Smith, Rouchon & Associates, Inc. SRA is a third-party debt collection agency based in Alabama. SRA has received consumer complaints alleging violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), including making false statements and threatening to take actions that cannot legally be taken. If you have been contacted by this debt collector, make sure you understand your rights before responding.
The harassing company pays our fees.
They’re legit. According to the Better Business Bureau (BBB), Smith, Rouchon & Associates, Inc. was founded in 1993. The BBB established a profile page for SRA in 2004. SRA is listed as a collection agency and billing service. Buzzfile estimates SRA’s annual revenue at $5.8 million and the size of its headquarters staff at 80 employees.
According to its website, SRA “is a full-service collection agency with a broad range of capabilities to handle every type of business.” SRA serves “local and national companies…with administrative and decision-making control located in close proximity to…local clients that allows…more insight about the debtor population than organizations in other regions of the United States.”
As a full-service collection agency, SRA offers early-out programs for accounts less than 90 days old; pre-collect services “to separate accounts that require minimal collection efforts from those that require extensive efforts”; primary collections for delinquencies “that have never before been placed with a professional collection agency or collection attorney”; secondary collections for delinquencies “that another collection agency or collection attorney has previously attempted to collect”; skip tracing “to find debtors who have moved or who can no longer be reached at their billing addresses or phone numbers”; bankruptcy verification; and mail campaigns.
SRA offers its “broad range of debt recovery programs and services” to “every type of business and industry,” including consumer retail lenders; banks and finance companies; healthcare and medical service providers; telecommunications and utility service providers; and commercial and residential service industries.
SRA cites “full compliance with federal, state, and local laws and/or regulations,” including the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (FDCPA), the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). SRA is “an active member in the ACA International, and…their collectors attend scheduled workshops on a regular basis.” Their website includes links to professional associations, credit reporting agencies, and consumer protection organizations such as the BBB and local Chambers of Commerce.
Who are we? We are Lemberg Law, a Consumer Law Firm
Lemberg Law is a consumer law firm helping victims of collection harassment and abuse. We are ranked A+ by the BBB. We’ve helped more than 15,000 consumers stop harassment and recover money from debt collectors. Harassed? Abused? Misled by a collector? Call our Helpline today! There is no charge unless we win.
As of April 2018, the BBB has not closed any complaints against Smith, Rouchon & Associates. Since December 2016, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has closed 22 complaints against . Justia lists at least 7 cases of civil litigation involving SRA.
Smith, Rouchon & Associates, Inc.
1110 Bradshaw Dr.
Florence, AL 35630-1438
Telephone: (256) 740-4280
Website: http://www.sra-inc.net/
It is illegal for a debt collector to make empty threats to sue you or garnish your wages. It is also unlikely Smith Rouchon would sue you for a debt you may not owe or they cannot validate. However, debt collection agencies are known to have summoned debtors to court and garnish wages after a default judgement. Contacting an attorney BEFORE this could possibly happen would be a smart move. We’ve helped thousands of consumers fight back against unscrupulous debt collection harassers. Find out if we can help you too today!
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Absolutely. Here are some Sample Cases filed in Federal Court
Complaints against Smith, Rouchon & Associates commonly cite problems resulting from disputes about the validity of debts and collection tactics. In July 2017, a complainant indicated he had sent to SRA a request for debt verification. Allegedly, the complainant received confirmation that the certified letter had been received; however, SRA “still did not validate the debt allegedly owed, and they did not mark the debt as disputed… through the major credit reporting bureaus.” The complainant charged that this conduct “is a violation of the FDCPA and the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).” The complainant went on to state that he sent “a second letter which the company also received,” and that an SRA representative “called and talked to…him about the debt…but again did not have the credit bureaus mark the item as disputed.” The complainant insisted that this was a repeated violation of their “duty to provide a notice of dispute, which states that ‘if the completeness or accuracy of any information furnished by any person to any consumer reporting agency is disputed to such person by a consumer, the person may not furnish the information to any consumer reporting agency without notice that such information is disputed.’” In addition, such “‘notice…shall be provided to the customer prior to, or no later than 30 days after, furnishing the negative information to a consumer reporting agency.’” The complainant “tried to call the company…and left…his name” but did not receive a return call. He also posted his credit reports that show the items in question were not marked as disputed, with the exception of one report that displayed correctly updated information after the complainant had contacted the credit reporting agency himself.
Although the complainant indicated that the SRA representative he had spoken with said she hadn’t received his dispute letter, he also posted a certified mail receipt with a date, time stamp, and signature indicating the letter had been received. The complainant concluded by restating his request for verification of the debt. Smith, Rouchon & Associates did not provide a public response but indicated the complaint had been “closed with explanation.”
Federal laws protect you. The Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (FDCPA) regulates the behavior of collection agencies by prohibiting actions such as the use of abusive or threatening language; harassment; or the use of false or misleading information to collect a debt. The FCRA regulates how collection agencies and creditors report delinquent debts to credit reporting agencies. Additional consumer protection laws include the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA).
But here’s the rub: If you want to enforce your rights, or recover money for violations — you need to sue. These laws provide individuals like you with a means to seek monetary damages in court. For example, the FDCPA allows consumers who have been violated to recover damages of up to $1,000, plus attorney fees and court costs.
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“Thanks to the staff at Lemberg Law, I have peace of mind again. They worked quickly to find the harassing calls were super considerate when I talked with them. I love the hard work”
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”Lemberg Law has saved me from the endless calls, and harassing voicemails. They really do go to bat for you. I didn’t know that debt collection agencies can end up paying your legal bill. What a surprise, to receive free legal help. I’m very grateful for all the hard work they did to finally give me my life back.”
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Sergei Lemberg is an attorney focusing on consumer law, class actions related to automotive issues, and personal injury litigation. With nearly two decades of experience, his areas of practice include Lemon Law (vehicle defects), Debt Collection Harassment, TCPA (illegal robocalls and texts), Fair Credit Reporting Act, Overtime claims, Personal Injury cases, and Class Actions. He has consistently been recognized as the nation's "most active consumer attorney." In 2020, Mr. Lemberg represented Noah Duguid before the United States Supreme Court in the landmark case Duguid v. Facebook. He is also the author of "Defanging Debt Collectors," a guide that empowers consumers to fight back against debt collectors and prevail, as well as "Lemon Law 101: The Laws That Lemon Dealers Don't Want You to Know."
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