Hollis Cobb Associates, Inc. (HCA) is a third-party collection agency based in Georgia. HCA has received consumer complaints alleging violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) such as threatening to take actions that cannot legally be taken and attempting to collect debts not owed. If you have been contacted by HCA, 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), Hollis Cobb Associates, Inc. was founded in March 1977 and incorporated a month later. The BBB established its profile page the same day HCA was founded. HCA is listed as a collection agency and billing service that uses the alternate business names, Patient Account Bureau, North Georgia Credit Services, Retail Account Bureau, and First South Business Administration. Buzzfile estimates HCA’s annual revenue at $11.7 million, and the size of its headquarters staff at 85 people.
According to its website, HCA in 1977 created “the first collection agency in the Greater Atlanta Region that specialized in and served only the healthcare community.” They soon developed early-out and on-site first-party collection services. HCA modernized by adding digital technology in the 1990s. In 2012, HCA acquired Bonded Collection Corporation, a “longtime and well-respected industry leader in commercial collections” based in Chicago, IL. In 2013, 2014, and 2016, HCA added three additional healthcare clients to their portfolio.
As a full-service agency, Hollis Cobb Associates offers professional solutions in four areas: front end, active accounts receivable, bad debt, and other solutions. Their front-end division offers benefits verification, customer service, pre-certification, pre-registration, pre-service collections, presumptive charity, and scheduling. HCA’s active accounts receivable division focuses on denials resolution, insurance follow-up, payment monitoring, self-pay early-out, and underpayment recoupment. HCA’s bad debt specialists handle legal, pre-legal, and primary and secondary collection accounts. Other solutions include accounts receivable work-down and clean-up projects.
HCA has offices in the Midwest, the Southeast, and a foreign office in Nicaragua. HCA’s compliance page cites adherence to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), and the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Their Consumer and State Disclosures page includes mandated legal disclosures and links to the websites of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Colorado Attorney General.
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.
The BBB has closed 37 complaints against Hollis Cobb Associates in the past three years, with 4 closed in the past 12 months. Most of those complaints allege problems with billing and collections. Since September 2015, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has received 17 complaints about HCA. Justia lists at least 3 cases of civil litigation involving HCA.
Absolutely. Here are some Sample Cases against Hollis Cobb Associates Inc
Complaints against Hollis Cobb Associates cite a tendency toward dismissive and insensitive customer service. In September 2016, a complainant indicated problems resulting from medical care for his son. His son had been in a car accident and was hospitalized with several very serious injuries. Prior to the complaint, his son was self-employed and uninsured as a result of recent healthcare legislation, but as a result of the accident, he was disabled and unemployable.
The complainant himself was retired and disabled with a heart condition. He had made some initial payments, but bills totaling $27,000 were turned over to HCA. He had been struggling to make consistent monthly payments, but he alleged that HCA “had continued to harass him with numerous people every month calling his cell phone about this account.” Some of the calls had been outsourced to the foreign office. His complaint indicated that neither he nor his son had any more money to pay the bills, and that his son had just been released from the hospital after another surgical intervention. He requested that HCA cease contact attempts because his son was ill; he was a heart patient himself; and the continued stress was upsetting to both of them. In response, HCA indicated that the “request for cease communication had been acknowledged…that the telephone number listed in this inquiry had been added to the internal ‘Never Call List’… and that there would be no further contact from Hollis Cobb Associates regarding this matter.”
Hollis Cobb Associates, Inc.
3175 Satellite Boulevard
Building 600, Suite 400
Duluth, GA 30096
Telephone: (678) 969-7800
Website: https://www.holliscobb.com/
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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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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I had an auto accident August 1, 2018 which driver was at fault and still pending lawsuit. I was admitted to the hospital and have several medical bills still need to be paid. Hollis cobb has inquired my debit and I am currently getting at least 10 phone calls or more a day from multi phone numbers with voicemails for the last 6 months or longer, nonstop. My lawsuit is pending to go to deposition still, which may take up to an additional year before any settlement.
I was sent a letter stating I owed a bill to the hospital after being hospitalized 6 months before. I could not find any documentation or statements showing I owed the bill but since I was paying other related bills to hospital and doctors, I set up a payment plan with Hollis Cobb/dba Patient Accounts Bureau. They refused to send monthly statements and said I had to keep up with the billing and payment date. I sent payment each month and the first two cleared my account. I sent the third month and received a call that it was not received. I have a carbon copy of the check that was mailed and know it went to them. I refused to send another check. After almost three weeks it still has not cleared my account and I have received no calls or letters from them. I am going to stop payment on that check and believe that I have been scammed. If their street address is in Duluth then why am I mailing payments to a PO box in Norcross and why are they calling themselves Cobb when they are not in Cobb County? Wish I had been smart enough to ask these questions before getting into this mess.
I received a letter from Hollis cobb about a 83.30 bill from 2016.I call the number on orginal bill made a 40.00 dollar payment and got a conformation number.Can Hollis cobb ignore this payment because it was not sent to them and try and make me pay the 83.30. to them anyway.
I set up a payment plan with Patient accounts Bureau..Hollis Cobbs Associates. The plan all of a sudden stopped and the payments stopped coming out of my account. I received a letter in the mail two months later saying that I was behind on payments. I called them and asked how because the payments were on automatic draft. they told me it was only for 6 months. I asked why was it only for 6 months and nobody could explain why. They are now anting to garish my check for the remained when they stopped drafting the payment.