Recovery Management Services Inc or RMS is a third-party collection agency based in Illinois that specializes in collecting delinquent student loans. RMS 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 improper contact or sharing of information. If you have been contacted by Recovery Management Services, make sure you understand your rights before responding.
The harassing company pays our fees.
They’re legit. According to the BBB, Recovery Management Services, Inc. is a legitimate collection agency, founded in 1998. The BBB established a profile page for RMS in 2007. Buzzfile estimates RMS’s annual revenue at $2.2 million and the size of its headquarters staff at 20 employees.
According to its website, Recovery Management Services “is a full-service collection agency dedicated to providing our clients with high recoveries, excellent customer service, and full attention to client accounts.” RMS employs a “management staff… that has decades of experience in… higher education collection, including …Vice Presidents of Sales and Service who were previously employed in university settings in the area of collections and business services.”
Recovery Management Services works “exclusively in the area of higher education debt collections, including Perkins Loans, Health Profession Loans, Institutional Loans and Student Receivables.” RMS considers technology a top priority and “offers a secure FTP site for account placement and report access, as well as offering borrowers the opportunity to create an account to pay online or change demographic information.” RMS also stresses that its strength is an “experienced, well-trained, and motivated” staff providing exceptional customer service and “among the highest recovery rates in the industry.”
RMS’ collection staff “utilize a sales oriented approach to the collection process” to provide a full range of education collection services, including federal loans, institutional loans, receivables, pre-collection, nationwide litigation, default recovery, skip tracing, credit reporting, and Perkins cohort account management. In addition, RMS offers customized client reports, including active account statements, trust statements, new account acknowledgments, account summaries, payment summaries, performance analysis reports, and closed/returned reports.
RMS’s staff “is thoroughly trained in all aspects of the Perkins Loan program, and all collectors complete the ACA Professional Collection Specialist training program.” The Home page of the Recovery Management Services website includes links to several professional associations, the Code of Federal Regulations, the FDCPA, the U.S. Department of Education, and several sites providing information about student loan financing.
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 13 complaints against Recovery Management Services 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, although several consumers also complained about advertising and sales or customer service. Since May 2015, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has closed 15 complaints against RMS. Justia lists at least 4 cases of civil litigation involving Recovery Management Services.
Recovery Management Services, Inc.
4200 Cantera Drive, Suite 211
Warrenville, IL 60555
Telephone: (800) 900-3944
Website: http://www.rmscollects.com/
It is illegal for a debt collector to make empty threats to sue you or garnish your wages. It is also unlikely RMS 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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In April 2012, in United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, a judge issued a Memorandum Opinion and Order in a case alleging Recovery Management Services had violated certain provisions of the FDCPA. The April 2012 hearing was held to make a decision about an Answer supplemented by affirmative defenses that RMS had submitted in response to charges that their collection activity had violated federal laws. The judge’s opinion in this case did not focus on the substance of the plaintiff’s claim that RMS had engaged in illegal activity; instead, the judge’s decision was informed by an analysis of the Answer filed by attorneys for Recovery Management Services, which the judge described as reflective of RMS’s “flouting of the mandates of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure …8 and 11(b)…the latter of which requires objective good faith on the part of parties and their counsel.”
According to the judge, the Answer to the plaintiff’s complaint that RMS submitted to the court “betrayed a failure to read and follow the plain roadmap marked out by Rule 8… as the basis for a disclaimer.” This Rule states that if a party is to deny an allegation, it must show that it “lacks sufficient knowledge to admit or deny” …the allegation, or… that it lacks “enough information to form a belief as to the truth” of an allegation. Although RMS submitted an Answer using Rule 8 as a basis, they also cited Rule 11, which allows them to deny an allegation. Thus, the judge insisted that it is oxymoronic for Recovery Management Services to claim on the one hand that it did not possess enough information to either admit or deny an allegation while simultaneously denying the allegation of which it claims not to have had enough knowledge. Even worse, the judge pointed to one particularly extreme example of semantic gamesmanship on the part of RMS, indicating the absurdity of citing these two Rules of Civil Procedure in an attempt to claim an inability “to admit or to deny unconditionally…whether it is a ‘debt collector’ within the meaning of the” FDCPA.
The judge cited several more instances of RMS’s efforts to attempt to escape liability by insisting on manufactured technicalities, which were arguably the entire reason Congress passed the FDCPA in the first place. As a result of their judicial misconduct, the judge in this case was forced to consider what punitive measures should be applied to RMS’s legal team. He dismissed the possibility of a “modest monetary sanction” as ineffective and a “heavier financial imposition” as inappropriate. Instead, he instructed attorneys for Recovery Management Services to correct and refile the pleading at no charge to the client, and file proof with the court that the corrections were made along with proof that the time to amend the pleading did not involve monetary compensation.
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…
“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.”
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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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Rms legit scam
RMS collections conduct a completely unprofessional and bordering on inhumane way of conducting their business.
I received in excess of 20 phone calls, one after the other, all from my private nondisclosed number. Not one voice message was left And I Deem this Disgraceful Conduct, to be completely unethical & Unacceptable.
I proceeded to notify Michael Stanyer That I had just been told my diagnosis of brain tumour, Literally minutes earlier, Yet continued to receive Treatment that I can like into nothing other than vultures over a decomposing body.
You should be ashamed of yourselves & honestly reflect upon the way you conduct business and attempt to adapt a more humane approach.
Honestly I would’ve quickly and happily resolved the issue at hand in full, had the way the situation was addressed, the way I was treated & Spoken to spoken to been different.
I’ve received calls from these people, at all times of day saying I need to call before “further actions are taken” I’ve only been told there is a case against me and I need to respond to stop further action, they never say what it’s about and my mother and brother have received calls as qe