Academy Collection Service is a debt collections agency based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Academy Collection Service also has an additional location in Las Vegas, Nevada. This collections agency may have received consumer complaints alleging violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), which could include inaccurate credit reporting, harassment, failing to validate debts, and aggressive communication. If you have been contacted by this debt collector, make sure you understand your rights before taking action.
The harassing company pays our fees.
They’re legit. Academy Collections Service is not a scam. However, Academy Collection Service has been under a hot spotlight for receiving the largest penalty fine in a debt collection case (in 2009). In the case, the owner of ACS, Keith Dickstein, agreed to pay $2.25 million in order to settle charges against his company. Amongst these charges were allegations of threatening to arrest debtors or force legal action and wage punishment, incessantly calling debtors at their place of employment even when the debtors prohibited the call, sharing information with third parties about debts, abusive and recurrent phone calls, withdrawing funds from debtors’ bank accounts without verification of the debt owed, and early deposit of post-dated debt payment checks. Even after receiving these complaints and being taken to court, ACS allegedly ignored these consumer complaints and continued to resume their collection practice with the employees who were supposed to have been fired for breaching FDCPA requirements. According to the FTC, Academy Collection Service had harassed, lied to, and intimidated debtors, so be wary of this case and these allegations. In regard to the structure of the agency itself, Academy Collection Service is a legitimate company that was established in 1971. The company has an employee base of 400 and maintains a total of three offices, two which of are based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and another which is located in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was after 2009 that ACS became a subsidiary of Monarch Recovery Management Inc. The company itself has reported upwards of $5.4 million dollars of revenue in 2020. Though Academy Collection Service has been accused of violations of the FDCPA in the past, remember not to ignore any debt which they claim you may owe, the outstanding fee should still be dealt with to protect your credit score and ability to take out future loans.
Academy Collection Service is a third-party collection agency. There is a distinct lack of information across any website on what specifically Academy Collection Service collects for, but it appears to largely be outstanding credit card payment debt, most often with CitiBank, according to consumer complaints. The website for the company has been blocked by Google, alleging that, “attackers might be trying to steal your information”.
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 a collections company, Academy Collection Service has accumulated a multitude of complaints from consumers. In fact, BBB.org did not rate the company nor accredit the business. There are currently no complaints on the BBB.org website for either location, however, there have been over 1,000 complaints against Academy Collection Service filed with the FTC, the attorneys general of different states, and within the Better Business Bureaus for both Nevada and Pennsylvania. A majority of these complaints include complaints about inaccurate credit reporting, harassment, failing to validate debts, and aggressive communication.
• Mailing Address: 10965 Decatur Rd Philadelphia, PA 19154-3210
• Phone Number: (215) 281- 7500
• Website: http://www.academycollection.com
It is illegal for a debt collector to make empty threats to sue you or garnish your wages. However, though Academy Collection Service would also likely choose not to sue you for a debt you may not owe, or they cannot verify, it is still possible that you may be summoned to court and could have your wages garnished after a default judgement. The best decision to make in this situation would be to contact an attorney preemptively to avoid a lawsuit and the garnishment of your wages. Lemberg Law has helped thousands of consumers fight back against unscrupulous debt collection harassers, find out how we can assist you in your case today.
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Unlawful Debt Harassment? Learn the Law & Sue the Collector.
Absolutely. You can sue a debt collector. Here is a sample complaint:
A complainant received a phone call one morning greeted by a man threatening her and telling her that she needed to pay her Citibank card off immediately or she would be taken to court. The complainant politely explained that she understood the debt and was willing to resolve the issue. She continued to explain that she had not been a resident of the address listed by the company for five years and never received any communication about this misunderstanding. The man over the phone at Academy Collection Service explained that it was supposedly her responsibility to change the address with the post office. The conversation moved towards aggression when the employee of ACS told the complainant to “close her trap and listen”. The employee also called the complainant a “dumb blond” because she could not remember his name. Her husband later advised to her try to contact someone else. The conversation escalated as the employee asked whether this was her “crap lawyer in the background,” a word she claims he used quite a few times. The complainant expressed her dissatisfaction with the manner in which the man and this company treated her case. She then asked for contact information for the company and for the possibility to speak with a supervisor, a request which was only met after 40 minutes worth of threats and angry sentiments. Finally, another employee came on the line and demanded a $400 a month payment from the complainant, without which she would be taken into court. The complainant explained that she is aware that she is in debt and owes money but largely disagrees with the manner in which this company handled the situation.
Get comfortable with understanding your rights when it comes to collections companies and protect yourself from unethical practices. You can find these rights on the “Debt Collection FAQs” page of the Federal Trade Commission website. These specific rights come from the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, which outlines a person’s specific protections against the abuses and misconduct of collection agencies as well as the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) which also exist to protect the consumer against fraudulent practices.
Yes, and if you would like to be able to recover your losses and defend your legal rights, suing would be the best course of action to take. It is through these federal laws that citizens like you are awarded the ability to protect yourself and defend your rights. Suing is the correct course of action if you feel as though these rights have been breached. Individuals like you can recover damages of up to $1,000, plus attorney fees and court costs.
You may have a case, if…
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“The Lemberg Law Firm is an amazing group of lawyers and staff they filed a law suit on behalf of me and others and I didn’t have to do anything but sign one form! I received a settlement and within 3 weeks received a check which came right in time for Christmas and I am truly blessed! I would give this law firm a 10 star rating!”
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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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