Action Collectors, Inc. Phone Harassment?

Action Collectors, Inc., sometimes shortened to ACI, is a third-party debt collector operating from 4807 Rockside Road in Independence, Ohio, in the Cleveland suburbs. It recovers unpaid accounts that creditors assign to it, working balances through calls and letters. Two bodies of law shape your situation: the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, which governs its calls, and the Ohio Consumer Sales Practices Act, one of the stronger state consumer statutes in the country, which Ohio courts have applied to debt collectors.

Consumer Rights Law Firm PLLC has represented consumers against collectors since 2010 and holds an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau. Call (877) 700-5790 or open a free case review. You pay nothing, and a collector that violates the law pays our fees.

Quick Facts About Action Collectors, Inc.

Sources: Ohio Supreme Court and Ohio Attorney General.

Is Action Collectors, Inc. the Same as Other “Action” Collection Agencies?

No, and telling them apart protects your case. The Action Collectors, Inc. at the Rockside Road address in Independence is a Northeast Ohio operation, distinct from Action Collectors Incorporated in Yakima, Washington, from Action Collection Service, Inc. in Boise, Idaho, and from Action Collection Agencies. Those are separate businesses with their own records, phone numbers, and any litigation, so complaints or lawsuits attached to them do not belong to the Ohio agency.

The practical takeaway is to confirm exactly who is contacting you. A caller using the Action Collectors name should be able to state the Independence, Ohio company, the original creditor, and the account, and if the details point to Washington, Idaho, or elsewhere, you may be dealing with a different collector entirely. Sending a dispute to the wrong company wastes time and weakens your position.

Are the Calls From Action Collectors, Inc. Legal?

They can be lawful, but Ohio gives you an unusually strong backstop when they are not. Action Collectors may contact you about a genuine account assigned to it, yet the FDCPA restricts a wide range of tactics, and the Ohio Consumer Sales Practices Act, enforced by the state Attorney General and by private lawsuit, prohibits unfair and deceptive collection conduct. Ohio courts have confirmed that this statute reaches debt collectors, which means a single deceptive act can expose the agency to state penalties on top of federal ones.

Conduct that can be unlawful includes:

• Reaching you before 8:00 a.m. or after 9:00 p.m. in your local time.
• Auto-dialing your cell or leaving prerecorded messages without your consent.
• Discussing your debt with a relative, coworker, or neighbor.
• Threatening a lawsuit, garnishment, or arrest the agency will not or cannot pursue.
• Misstating the balance, the creditor, or your right to dispute.
• Refusing to send written validation after you request it.
• Continuing to contact you after a written cease-and-desist.

A point specific to Ohio: because the state does not license collection agencies, you cannot verify legitimacy through a license, so demanding written proof is your first safeguard, and the Consumer Sales Practices Act gives you remedies when a collector deceives you.

Is This Harassment, and How Often Can Action Collectors Call You?

Yes, a pattern of repeated calls can qualify as harassment, whether the agency is large or small. Regulation F (12 C.F.R. §1006.14) presumes harassment when a collector calls more than seven times in seven days about one account, or calls again within a week of speaking with you, and the FDCPA independently bans calls meant to annoy or oppress.

When a Northeast Ohio consumer brings us a run of calls, we chart the sequence first, capturing each number, the time, and what was said. A Cleveland-area office that dials several times a day, or resumes after you already spoke with a representative, is generating the record the rule was designed to catch. You do not need to prove the caller meant harm, only that the frequency or timing was unreasonable.

The agency also may not disclose your debt to others. Under FDCPA §805(b), it may contact other people only to locate you and never to reveal the balance, a limit Ohio law reinforces.

Who Is Action Collectors, Inc. and Why Are They Calling You?

Action Collectors, Inc. is a Cleveland-area collection company based in Independence, Ohio, a suburb that is home to a cluster of collection agencies and creditor law firms. It recovers accounts that creditors assign to it, so rather than a business you dealt with, it is the outside agency your provider or lender handed the balance to after it went unpaid, which is why the caller may be unfamiliar even when the account is not.

For a regional collector, the accounts commonly begin with medical or dental care, a credit or retail account, a utility, or another local service in the Cleveland and Northeast Ohio market. If a bill aged and went to collections, the creditor may have routed it here later. Because these balances can carry billing or insurance errors and may be older than you recall, both the amount and whether it is truly yours deserve scrutiny before you pay. Our types of debts page explains the categories, and our medical bills page covers healthcare accounts.

Is Action Collectors, Inc. a Scam, and How Do You Verify the Debt?

It is a real Ohio collection company rather than a scam, but a legitimate agency can still pursue a balance that is inaccurate, misidentified, or not yours, and Ohio’s lack of licensing makes verification essential. Take these steps:

• Share little on the first call. Do not confirm the debt or hand over a card or bank number. Ask for the agency name, the original creditor, the account number, and the balance, then check on your own.
• Confirm it is the Ohio company. Because several collectors use the Action name, require the caller to identify the Independence, Ohio agency and the creditor.
• Demand written validation. Within 30 days of first contact, send a written request for proof. A short debt validation letter compels documentation, and collection should pause until the agency responds.
• Confirm the contact details. The verified phone is (216) 459-0055, and the office is at 4807 Rockside Road, #400, Independence, OH 44131. Demands for gift cards, wire transfers, or instant payment to avoid arrest signal fraud.
• Review your credit. Check your reports and dispute any error under the Fair Credit Reporting Act using our credit report dispute guide.

What Do BBB Complaints and Reviews Show About Action Collectors, Inc.?

The Independence, Ohio agency keeps a low public profile, and a distinct Better Business Bureau page for this specific Action Collectors, Inc. was not clearly established at the time of this research, which is common for a small regional collector. That thin footprint is not a verdict on its conduct, since the BBB captures only disputes that consumers route through it, and many Northeast Ohio consumers do not.

Because Ohio does not license collection agencies, the most effective channels for a grievance are the Ohio Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Section, which enforces the Consumer Sales Practices Act, and the CFPB. Your own call log and account records will carry the most weight, and filing with the Ohio Attorney General or the CFPB builds the public record for the next consumer.

Are There Lawsuits Against Action Collectors, Inc.?

No FDCPA judgment against the Independence, Ohio Action Collectors, Inc. could be verified by docket number, and we will not attach cases from the differently located Action collectors in Washington or Idaho to it. Doing so would be inaccurate, since those are separate companies.

What is firmly established is the law that protects you in Ohio. In Taylor v. First Resolution Investment Corp., 2016-Ohio-3444, the Supreme Court of Ohio confirmed that the Ohio Consumer Sales Practices Act applies to the collection of consumer debts, so an Ohio collector that uses unfair or deceptive tactics faces state liability, including potential treble damages, in addition to the FDCPA. That precedent does not name Action Collectors, but it governs how any Ohio collection agency, this one included, must treat you. The claims our attorneys most often raise against a regional collector involve after-hours or repeated calls, third-party disclosure, failure to validate a balance, and continued contact after a written cease request, and each rests on your own records.

To check for filings yourself, federal dockets are searchable through the courts and require a PACER account for full documents, and Ohio state cases can be searched through the county common pleas courts and the state’s judicial resources.

Source: Ohio Supreme Court

Your Legal Rights When Action Collectors, Inc. Is Calling

• FDCPA (Fair Debt Collection Practices Act): Governs Action Collectors as a third-party collector, barring harassment, false threats, after-hours calls, third-party disclosure, and contact after a written cease request, and entitling you to validation, with damages up to $1,000 plus actual damages and attorney fees. See our FDCPA page.
• Ohio Consumer Sales Practices Act: Applies to Ohio debt collection under Taylor, prohibiting unfair and deceptive acts and allowing actual damages, and in some cases treble damages and attorney fees.
• TCPA (Telephone Consumer Protection Act): Restricts automated and recorded calls to your cell without consent, which you can revoke, and carries $500 to $1,500 per illegal call. See our TCPA page.
• FCRA (Fair Credit Reporting Act): Protects you from inaccurate reporting and requires a 30-day dispute investigation.
• Statute of limitations: A debt too old to sue on is a defense. See our statute of limitations by state and collection laws for each state guides.

Action Collectors, Inc. Violation Comparison

Can You Sue Action Collectors, Inc. for Harassment?

Yes, and in Ohio you may have two claims instead of one. If Action Collectors violated the FDCPA, you can recover up to $1,000 in statutory damages plus any actual harm, with the agency paying your attorney fees, and the Ohio Consumer Sales Practices Act adds a state claim that can carry treble damages for deceptive conduct. Each unauthorized robocall to your cell adds $500 to $1,500 under the TCPA.

A large loss is not required to proceed. A run of calls at prohibited hours, a debt disclosed to a coworker, a deceptive statement about the balance, or an unconsented robocall can each anchor a case. Because these laws shift fees to the collector at fault, we handle the work with nothing owed by you up front.

What To Do Next: 5 Steps to Stop Action Collectors, Inc. Calls

Step 1: Log every call and confirm the caller. Note the date, time, and number for each call, whether it was live or recorded, and what was said, and require the caller to confirm it is the Independence, Ohio company and to name the creditor.

Step 2: Demand validation in writing. Mail a debt validation letter by certified mail seeking the original creditor, an itemized balance, and proof the debt is yours. Collection should pause until the agency responds, and keep the receipt.

Step 3: Compare the balance to your records. Match the amount against your own statements and any insurance Explanation of Benefits, since medical and local balances often shrink once the details are checked.

Step 4: Send a cease-and-desist if the calls persist. After Action Collectors receives a written cease-and-desist letter, it may generally contact you only to confirm it is stopping or to note a specific legal step, and any call after that stands as a separate violation.

Step 5: Report it and call a consumer attorney. File with the Ohio Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Section, the CFPB, and the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov, dispute any credit errors, then call Consumer Rights Law Firm PLLC at (877) 700-5790 or request a free case review. If the agency broke the law, the fees fall on it, so you pay nothing.

Consumer Rights Law Firm PLLC

Consumer Rights Law Firm PLLC helps Ohioans and others worn down by collection calls, including the persistent kind that trail a Cleveland-area medical, credit, or utility bill into collections. Rather than take on Action Collectors, Inc. alone, let our office field the calls from here. We have represented consumers since 2010 and hold an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau.

To learn how to protect yourself from Action Collectors, Inc., call (877) 700-5790 or visit our website.

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