Most collectors operate under one rulebook. Action Collection Agency answers to two, and that works in your favor. Based in Middleboro, Massachusetts, this agency is bound not only by the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act but also by Massachusetts collection regulations that are among the toughest in the country, including a hard limit on how often it may telephone you. A collector that would be perfectly legal in most states can be breaking the rules the moment it dials your number a third time in a week from Massachusetts.
That double layer is the thread running through this guide. Understanding where Action Collection Agency’s Massachusetts roots give you extra leverage, and where its letters have already landed it in federal court, turns a stressful barrage of calls into a situation you can actually control. If you want your specific circumstances weighed at no charge, start a free case review or call (877) 700-5790.
Who Action Collection Agency Is
The company’s full name is Action Collection Agencies, Inc., and it does business as Action Collection Agency of Boston. It has operated out of southeastern Massachusetts since the late 1960s, making it one of the older regional collection outfits in New England, and it runs a broad book of business rather than a single specialty.
- Company: Action Collection Agencies, Inc. (doing business as Action Collection Agency of Boston)
- Address: 16 Commerce Blvd, Middleboro, MA 02346
- Phone: (508) 923-0310 and (800) 478-7421
- Website: actioncollection.com
- In business since: 1967
- Leadership: Jay E. Gonsalves, President
- What it handles: Third-party debt collection, revenue-cycle work for healthcare and other creditors, charge-off recovery, first-party collections, skip tracing, repossession, and payment processing
Because its portfolio spans medical bills, retail and credit accounts, and other consumer debts, the balance a caller mentions could originate almost anywhere. That variety is one more reason to make the agency prove exactly what it is collecting and for whom before you engage. You are entitled to written validation of the debt, and on accounts that have moved through billing systems and charge-offs, the documentation is often where the claim gets shaky.
Why the Massachusetts Address Matters More Than You Think
Action Collection Agency operates from a state whose consumer-protection rules go well beyond the federal floor. The Massachusetts Attorney General’s debt collection regulations, codified at 940 CMR 7.00, spell out conduct that counts as unfair or deceptive within the Commonwealth, and several of those limits are stricter than anything in the FDCPA.
The headline rule is the cap on phone contact. Under 940 CMR 7.04, a collector generally may not initiate more than two telephone communications in any seven-day period to a debtor about a given debt, whether it reaches the person at home or on a personal cell number. Compare that to the federal standard, where the presumptive limit is seven call attempts in seven days, and you can see how much narrower the Massachusetts window is. The same regulation restricts calls to normal waking hours, defaulting to 8:00 a.m. through 9:00 p.m. Eastern when the collector does not know a person’s schedule, and it caps in-person visits to a debtor’s home at one per thirty days. You can review the framework on the state’s own site at Mass.gov and the regulatory text on Justia’s regulations library.
Two more provisions matter in daily life. The rules bar a collector from confronting you about a debt in a public place, and they require it to stop calling your job once you ask, in writing or orally. That workplace rule, as the next section shows, is exactly where this agency’s paperwork has drawn a lawsuit. If you want to see how Massachusetts stacks up against other states, our overview of collection laws by state puts it in context.
The Two-Call Rule Versus What Consumers Describe
A rule is only as good as its enforcement, and the gap between the two-call-per-week limit and what some consumers report is striking. In a complaint recorded on the agency’s Better Business Bureau profile, one person described receiving “more than 20 direct phone calls and daily messages” over a matter that, they said, belonged in the workers’ compensation system rather than collections. If accurate, a pattern like that would sit far outside what Massachusetts allows for calls about a single debt, and the agency’s response acknowledged an error and agreed to stop contacting the person.
That same BBB file, which logs roughly two dozen complaints over a recent three-year stretch, includes other revealing entries. One consumer reported being called about “a credit card debt that I do not have,” with the agency claiming around $10,000 before verifying that no such account existed under the person’s name and adding the number to a do-not-call list. Another described repeated calls with no written breakdown of the debt, to which the company responded that its records showed fewer than two calls a month on average. Whether or not you accept the agency’s numbers, the recurring theme, disputes over how often the phone rings and whether the debt is even real, is the same theme Massachusetts law was written to address.
These are individual accounts rather than proven findings, but they are worth logging against the legal yardstick. If your own call history looks anything like a call every day or two, and the account is a Massachusetts matter, that frequency alone may cross a line.
When a Massachusetts Letter Crosses State Lines: McDaniel v. Action Collection Agencies
The most instructive lawsuit against this agency flips the Massachusetts angle on its head, and it is worth understanding in detail. In McDaniel v. Action Collection Agencies, Inc., filed November 8, 2018 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida (Case No. 2:18-cv-14459), a Florida consumer received a collection letter over a $306.30 medical bill from a Steward Medical Group provider. The letter, mailed by the Massachusetts agency, included language telling her that an oral request to stop workplace calls would be “valid for only ten (10) days unless you provide written confirmation.”
The problem, according to the complaint, was that this was Massachusetts law being recited to a Florida resident. The ten-day and written-confirmation conditions come straight from the Commonwealth’s rules, but they are not requirements under the federal FDCPA. The suit alleged that dropping that state-specific fine print into a letter sent out of state misrepresented the consumer’s actual federal rights, in violation of 15 U.S.C. § 1692e(10), which forbids false or misleading representations, and it referenced the FDCPA’s workplace-contact provision at § 1692c(a)(3). The complaint, brought as a proposed class action for Florida recipients of the same language, is archived on ClassAction.org.
The takeaway is subtle but important. A collector cannot simply paste its home-state script onto every letter and assume it is compliant everywhere, because language that satisfies Massachusetts can mislead a consumer somewhere else. If you received a letter from this agency that quoted rules that did not seem to match your state, that mismatch is not a technicality; it was the entire basis of a federal case.
What Else the Court Files Show
Not every suit against the agency has gone the consumer’s way, and honest guidance means saying so. In Deleon v. Action Collection Agency of Boston, litigated in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (Case No. 1:17-cv-08899), the court granted the agency’s motion for summary judgment in a decision entered May 3, 2018, ending the case in the collector’s favor. The docket is available on Justia.
The contrast between McDaniel and Deleon is the real lesson. FDCPA outcomes hinge on the precise facts, the exact wording of a letter, and the evidence a consumer can marshal, which is why a strong claim rests on documentation rather than frustration. One plaintiff’s theory survived and framed a class action; another’s did not clear summary judgment. Yours will rise or fall on specifics, and that is precisely what a careful review sorts out before you commit to anything.
What Consumers Report on the Review Boards
Beyond the courtroom, complaint platforms fill in the texture of day-to-day dealings with the agency. On RevDex, consumers have raised issues that cluster around credit reporting and documentation rather than raw call volume. One reviewer objected that the agency marked an account as a “paid collection” when, they said, a full deletion had been agreed to, warning that the notation “is going to stick with me for several years” and cost them on future loan rates. Another wrote that despite asking for mail-only contact and an itemized statement, “there is still no breakdown of what I am actually being charged for,” and a third recounted paying what was owed and then calling repeatedly to get receipts that never arrived.
Taken together with the BBB entries, the reviews sketch a familiar profile: disputes over whether the debt was properly documented, whether it was reported accurately, and whether the agency honored the arrangements it made. None of these is a legal ruling, and the agency has responded to many of them, but the pattern points to the same defensive moves that protect any consumer, get it in writing, insist on an itemization, and keep proof of every payment and promise.
Your Federal Protections Sit on Top of the State Rules
The Massachusetts regulations do not replace your federal rights; they stack on them. Under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), Action Collection Agency cannot lie about the amount or status of a debt, cannot threaten steps it will not take, cannot spill news of your debt to other people, and cannot keep calling your workplace after you have told it to stop, a point that sits at the center of the McDaniel dispute and is worth knowing in its own right through our explainer on whether a collector can call you at work.
Automated calls add another dimension. The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) restricts robocalls and prerecorded messages to your cell phone without consent, and once you revoke consent, they must stop. Each violating call can carry $500, or up to $1,500 for a willful violation. And if the account is being reported incorrectly, the Fair Credit Reporting Act lets you dispute the reporting, the exact remedy the RevDex “paid collection” complaint was reaching for.
Where the Law May Work in Your Favor
The table maps the issues our firm most often evaluates when Action Collection Agency is involved, spanning the Massachusetts rules and your federal protections.
| The issue | What it looks like | The rule | What may follow |
|---|---|---|---|
| More than two calls a week | Frequent calls about one Massachusetts debt | 940 CMR 7.04(1)(f) | State unfair-practice claim under Ch. 93A |
| Calls to your job after you object | Workplace calls despite a stop request | 940 CMR 7.04(1)(h); FDCPA §805 | Up to $1,000 + actual damages + fees |
| Misstating your rights in a letter | Reciting state-only terms to out-of-state consumers | FDCPA §807(10) | Up to $1,000 + actual damages + fees |
| Robocalls without consent | Automated or recorded calls to your cell | TCPA, 47 U.S.C. § 227 | $500 to $1,500 per call |
| Chasing an unverified debt | Demands with no itemization or proof | FDCPA §809 | Up to $1,000 + actual damages + fees |
| Inaccurate credit reporting | A disputed or wrongly labeled account | FCRA | Actual and potential statutory damages |
A note on the Massachusetts side: violations of 940 CMR 7.00 are treated as unfair or deceptive acts under the state’s consumer-protection statute, Chapter 93A, which carries its own remedies separate from the federal law. That is a meaningful extra avenue that consumers in most other states simply do not have.
How to Respond If Action Collection Agency Contacts You
Work through these steps in order, and keep copies of everything.
- Count the calls, and know your state. If you are in Massachusetts, log each call with dates and times and measure it against the two-per-week limit. That record is your single most useful piece of evidence.
- Demand written validation and an itemization. Insist on proof of the debt, the original creditor, and a line-by-line breakdown through a validation request. Do not pay or agree to a plan until you have it in hand.
- Put your contact limits in writing. Tell the agency in writing to stop calling your workplace, or to communicate by mail only, and keep proof you sent it. Do not rely on a verbal request alone.
- Get any agreement in writing before you pay. The review boards show disputes over deletions, receipts, and “paid collection” labels. Confirm in writing exactly how a payment or settlement will be reported, then keep the receipts.
- Escalate if the conduct continues. If the calls exceed the limits, the debt cannot be validated, or a letter misstated your rights, a consumer-rights attorney can assess claims under both Massachusetts law and the FDCPA. When a collector violates the law, the statute lets a court order it to pay your legal fees, not you.
Consumer Rights Law Firm, PLLC
Consumer Rights Law Firm, PLLC is a law firm that specializes in helping clients who are facing harassment from debt collectors. If you suspect that your debt collection rights are being trampled upon, contact our office to begin the process to stop the harassment you may currently be receiving from Action Collection Agency. Our office has been assisting consumers since 2010, and we have an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau.
Call us at 877-700-5790. for immediate assistance.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Action Collection Agency?
It is Action Collection Agencies, Inc., doing business as Action Collection Agency of Boston, a Middleboro, Massachusetts collection company operating since 1967 that handles medical, retail, and other consumer debts.
How often can they legally call me?
If your debt is governed by Massachusetts rules, a collector generally may not initiate more than two telephone communications about it in any seven-day period under 940 CMR 7.04, a stricter limit than the federal standard.
They call me every day. Is that allowed?
For a Massachusetts debt, daily calls would likely exceed the two-per-week limit. Log every call with the date and time, because that record is central to enforcing the rule.
Can they call me at work?
Not after you tell them to stop. Both Massachusetts rules and the FDCPA restrict workplace calls once you object, and misstating those rights in a letter was the basis of the McDaniel lawsuit.
Has Action Collection Agency been sued?
Yes. In McDaniel v. Action Collection Agencies, a Florida consumer alleged its letter misstated her rights, while in Deleon v. Action Collection Agency of Boston a court granted the agency summary judgment. Outcomes depend on the specific facts.
Do I have to prove the debt is not mine?
No. You can require the agency to validate the debt and provide an itemization, and it must do so before continuing to collect. Ask for it in writing.
Can they robocall my cell phone?
Generally not without your consent, and they must stop once you revoke it. Automated or recorded calls that continue may violate the TCPA.
What is Chapter 93A?
It is the Massachusetts consumer-protection statute. Because violations of the state’s debt collection rules are treated as unfair or deceptive practices, Chapter 93A can provide remedies on top of your federal claims.
They reported my paid account as a “collection.” Can I fix that?
You can dispute inaccurate or misleading credit reporting under the FCRA. Keep any written agreement about how the account would be reported, then challenge entries that do not match it.
What should I do first?
Start a call log, demand written validation, and put your contact preferences in writing. If the conduct continues or a letter misstated your rights, have it reviewed. Learn how to sue a debt collector if it crossed the line.
