Mel S. Harris and Associates, LLC CFPB Complaints

2000 Latest Complaints

Date Received	Timely Response	Product	Issue	State / Zip	Submitted Via	Tags
03/19/2015	Yes	Credit card	Other	NY 14094	Web	Older American
Mel S. Harris & assoc. used deceptive collection practices while attempting to collect on a purchased debt. Once initial contact had been made and a discussion on solutions to resolve the debt, the attorney office sent out a summons for an appearance in court. The representative had advised us that " we should not worry because we will receive several of these notifications. '' However, there was a case filed in the city court and required an immediate response to avoid a default judgment. This summons was used as a collection tool while in mutual good faith discussion on how to repay the debt. The representatives refused to discuss reasonable payment arrangements and told us to deal with the courts. When I inquired as to why a summons was sent out while we were talking to their agency in good faith I was hung up on. After calling back XXXX times I was finally connected to a supervisor who again tried to tell me not to worry about the summons. As I inquired further as to the reason of the summons I was hung up on again. I was hung up on a total of XXXX times while asking to speak to a manager or an attorney within their office. This debt is over XXXX years old and was supposedly incurred by my mother in law who is on a fixed income and under the care of XXXX. Every time I had requested documentation or verification of the debt I was told to deal with it in court -- even though I was assured prior, that nothing had been sent or filed with the court! I am an advocate for my mother in law while dealing with what I consider to be an unprofessional and unscrupulous debt collector. The summons was sent just to solidify their subtle threats of garnishment, liens, or any other means at their disposal. My concern is that this would appear to be a regular occurrence with this agency. Once the attorney office makes contact with a consumer they issue a summons to scare the debtor. My mother in law was served on XXXX/XXXX/15 ; we had started discussing the debt on XXXX/XXXX/15 which means they ordered it while we were discussing in good faith our options on the debt. Mel S. Harris & assoc is using the power and intimidation of the summons and the court system as a scare tactic and collection tool to coerce and discriminate against consumers
07/09/2015	Yes	Debt collection Credit card	Taking/threatening an illegal action Seized/Attempted to seize property	NY 27606	Web
My checking and savings at XXXX XXXX XXXX were put on hold. I went to my bank to inquire why. They gave me a phone # ( XXXX ) XXXX. I was told I have an outstanding debt with XXXX that had been sold to Mel S. Harris and Associates in NY. I was told they were sending letters to a home I have n't lived at for well over a decade. I was told they had a legal right to seize my money. I was told the debt was from XX/XX/XXXX. The original debt was from the mid XX/XX/XXXX. In XX/XX/XXXX I was repairing my credit score and settled this debt to the best of my recollection. I no longer have records this far back. I sent a letter to XXXX yesterday in an attempt to track the settlement. It is the beginning of the month. This is when most of my bills are due. I have checks out there. XXXX is to a court for an unrelated incident. If that check bounces because of this I will probably have a XXXX for my arrest. It is a violation and a {$25.00} check. It is very bad on so many levels. Untangling this mess is costing me money everyday I can not access my bank accounts and their former contents. In all likelihood this has set off a chain of events that could take years to untangle. I missed a potential job interview trying to resolve this. I just XXXX with a XXXX degree and am trying to embark on a new career. I am getting married and they took the savings that I 've scraped together working XXXX jobs, XXXX days a week while I was taking XXXX credit hours of collage classes. As I am typing this I am missing work. I work in the XXXX industry. I do not get paid sick days or time off. It also just looks bad as I had to tell my employers why I am missing days. I might lose shifts permanently because I 'm missing shifts. I am waiting to hear back from Mel S. Harris. I left a message and the representative also told me she 'd be calling me back today. So far no call. I 've tried to make contact at her office repeatedly today. I may have to keep trying tomorrow. I 've spent the last few days researching what i can to and trying to contact anyone to help. It 's eating up my work and school time. Time is money.
07/09/2021	No	Debt collection Credit card debt	Took or threatened to take negative or legal action Sued you in a state where you do not live or did not sign for the debt	FL 32738	Web
I was sued by Mel S. Harris and Associates LLC under XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX for a credit card debt incurred and signed for in XXXX, XXXX which was my residence between XXXX - XXXX. The lawsuit happened in XXXX and was served to an address in XXXX, XXXX that I or no relative of mine lived at anymore and I lost the judgement I was unaware existed until my XXXX XXXX ( XXXX XXXX at the time ) account was seized in XXXX where I then lived behind the lost judgment. I tried to resolve with the firm at the time and they were demanding more money and unwilling to settle with the funds they had already taken through the XXXX XXXX judgement. I walked away from the account and moved on. Sykes v. Mel S. Harris & Associates LLC was a class action lawsuit that happened between XXXX against them for the sewer service situation that I should of been a part of and was not. They settled for XXXX XXXX and that information was likely sent to that address in XXXX also. The lost Judgement against me is still active in XXXX, XXXX and I need it vacated since it clearly says on the judgment the server taped the subpoena to the door of an address I hadn't lived at for 7 or 8 years and was not where the debt even occurred that I was being served for. The lawyer was aware at the time XXXX was a state I could not be sued in. In XXXX the case was transferred to XXXX XXXX XXXX where XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX took me to court and I was granted an exemption and told to resolve the case in XXXX so no other law firm would try to collect again. Since then the debt has moved to XXXX XXXX XXXX. I was told at that time about the judgments being vacated but now I am finding out it not and is still active in XXXX and XXXX and simply had an exemption on it now.
06/08/2015	Yes	Debt collection Credit card	Disclosure verification of debt Not given enough info to verify debt	NY 11103	Web
I got a letter from my bank XXXX XXXX XXXX back in XX/XX/XXXX. Stating that a company named : Mel S Harris was trying to garnish my checking and whatever accounts I have. XXXX stated that my income deposited is from social security XXXX, and by law they can not do their action. About a few days later. Mel S Harris contacted me, stating that they have a judgement on me. And I must pay them, or they will keep garnishing my accounts. Mind you, i never received a letter or summons, to appear in court. When I mentioned to this the debt collector. She said they sent it, and it 's my problem that i did n't get it. and since the judge ruled in their favor. I must pay the debt. I did some research on my state 's court website. And yes they got a default judgement on myself. I also googled this company. And i found a lot of complaints from various people, around the USA. I also read some press releases from my attorney general at the time, XXXX XXXX from New York State. He stated that debt collection agencies who got judgements. Used illegal tactics to attain them. Mel s Harris - was caught and sued for not serving clients with summonses. But claim they did. Also a mass class action lawsuit was filed against them in court. Which they lost in XX/XX/XXXX of this year. Below are the website links, in regard to this company : XXXXXXXXhere is the decision by XXXX v. XXXX XXXX heard in XXXX XXXX Court : XXXX : XXXX i attached a file from the FTC in regards to the lawsuit . hope this is enough information. If you need to contact me for whatever reason. Call me at XXXXXXXXthanks, XXXX XXXX
06/12/2015	Yes	Debt collection Credit card	Taking/threatening an illegal action Sued w/o proper notification of suit	NY 11103	Web
Last year of XXXX - i got a letter from my bank XXXX XXXX XXXX. They said that a debt collection agency who is called XXXX law firm. XXXX said they can not allow the garnish because I receive Social Security XXXX. In the packet I got. I had to fill out my situation and mail it in. I thought and my bank said. you, wont be contacted again, and do n't be nervous or have your issues flare up. This year of XXXX XXXX i get a call from a lady named XXXX XXXX she wont give her last name. She said when am I gon na pay this debt i owe. I asked her can you send me proof I owe you money. she said, she sent it, and I dont have to give it to you again. she said once i get a lawsuit and default judgement on you. I can keep calling all I want, in attempt to collect the debt. Her Company XXXX - again tried to freeze/garnish my account. Again I called and got the same lady XXXX. She knew my voice and said are you ready to pay up. I said I would like to know the server that issued me a court hearing. As I never got XXXX at all. she told me i dont have to, and your credit reports will damaged for 20 years until said debt is paid off. when i asked her can yyou send me the verification of the debt. She hung up. besides the original frozen/cease of my accounts in XX/XX/XXXX no letters. I checked my local court and yes they got a default judgement on me. From some company called XXXX XXXX XXXX. since XXXX. it wil be a treck to get there. but i will try it some how.
03/13/2019	No	Debt collection Other debt	False statements or representation Attempted to collect wrong amount	FL 33444	Web	Older American
On XX/XX/2018I had outpatient XXXX at XXXX XXXX Medical Center XXXX XXXX XXXX, in XXXX, FL. Prior to the XXXX the outpatient XXXX nurse at XXXX had contacted my physician, XXXX XXXX XXXX, MD, in XXXX XXXX, Fl and given him a list of pre-op laboratory tests that were required to be completed prior to the procedure. This list omitted the PT and PTT tests. These tests could have been done by the lab that did my other tests, at little or no expense to me, but because they were omitted by XXXX 's nurse, the hospital did them as a " stat '' test immediately prior to the outpatient procedure. Neither the procedure or the tests are considered to be for an " emergent '' situation for the following reasons : 1. this was an outpatient test and the diagnosis did not warrant admission to the hospital. 2. The physician that performed the XXXX XXXX at XXXX did not deem the test as " stat '' or emergent as his office scheduled the test 3 weeks after the referral to his office was submitted by my consulting spine surgeon. 3. the diagnosis of possible XXXX XXXX is by definition a chronic, not acute, condition. I was not given the opportunity to have my lab perform the tests because outpatient intake nurse said she would " take care of it ''. The procedure could have been rescheduled for another time but this option was not presented. Instead my blood was drawn and the tests done and the charge that was submitted was for a " stat '' procedure.
04/20/2015	Yes	Debt collection Credit card	Disclosure verification of debt Not given enough info to verify debt	FL 32608	Web	Servicemember
There was a judgement filed against us by XXXX, on an account we have not idea about. The credit card company XXXX no longer exsists for us to verify. We had to make many calls just to find out how to pay it off, we finally were referred to Mel Harris Associates. They have been very hard to deal with. When my husband reached them to make arragements to pay this off, he recieved a verbal agreement on terms to pay and in return have this taken off our credit report. They said they would send a letter agreeing. We did not recieve anything for weeks and then he got an email later followed by a letter, the problem is the dates we agreed to pay were incorrect and the agreement to remove the judgement was not stated. He emailed numberous times along with calls, but no response. He finally called and spoke to a supervisor and was toold we did not stick to agreement and needed to pay that day. We insisted on getting a letter first and still have not recieved one. This was XXXX XXXX and XXXX. We have money to pay, but still not recieving necessry response.
07/10/2015	Yes	Debt collection Credit card	Disclosure verification of debt Not given enough info to verify debt	NY 11224	Web	Older American
my mom got a letter in the mail from mel s harris assoicates she is XXXX years old and they threaten to close her bank acounts she paided off the debt of XXXX dollars all she gets is social security and a pension, She was paying XXXX a month, my mom has know saving account she lives paycheck to paycheck, The debt was with housebank for XXXX in 2004 they threatened to close her bank accounts she gets direct deposit thats why she paided the whole amount and they never served her with papers
12/04/2017	No	Debt collection I do not know	Written notification about debt Didn't receive enough information to verify debt	NY 14221	Web	Older American
Unaware that there may have been any debt obligation until garnishment notification was sent to employer. All correspondence regarding requests for documentation are being attached for review
04/21/2015	Yes	Debt collection Credit card	Cont'd attempts collect debt not owed Debt is not mine	NY 10314	Web
I had the judgment for this debt vacated in 2011 against XXXX and now this new company is contacting me about the same thing.
04/18/2017	No	Debt collection Credit card	Cont'd attempts collect debt not owed Debt is not mine	NY 11206	Web
it 's been over 9 years i keep getting letters from a debt law firm
08/05/2015	Yes	Debt collection Auto	Communication tactics Frequent or repeated calls	NY 10456	Referral

06/11/2015	Yes	Debt collection I do not know	Disclosure verification of debt Not given enough info to verify debt	NY 11210	Referral

03/27/2015	Yes	Debt collection Credit card	Taking/threatening an illegal action Sued w/o proper notification of suit	NY 11102	Web

03/11/2015	Yes	Debt collection Credit card	Taking/threatening an illegal action Threatened to sue on too old debt	NY 12729	Web

03/09/2015	Yes	Debt collection Other (i.e. phone, health club, etc.)	Taking/threatening an illegal action Seized/Attempted to seize property	NY 11230	Web

02/02/2015	Yes	Debt collection Credit card	Taking/threatening an illegal action Threatened to sue on too old debt	NY 11378	Web

11/12/2014	Yes	Debt collection Credit card	Improper contact or sharing of info Contacted employer after asked not to	NY 11428	Web

10/21/2014	Yes	Debt collection Credit card	Disclosure verification of debt Right to dispute notice not received	NY 10589	Web	Older American, Servicemember

10/14/2014	Yes	Debt collection Credit card	Cont'd attempts collect debt not owed Debt was paid	NY 11212	Web

07/29/2014	Yes	Debt collection Credit card	Taking/threatening an illegal action Threatened to sue on too old debt	NY 14217	Web

07/03/2014	Yes	Debt collection I do not know	Taking/threatening an illegal action Seized/Attempted to seize property	NY 14225	Web

06/19/2014	Yes	Debt collection Credit card	Communication tactics Threatened to take legal action		Phone

05/01/2014	Yes	Debt collection Credit card	Cont'd attempts collect debt not owed Debt is not mine	NY 14215	Web

04/30/2014	Yes	Debt collection I do not know	Taking/threatening an illegal action Seized/Attempted to seize property	NJ 07724	Web

04/27/2014	Yes	Debt collection I do not know	Taking/threatening an illegal action Seized/Attempted to seize property	NJ 11201	Web

04/10/2014	Yes	Debt collection I do not know	Cont'd attempts collect debt not owed Debt is not mine	NY 11369	Web

04/02/2014	Yes	Debt collection Credit card	Cont'd attempts collect debt not owed Debt resulted from identity theft	NY 11206	Web

03/27/2014	Yes	Debt collection Other (i.e. phone, health club, etc.)	Taking/threatening an illegal action Sued w/o proper notification of suit	FL 33130	Referral

03/16/2014	Yes	Debt collection I do not know	Disclosure verification of debt Right to dispute notice not received	NY 11766	Web

03/06/2014	Yes	Debt collection I do not know	Cont'd attempts collect debt not owed Debt resulted from identity theft	NY 11224	Referral

03/03/2014	Yes	Debt collection Credit card	Taking/threatening an illegal action Sued w/o proper notification of suit	TX 75040	Web

02/20/2014	Yes	Debt collection Credit card	Cont'd attempts collect debt not owed Debt is not mine	NY 14622	Web

02/04/2014	Yes	Debt collection Other (i.e. phone, health club, etc.)	Taking/threatening an illegal action Sued w/o proper notification of suit	NY 11372	Web

01/09/2014	Yes	Debt collection I do not know	Cont'd attempts collect debt not owed Debt is not mine	NY 11434	Postal mail	Older American

01/09/2014	Yes	Debt collection Credit card	Disclosure verification of debt Not given enough info to verify debt	NY 11225	Referral

08/16/2013	Yes	Debt collection Credit card	False statements or representation Attempted to collect wrong amount	NY 11216	Web