Collection Bureau of Hudson Valley, Inc. (CBHV) is a third-party collection agency based in New York. CBHV has received consumer complaints alleging violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), including illegal communication tactics and attempting to collect debts not owed. If you have been contacted by The Collection Bureau of Hudson Valley, make sure you understand your rights before taking action.
The harassing company pays our fees.
They’re legit. According to the Better Business Bureau (BBB), The Collection Bureau of Hudson Valley, Inc. is a legitimate collection agency founded in 1974 and incorporated in 1977. The BBB established its profile page in 1978. CBHV uses the alternate business name Healthcare Billing Service of New York, Inc., and has three alternate website addresses: www.cbhvfinacial.com; www.cbhvhealthcare.com; and www.heathcarebillingserviceofny.com. Buzzfile estimates CBHV’s annual revenue at $8.5 million and the size of its staff at 85 people.
Collection Bureau of Hudson Valley services the healthcare, financial, communication, education, energy, and government industries. Their website is entirely client-facing and does not offer links or references to consumer protection resources.
CBHV offers collection services in three main areas: pre-collect programs; collections; and litigation. CBHV’s pre-collect division “is intended to bridge the gap between a client having to continue to bill and follow-up on delinquent accounts and the client having to refer the account for collection,” and employs a “series of demand letters along with telephone demand on accounts that are only 10 to 150 days delinquent.”
CBHV’s collections division cites compliance with “all applicable Federal and State laws, including the Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), Public Law 95-109, and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).” Their collections process uses telephone campaigns to establish initial contact; dunning letter campaigns; asset searches; a variety of payment options; and skip tracing software. When collection efforts fail, CBHV’s litigation service will pursue civil litigation for accounts in which “attachable assets or employment is verified.”
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 October 2017, the BBB has closed 15 complaints against Collection Bureau of Hudson Valley in the preceding three years, with 8 closed in the past 12 months. Most of those complaints allege problems with billing and collection. Since March 2015, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has closed 35 complaints against CBHV. Justia lists at least 1 case of civil litigation naming CBHV as a defendant.
Collection Bureau Hudson Valley, Inc.
155 North Plank Road
PO Box 831, Newburgh, NY 12551-0831
Telephone: (800) 745-1395
Website: http://www.cbhv.com/
It is illegal for a debt collector to make empty threats to sue you or garnish your wages. It is also unlikely CBHV 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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Unlawful Debt Harassment? Learn the Law & Sue the Collector.
Absolutely. You can sue a debt collector. Here is a Sample Case Complaint:
Consumer complaints against The Collection Bureau of Hudson Valley indicate a tendency to report inaccurate information to the credit reporting agencies and to fail to provide accurate verification and documentation of amounts and debts allegedly owed. In September 2016, a complainant indicated that he had acquired a debt through a credit union savings account. The original balance owed was allegedly $1,019.47, and it was settled in full, according to the complainant. The complainant reports that CBHV sent him a collection notice demanding payment for $404.51 in additional charges and fees, without sending any additional documentation to explain how they calculated the amount. In response, CBHV told the complainant that they had sent him numerous notifications of the requested information, but that their mail is always returned as “undeliverable as addressed” after updates by the National Change of Address (NCOA) database. CBHV claimed, “There is no way for us to bypass the NCOA, so the consumer would need to update his information with the postal service or provide another way for us to communicate with him.”
In May 2016, a complainant indicated that The Collection Bureau of Hudson Valley representatives had contacted him on numerous occasions, and each time he requested debt validation that he never received. Regardless, the delinquent account information was reported to the credit reporting agencies, “even… though per the FCRA if they cannot validate the debt they must stop all calls and remove the information from credit reporting agencies.” In response, CBHV insisted that they had previously mailed the missing information, indicated that they had re-mailed the requested information, and said that they had “sent a request to the credit reporting agencies to have this item removed from the consumer’s credit report.”
Finally, in December 2015, a complainant indicated a delinquency from a healthcare provider had been reported to the credit reporting agencies. He insisted that he had never attended or received services form the healthcare provider indicated in the negative report. He reviewed all his records and confirmed that he had not been in a hospital during the time alleged, and furthermore that as a hospital employee, he would have walked “without having to pay for the emergency fee which is not $656.” In response, The Collection Bureau of Hudson Valley indicated that they “sent a request to the credit bureaus to update the status of this account to ‘Disputed’ and have forwarded an itemized bill for the account in question to” the original creditor, insisting that the “charge is for the Emergency Room Physicians, which is separate from the Hospital charges.”
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).
Yes. If you want to enforce your rights, or recover money for violations — you need to sue. Federal 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.
You may have a case, if…
“With your help the nagging collection calls have ceased! I was thrilled I was also able to get damages from the collection agency. I am unable to adequately express my joy. I am so thankful I made the call.”
“I would recommend your company to anyone. You have the debt collectors off my back, and I will finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. Throughout the entire procedure your employees were courteous and professional. I was blown away by their efficacy also.
“After speaking to one of the partners, and going over the plan of action, I felt I’d chose the perfect company to go to work for me. He was very accommodating in describing what was going to happen. I would strongly recommend Lemberg Law to anybody being hassled by debt collectors”
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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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CBHV- HAS FALSELY REPORTED TO CREDIT AGENCY’S THAT I AM NOT PAYING MY AGREED $20.00 A MONTH . THEY REFUSE TO GIVE ME CREDIT FOR MY PAYMENTS & DO DAMAGE TO ME WITH TOTAL DISREGARD . CAUSING UNDUE STRESS & PAIN & SUFFERING WITH THERE ABUSE TO PEOPLE WHO ARE ILL & HAVE LIMITED ABILITY TOO PAY AT THE RATE THEY WANT
my husband had gotten a loan from ghs credit union bout 4 yrs ago .payment of 32 weekly were taken out of paycheck.. the loan officer stater that she gave 1000 in account and 3000 on credit card and that payment would pay off both .. so now bout a month ago we get a letter from cbhv that the 3000 was placed with them.. . we know we owe the debt.. but been gettin nasty phone call from cbhv .. my husband works so he call this person back but he was very rude wanted 500 a month ..like noway.. so we sent them 20$ .and told them 20 a week is all we can afoard.. but yeah very rude..we have been paying in from paycheck all this time and it was sitting in his account not even being sent to cbhv .they had to ask for it.. so idk .. its all pretty unreal.. now weve stopped paying in from paycheck and r trying to pay this off… any suggestions? ty
On April 2nd, 2019, we cancelled Optimum and had Frontier installed; internet and TV. We kept the Optimum telephone as our Optimum triple service subscription was paid for until May 7th.
On May 6th, we returned the telephone modem to the local Optimum facility. On the same day, April 6, we had our phone installed with Frontier (a service they provide which is not connected to our TV or Interned).
A couple of weeks ago, we received a collection letter from CBHV, dated June 19, 2019, stating:
“This past due account has been placed for collection.
Unless you notify this office within 30 days after receiving this notice that you dispute the validity of this debt, or any portion thereof, this office will assume this debt is valid. If you notify this office office in writing within 30 days from receiving this notice that you dispute the validity of this debt, or any portion thereof, this office will obtain verification of the debt or obtain a copy of a judgement and mail you a copy of such judgement or verification. If you request of this office in writing within 30 days after receiving this notice this office will provide you with the name and address of the original creditor, if different from the current creditor.”
We have not had the time to persue this so-called debt collection as we attended a graduation out of state for 10 days, and this last weekend, we attended a family wake and funeral. Finally, I was able to get my documents together and became very agitated realizing we are being scammed.
Even IF we owed this money to Optimum, after just ONE MONTH they send it to a collection bureau??????????
Yesterday, I spoke with Optimum and they insisted we owe this $202.52 because we didn’t cancel all three services on April 2!? If anything, they owe US a refund for the TV and Internet because we paid for the service in advance! OK, I said, then the bill should be pro-rated and I will pay for the phone just to get you and the collection bureau off my back. I was told we owed the entire amount.
So … I checked the comments/complaints on BBB and out of ten complaints, at least three could have been composed by me!! Should be a form letter with room for the date, amount, company, location, etc. left blank. Otherwise, their words were exactly mine.
What is going on? And … for this small amount, and after reading the hassle others have with this collection company, I am not sure I want to go through that.
Do I have an option? How can Optimum send a debt to a collection company after only just one month? Even back rent or mortgages aren’t sent for collection until 6 months arrears.
I am sick over this. At my advanced age, I find this to be harassment at least.
HELP! …
I have tried contacting Collection Bureau of Hudson Valley to work out a payment arrangement for a $2200 tuition payment against my MBA with no resolution and am getting a steady stream of phone calls. I would like to either set up a payment plan or negotiate a payment. Thank you for you help.
When I returned their call, they asked for a reference number. In their voice message, they had left no reference number. So I have no idea what they were calling about. Perhaps they had a wrong number