You are not legally. Get a lawyer or just stop paying.

Change your phone number

2 calls this week, once a man's voice, once a woman's. Left messages for representative of estate, saying they were following up on a letter that was recently sent....there has been no letter.

I got a called looking for a representative from my late husband's estate and said it was a collection call.  We have no outstanding debts.  This is a terrible thing to do to someone who has just lost a loved on.

Called twice, once it was a mans voice, once a womans, it didnt sound recorded. It was a call regarding an estate of someone with my same last name. Said that it was regarding an estate.

I wish there was something that could be done about DCM Services(Collection Agency for Discover) My Mom died and left a balance on her Discover. Which for the record I have been fighting Discover for years on her behave. The finally a year ago decided I guess since credit cards are in hot water to letter her go on hardship basis $77.00 amonth for a then 90 year old woman on fixed income.

She passed away, now  they want me(the estate to pay it off) I don't have the money to pay. Oh after a fight they did, not me agreed to pay $120.00 a month for next what 4 years give or take. The not so nice ladie almost said if I don't that the can deal with it!!! Now to me that was a threat. They are not so bright. They keep asking me if my Mom didn't have anything(she does have the home I live in) why did I Probate the will. Well duh, wills are usually probabted aren't they.

I think since Sears which was the only other credit card she had could write of the balance, why can't Discover? Are they so desperate they go after dead people, and grieving famalies? Ah well I guess since the use DCM I answered my own question?

Why am I being penalized. Why should I pay for a credit card that isn't even my debt?

Well, 877-326-5171 is the number they tell you to call back-- more likely they have a phone bank of unregistered numbers they call out on-- making it impossible to block the calls.  Hmm.  If this is indeed Citibank, then they are calling for credit card payments that were already paid on cards that were closed.  In any case, their method of calling daily to harass mourning relatives a mere 6 weeks after death is absolutely despicable.  Scum of the earth.

They call several times a day looking for money owed be a deceased relative. I let the answering machine handle the call. I would like them to STOP CALLING. Any suggestions?

You?re Dead? That Won?t Stop the Debt Collector
Published: March 3, 2009

MINNEAPOLIS ? The banks need another bailout and countless homeowners cannot handle their mortgage payments, but one group is paying its bills: the dead.

Dozens of specially trained agents work on the third floor of DCM Services here, calling up the dear departed?s next of kin and kindly asking if they want to settle the balance on a credit card or bank loan, or perhaps make that final utility bill or cellphone payment.

The people on the other end of the line often have no legal obligation to assume the debt of a spouse, sibling or parent. But they take responsibility for it anyway.

?I am out of work now, to be honest with you, and money is very tight for us,? one man declared on a recent phone call after he was apprised of his late mother-in-law?s $280 credit card bill. He promised to pay $15 a month.

Dead people are the newest frontier in debt collecting, and one of the healthiest parts of the industry. Those who dun the living say that people are so scared and so broke it is difficult to get them to cough up even token payments.

Collecting from the dead, however, is expanding. Improved database technology is making it easier to discover when estates are opened in the country?s 3,000 probate courts, giving collectors an opportunity to file timely claims. But if there is no formal estate and thus nothing to file against, the human touch comes into play.

New hires at DCM train for three weeks in what the company calls ?empathic active listening,? which mixes the comforting air of a funeral director with the nonjudgmental tones of a friend. The new employees learn to use such anger-deflecting phrases as ?If I hear you correctly, you?d like...?

?You get to be the person who cares,? the training manager, Autumn Boomgaarden, told a class of four new hires.

For some relatives, paying is pragmatic. The law varies from state to state, but generally survivors are not required to pay a dead relative?s bills from their own assets. In theory, however, collection agencies could go after any property inherited from the deceased.

But sentiment also plays a large role, the agencies say. Some relatives are loyal to the credit card or bank in question. Some feel a strong sense of morality, that all debts should be paid. Most of all, people feel they are honoring the wishes of their loved ones.

?In times of illness and death, the hierarchy of debts is adjusted,? said Michael Ginsberg of Kaulkin Ginsberg, a consulting company to the debt collection industry. ?We do our best to make sure our doctor is paid, because we might need him again. And we want the dead to rest easy, knowing their obligations are taken care of.?

Finally, of course, some of those who pay a dead relative?s debts are unaware they may have no legal obligation.

Scott Weltman of Weltman, Weinberg & Reis, a Cleveland law firm that performs deceased collections, says that if family members ask, ?we definitely tell them? they have no legal obligation to pay. ?But is it disclosed upfront ? ?Mr. Smith, you definitely don?t owe the money?? It?s not that blunt.?

DCM Services, which began in 1999 as a law firm, recently acquired clients in banking, automobile finance, retailing, telecommunications and health care; DCM says its contracts preclude it from naming them.

The companies ?want to protect their brand,? said DCM?s chief executive, Steven Farsht. Despite the delicacy of such collections, he says his 180-employee firm is providing a service to the economy. ?The financial services industry is under a tremendous amount of pressure, and every dollar we collect improves their profitability,? he said.

To listen to even a small sample of DCM?s calls ? executives played tapes of 10 of them for a reporter, electronically edited to remove all names ? is to reveal the wages of misery, right down to the penny.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/04/business/04dead.html?_r=1

I received a billing statedment for a deceased family member.  I explained this person had no estate and I JUST finished paying off the funeral expenses.

The deceased owned NOTHING.

They wanted me to make arrangements to pay off the debt.  I informed them they could go to the cemetery and COLLECT FROM THE DECEASED.  

I was not even a blood relative of the deceased just a caring person.

The people that are calling from this number 423-477-6983- Citi Comm are people who come from the BOWELS OF THIS EARTH !!! I have someone in my household who is very very ill &&& they do NOT QUIT !! Ringing the phone at 7:50 AM TIL 9:00 PM every 15 mins. and forget about your private dinner hrs. when returning home in the evening !!!!! STOP THE CALLS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

starting at 7:50 in the morning every 15 mins til 9:15 PM my home phone does NOT STOP RINGING OFF THE HOOK !! These people who are calling from this number come up on my ID as: private No.#- unknown- or Citi Comm. They are rude ignorant &&&& INSIGHTFUL to say the very least !!!!! I WANT THE CALLS TO STOP!!!!!!!!!!

Check out www.dcmservices.com.  This is not a typical collection agency.  They appear to be a specialist that only works probate accounts.  My guess is that most of the accounts that they receive are "valued" customers who have not paid their debt because they have passed away.  I wouldn't get too concerned.

I just received a call from a male whose last name is something like "Yangum" and wanted to speak to me in regards to a letter sent about the PR of the late ******** (someone with the same name as me).  He said to return his call to 877-326-5171.  The caller ID reads CITI Commerce S at 1-423-477-6983.

This company keeps calling this number regarding ex-husband of 5 years ago . I have had no contact with jason slay or family for 7 years. Cease
and desist calling this number!

It is not deceased accounts services. It is just a collection agency for CitiBank Visa. They take your last name and a random first name. They call you and tell you that you are the beneficiary for an estate and that they need to talk to you. You call them back and they hit you with the bad news, you owe them money.

I just called it and it looks to be CitiBank Collections.  If you owe, don't call.  :)

Who owns this toll free number? -- Peter