Professional Accounts Service or PAS is a debt collection agency, which receives a lot of consumer complaints to our law firm for debt harassment. Find out who they are, why they might be calling,
Professional Accounts Service, Inc. (PAS) is a third-party collection agency based in Indiana. PAS has received many consumer complaints alleging violations of the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (FDCPA), such as failing to verify debts and using false or misleading information in an effort to collect a debt. If Professional Accounts Service has contacted you about past due collection items, make sure you understand your rights before you take action.
The harassing company pays our fees.
They’re legit. According to the Better Business Bureau (BBB), Professional Accounts Service, Inc. is a legitimate collection agency founded and incorporated in 1998. The BBB established a profile page for PAS in 2008. Buzzfile estimates Professional Accounts Service’ annual revenue at $299,555 and the size of its headquarters staff at 3 employees.
According to its website, PAS “is a full-service collection agency… committed to providing the highest quality collection services, recovery results, and excellent customer service.” PAS states that “the secret of their success” lies in their commitment to retaining “high recoveries, excellent customer service, and highly trained staff handling each consumer with the dignity they deserve.”
The Professional Accounts Service website does not provide any detailed information about the types of businesses or industries for which they collect delinquent debts, stating only that they “can handle delinquent accounts anywhere in the US and most foreign countries.” PAS offers collection services in four distinct areas: early-out services; pre-collection letter series; NSF check recovery; and traditional collections.
PAS’s early-out services help their clients “reduce…staffing costs and the amount written off to bad debt” by allowing businesses to outsource the initial accounts receivable activity to PAS. With the pre-collection letter service, PAS sends “1 to 3 letter series of pre-collection notices…directing the consumer to contact the client for payment arrangements.” PAS’s NSF check recovery utilizes“complete collection processing services, including skip tracing through litigation to get… money back on bad checks.” Finally, PAS’s “full-service traditional collection service… handles collection, skip tracing through referral, and litigation.”
The PAS website does not provide any information about its regulatory compliance policies or practices. They provide a “Useful Links” page with direct links to the International Association of Credit and Collection Professionals (ACA International); the 3 national credit reporting agencies; and the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) page about the FDCPA. However, the PAS website does not itself provide any information about consumer rights or laws regulating the debt collection industry.
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 closed 2 complaints against Professional Accounts Service in the past 3 years, none of them in the previous 12 months. One complaint alleged problems with billing and collections; the other alleged problems with customer service. Since September 2015, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has received 4 complaints about PAS. Justia lists at least 1 case of civil litigation involving PAS.
Professional Accounts Service, Inc.
1359 East Margaret Drive
Terre Haute, IN 47802
Telephone: 812-235-8648
Website: http://professionalaccountsservice.com/
It is illegal for a debt collector to make empty threats to sue you or garnish your wages. It is also unlikely PAS 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 are some Sample Cases filed in Federal Court
In 2016, a class action lawsuit was filed against Professional Account Services and Lehigh Regional Medical Center accusing the groups of creating counterfeit “hospital liens” to collect more money on accident victims’ hospital bills. The suit alleged the fake liens, violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, were almost identical to real liens filed by non-profit, public hospitals. The class consisted of all Florida residents who were dealt a counterfeit lien from the defendants in an attempt to collect a medical bill debt within the last five years.
Also, complaints against Professional Accounts Service cite problems resulting from disputes about the validity of debts and the accuracy of accounting and billing practices. In July 2016, a complainant stated that he had been “contacted by PAS regarding a bill for…an ambulance company.” The complainant stated that “the date the PAS representative provided sounded correct, so he …asked her to send…documentation verifying the debt.” Allegedly, the PAS representative argued with the complainant, telling him that verification “had already been sent.” The complainant responded by stating that he “was pretty sure he had …sent payment…as soon as he had received payment from his insurance company, though he was not able to find proof.” He also told the representative that he often has “problems receiving mail …and asked her to send it again.” The representative “agreed and said she would notate the account to suspend collection for two weeks.” In addition, the complainant had “just experienced a death in the family and was very overwhelmed…and working two jobs and asked that PAS take that into consideration.”
The complainant reported that after this initial encounter, PAS failed to send documentation and subsequently “began contacting the complainant’s mother regarding the debt.” The complainant stated that during “one of his visits home… to deal with his father’s estate, his mother gave him the message.” When he confronted PAS about this unauthorized communication, they allegedly had “no record of” the call, and the complainant again explained that he “had not received documentation for the debt.” Ultimately, the complainant was able to make a “payment for $1,390 on PAS’s website and saw a notice…that PAS charged a $2.00 fee for processing the payment.” The complainant assumed that “this fee would automatically be added in,” but after paying the bill, the complainant “received a call from PAS,” with the representative “still attempting to collect the debt.” The complainant “asked for a statement indicating his balance was zero,” but the representative said he “would need to provide a self-addressed stamped envelope (SASE).” When he asked to speak to a supervisor,the supervisor said he “still had a balance due of $2… for the processing fee.” She said she would write “it off because of the amount,” but continued to refuse to send a statement. When he “questioned why she was making such a big deal about $2 if she’s just writing it off,” she allegedly “continued to argue with him,” so he ended the call.
The complainant called back and tried to file a complaint, but the representative who answered the call was allegedly “extremely rude and unprofessional,” and tried to “argue… about the $2 and refused to send a statement of the account balance.” PAS representatives allegedly continued to contact the complainant, “claiming they wanted to ‘explain’ what went wrong, yet…seemed liked they wanted to argue.” The complainant “no longer wanted to discuss the situation and told them that any further unsolicited communication from them would be considered harassment.”
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 finally 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.”
“When I first emailed the office, I was not exactly sure what they could do for me. I had an idea, but they responded back with everything I could expect to take place. I never believed I would be receiving a check, it was definitely a silver lining. I highly recommend them to anyone seeking customer legal services.”
“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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PAS is very unprofessional and rude and I can’t handle all of the lies, pushing, cursing, and more. And making up numbers that don’t match and putting it on my credit report and threatening me and talking to nearly my entire family about me and this ridiculous fictitious debt. I had to change my phone number.