer is not actually licensed in the debtor's state."

John P. Frye did not return messages left at his offices in Mechanicsville and Roanoke.

Conley said he believes the letters are produced "by the hundreds of thousands."


Spiraling debt

Business is booming for debt collectors everywhere. In the last decade, consumers bought more and more on credit, and with the recent economic downturn and ensuing job losses, many of those bills went unpaid. Consumer debt stood at $2.01 trillion in July, according to the Federal Reserve. Average credit card debt per U.S. household has nearly tripled, from $3,646 in 1993 to $9,205 in 2003, according to CardWeb.com.

At the same time, debt buying has bloomed as a new industry. Atlantic claims its key to success is buying charged-off debts from major credit card issuers using a proprietary statistical model that identifies which accounts are most likely to be paid.

Debt buying is growing in part because federal regulators have been urging financial institutions to more quickly clear their books of delinquent debt, said William Lund, director of the Maine Office of Consumer Credit Regulation, a state that has what most consider to be the country's strictest debt collection laws and enforcement.

"It's a clean sale, and it is oftentimes for three or four or five cents on the dollar, even as low as two cents on the dollar," Lund said. "For a savvy debt buyer, it can be very remunerative."

Jerry Jarzombek, a lawyer in Fort Worth, Texas, who sued Atlantic Credit twice for FDCPA violations, said debt buyers can present a different set of problems to consumers than traditional third-party debt collectors because they are not accountable to anyone but themselves. Because Atlantic owns the debt, the money collected goes to the company, not a credit card issuer on whose behalf they are collecting.

"It's my opinion that they're scavengers. They find the decaying carcass of an account somewhere, buy it for pennies on the dollar and try to collect on it," Jarzombek said. "If I'm a debt collector and I file my case [against a debtor], maybe as high as a half will never be answered. That 50 percent of default judgments - it will go on their credit report again. Then they will have to answer to me before they try to buy a car."

In addition to the federal law, some states have decided to regulate debt collectors on their own in a variety of different ways. Some require agencies to have bonds and licenses to collect in their states, and some have their own laws regulating collectors. Virginia is not one of them.

There is anecdotal evidence to show that consumers in states with strong enforcement don't get harassed as much. Wheeler said the BBB has received no complaints from consumers in Maine, Colorado and West Virginia.

they can only call once try to get proof of more than one call and report it to your atrny genral

the debt is theres because the puchased it so they rightfully own it they threaten which is illegal send letters to your atny genrals office

its illegal for them to contact your work if you or the work tells them not to record your self doing so and have your employer type some thing up for them continuously calling him the file suit against them

I AGREE. I HAVE BEEN GETTING CALLS @ WORK AND HOME FROM SOME JERK NAMED GRANT. WHAT A PRICK. MY HUSBAND JUST DIED, SO HE CLAIMS I OWE  $15,000 FOR SOME LOAN THAT WAS TAKEN OUT YEARS AGO. I SPOKE WITH THE COMPANY AND THEY HAVE NOTHING AGAINST ME OR MY DECEASED HUSBAND AND THEY HAVE NEVER HEARD OF THIS SO CALLED ATTORNEY. THEY ARE OUT THERE JUST PREYING ON WIDOWS OR WHOEVER MIGHT POP UP IN THEIR EVIL SYSTEM. DON'T TAKE THE CALLS.

you people really do need to get a life...the law office of john frye has been in business for years and will be for many more. we do follow strict fdcpa rule and we have people that monitor every call we have here...noone in this office curses or harrass anyone when you people are sitting here avoiding calls and getting 5-7 a day and you say you know so much about harassment and the laws the laws clearly state a debt collector can call up to 10 times a day if they want to and if your avoiding your debt instead of answering and talking about it then you a low life anyway.we do understand life happens and work with people we dont call and demand anything we are not allow to speak to people that way they will fire you for that and trust me ive seen people come and go here for being rude. now instead of blaming us workers at john frye try answering the phone and having a decent conversation instead of hitting ignore and making us call you back, those of you that noted 7 calls a day is outrageous you better be glad im not the debt collector because i call all my accts atleast 10x a day here at the law office of john frye thats called GOOD COVERAGE....good luck debtors!!!