Allied Interstate, Inc.

Where is Allied Interstate, Inc.:

Allied Interstate, Inc.
435 Ford Rd. #800
Minneapolis, MN 55426-1066
Phone: (952) 546-6600
Fax: (952) 595-2311
www.irmc.com

Part of the Intellirisk Companies

Vikas Kapoor, President & CEO
Randy Christofferson, Chairman of the Board
Norman Merritt, CFO
Jeff Swedberg, President
Jim Pond, Senior Vice President

Who is Allied Interstate Co?
On October 21, 2010 the Federal Trade Commission issued this press release about Allied Interstate, Inc.:

'For Release: 10/21/2010

"Debt Collector Will Pay $1.75 Million to Settle FTC Charges
Ignored Consumers' Disputes Without Checking Its Information for Accuracy
To resolve Federal Trade Commission charges, one of the nation's largest debt collectors will pay $1.75 million for allegedly making repeated telephone calls to collect from the wrong person, to collect the wrong amount, or both. The settlement is the second largest civil penalty obtained by the FTC in a debt collection case.

'Debt collectors had better make sure their information is accurate, or they could end up paying a big penalty,' said David Vladeck, Director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection.
'There is no excuse for trying to collect debt from someone if you can't confirm that they
actually owe it.'

According to the FTC's complaint, between 2006 and at least 2008, Allied Interstate, Inc.
continued collection efforts even after consumers told the company they did not owe the debt,
without verifying the accuracy of the disputed information. Allied is a Minnesota corporation
that works out of offices in the United States, Canada, India, and the Philippines. The company
also allegedly made improper harassing phone calls to consumers, using abusive language or
calling many times a day for weeks or months, sometimes hanging up when the calls were
answered. In addition, the complaint charges that Allied made repeat calls to third parties seeking to locate a consumer, revealed alleged debts to third parties without the consumers' consent or court permission, and threatened legal action against consumers it did not intend to take. The complaint alleges that these practices violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act.

In addition to the monetary penalty, the proposed consent decree requires Allied to take specific steps whenever (1) a consumer disputes that he or she owes the debt or the amount of the debt, or (2) a reasonable person would consider the information on which Allied is relying to collect the debt to be implausible, facially unreliable, or missing essential information. In either circumstance, Allied must either close the account and end collection efforts or suspend
collection until it has conducted a reasonable investigation and verified that its information about the debt is accurate and complete. If Allied cannot substantiate that the consumer owes the debt, the company cannot sell the debt or provide it to any business other than the client from which it obtained the debt.

The consent decree also bars Allied from:

Making false statements to collect a debt or obtain information about a consumer;

Making claims that a debt is owed or about the amount without a reasonable basis;

Asking a third party for a consumer's location information more than once without that third party's consent or a reasonable belief that the person's earlier response was wrong or incomplete and that the person now has correct location information;

Communicating with third parties about a consumer's debt without the consumer's consent or court permission;

Using obscene or profane language or harassing consumers with repeated phone calls;

Making any other false or misleading statement in collecting a debt, including threatening action it does not intend to take; and

Violating the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

The Commission vote to authorize staff to refer the complaint and the consent decree to the Department of Justice for filing was 5-0. The documents were filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota.

In some unrelated matters, courts have said the following about Allied Interstate's collection practices:

One court found that Allied Interstate violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act when it used a false that name appeared on a consumer's caller I.D. unit. Knoll v. Allied Interstate (D. Minn., June 21, 2007).

Another court found that a consumer stated a claim against Allied Interstate when the consumer alleged Allied Interstate sent letters threatening to disclose private information to affiliated and non-affiliated companied, as well as other third-parties. Smith v. Allied Interstate, Inc. (M.D. Ala., December 23, 2009)."

As you can see by the above FTC press release, there are laws that protect consumers from abusive, harassing and unfair debt collection practices.

Don't Put up with Abusive Debt Collection Methods.

If Allied Interstate or any other debt collector has mistreated you, get in touch with our California Consumer Protection Lawyer today for representation. With his help, you can work towards ending the abuse.