Credit Bureau Associates Inc or CBA is a third-party collections and credit reporting agency based in Northern California. CBA has received consumer complaints alleging violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), including threatening to take actions that cannot legally be taken and using false or misleading information in an effort to collect a debt.If you have been contacted by Credit Bureau Associates, make sure you understand your rights before taking action.
The harassing company pays our fees.
They’re legit. According to the BBB, Credit Bureau Associates, Inc. was founded in 1947 and incorporated in 1996. The BBB established a profile page for CBA in 1993. CBA is listed as a collection agency and credit reporting agency that uses the alternate business name, Kelkris Associates. Buzzfile estimates CBA’s annual revenue at $3.1 million and the size of its headquarters staff at 27 employees.
According to its website, Credit Bureau Associates “provides credit reporting and collection services to credit grantors locally and nationally.” CBA’s staff is trained to provide “consumer and business credit reports and to recover…outstanding accounts.” In addition, CBA “provides a free pre-collection service, and their check recovery program is popular among their merchant clients.”
CBA’s credit reporting services provide tenant screening reports with records of evictions, employment screening, criminal background searches, and business credit reports. They also offer criminal and public record searches from county and federal courts. CBA’s employment screening reports verify applicants’ addresses, financial health and stability, public record information, and fraud warnings not available via traditional employment interview processes.
CBA’s collection services include a free letter service “offering the person the opportunity to pay the account in full…with a remittance envelope addressed directly to” the client. The direct collections division “sends notices, makes telephone calls, searches all property databases, skip traces, verifies employment, verified assets, and accesses credit report databases.” Their bad check recovery division is “designed to assist retailers and business owners in recovering NSF and Stop Payment checks.” CBA’s judgment recovery staff locates “attachable assets on money judgments.” Finally, CBA’s commercial collections division employs “specialized collectors who understand the process of recovering monies due… from other businesses.”
Credit Bureau Associates is a member of several professional associations. Their Consumer Services pages provide fairly extensive information about consumer protection laws.
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 March 2018, the BBB has given Credit Bureau Associates a rating of NR (No Rating). In addition, they have closed 11 complaints against CBA in the past three years, with 4 complaints closed in the past 12 months. The largest share of those complaints alleged problems with billing and collections, with several additional complaints alleging problems with advertising and sales or customer service. Since July 2015, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has closed 31 complaints against CBA. Justia lists at least 9 cases of civil litigation involving Credit Bureau Associates.
Credit Bureau Associates, Inc.
460 Union Ave., Ste. C
Fairfield, CA 94533-6334
Telephone: (707) 429-3211
Website: http://www.accountsrecovery.com/
It is illegal for a debt collector to make empty threats to sue you or garnish your wages. It is also unlikely Credit Bureau Associates 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 against Credit Bureau Associates, Inc.
In October 2010, in United States District Court for the Eastern District of California, a judge issued a Memorandum and Order in a case alleging Credit Bureau Associates had violated several state and federal laws, including the FDCPA. In this case, the plaintiff brought an action against CBA for attempting to execute a writ of garnishment resulting from a judgement that had been entered against the plaintiff without first having properly served the plaintiff notice of the pending lawsuit. CBA had filed the lawsuit in January 2009, but they served notice of the hearing to the plaintiff’s estranged father, at a residence where the plaintiff did not live. A default judgement was entered against the plaintiff in May 2009, and the plaintiff only learned about the legal proceedings in December 2009, “when he received a letter from the County of Sacramento Department of Finance informing him of an Earnings Withholding Order obtained against him.” The plaintiff contested the judgment on the grounds that he had not been served, and the Superior Court vacated the judgement.
Subsequently, the plaintiff filed a lawsuit alleging Credit Bureau Associates’s actions in executing a judgment won as a result of improper service had violated the federal FDCPA; California’s state Rosenthal FDCPA; and laws prohibiting invasion of privacy. The October 2010 hearing was held to determine the outcome of CBA’s motion to strike the plaintiff’s state law claims by citing California’s anti-Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (anti-SLAPP) law. The judge did not address the plaintiff’s claim that CBA had violated the federal FDCPA law that generally prohibits “deceptive, misleading, and unfair debt collection practices”; furthermore, the final resolution of plaintiff’s original appeal of the judgment in Superior Court prior to the October 2010 hearing was still pending. As for the plaintiff’s claim that CBA’s actions also constituted a violation of California’s state FDCPA, CBA attempted to defend its actions by citing the anti-SLAPP law. The court concurred that the actions of CBA in this case qualified at least technically as “free speech”; thus, the court found that the anti-SLAPP law could be used to bar the plaintiff from citing a violation of state law. However, CBA’s defense of the improper service consisted of blaming the third-party process server they had hired. The court found that the burden for ensuring proper service rests with the party bringing the action, so their motion to dismiss the plaintiff’s charge that they had violated the state FDCPA law failed. The same did not apply for the plaintiff’s charge that their improper service constituted an invasion of privacy. Thus, the invasion of privacy charge was dismissed; and the federal and state FDCPA charges were upheld.
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.
You may have a case, if…
“As we discussed on the phone earlier today, this settlement is perfectly okay to me. I need to thank you and all of your cohorts at Lemberg Law to get a project handled so professionally. Please allow Amy, the first person who contacted me from Lemberg, know how much I appreciate her efforts, kindness, and professionalism.”
“I won’t be afraid to contact you or recommend your services to others for applicable legal issues. Please keep up the outstanding work you do, and again, thank you for helping me through this challenging time. I’m most grateful. I can not say thank you enough!”
“I received outstanding professionalism from the own staff. I had a horrible experience when trying to solve a debt. 1 debt collector associate said she would speak to the prosecutor’s office and another representative told me that when I called the office back he would call the police and have me arrested. I had been insulted, mocked, and threatened, and feared that the police would appear at my door any given moment.”
“I just wanted to let you know we received the check from your office on now and I wanted to take some time to inform you that we really appreciate all of your efforts in this matter.”
We can absolutely help. Call us today.
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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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