Updated by Attorney Derek DePetrillo on April 15, 2024
Stop the Calls from MCU Holdings
Is MCU Holdings harassing you over a debt? If you have ever been in debt, then you must be familiar with debt collectors like MCU Holdings and their antics. It is bad enough that when people fall into debt, their lives get interrupted and affected and they begin to think of ways to pay. The incessant calls from debt collectors like MCU Holdings just make things worse.
If you’re getting calls from MCU collection about money that you owe, it means your original creditor has sent your debt to a third-party collection agency. If these calls are excessive, then you may be a victim of one of the many recorded cases of MCU Holdings phone harassment.
Third-party agencies if not checked may stop at nothing to get you to pay up your debt. That is why there are laws under the FDCPA that guide the debt collection methods that representatives from third-party collection agencies employ.
Any collection agency that engages in harmful, deceitful, and unfair practices while trying to get you to pay your debts is violating the FDCPA and should be stopped.
Harassment from debt collectors. Several complaints have been filed by different people against various collection agencies due to the harsh and abusive methods of debt collection they employ. You should be aware of some of these methods so that you can easily identify a debt collector who violates your rights. According to the FDCPA, debt collectors are prohibited from.
- Harassing and threatening you to pay debts
- Asking you for a debt you do not owe
- Making threats to sue you with the intention of scaring you when they will not or cannot
- Making your phone ring many times a day
- Requesting that you pay a fee that wasn’t in the agreement of your original creditor
- Calling you before 8 am or after 9 pm
- Failing to respond to your request for their name, agency they represent, and their address
- Failing to respond to your debt validation request
- Disclosing your debt information to third parties or publishing information about you
If MCU holdings debt collection is doing any of the above to you, you do not have to put up with it. It is unlawful. Contact us today to begin discussing the options available to you.
Privacy Protections under the FDCPA
Under the FDCPA, there are laws that protect your privacy by limiting the ways in which MCU Holdings is allowed to contact you and what they are allowed to say during a conversation.
Some privacies afforded to you under the FDCPA include:
- An MCU collector is not allowed to communicate with third parties (such as friends, coworkers, and employees) about the details of your debt. Doing so will be a violation of the FDCPA.
- The normal time that the FDCPA stipulates for communications between you and a debt collector is between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. Contacting you outside of these hours, especially with the intent to annoy or harass is a prohibition of the FDCPA.
- MCU Holdings debt collection must forward all communications to the office of your attorney when they know that you are represented by one.
- MCU Holdings LLC must desist from communicating with you at your place of employment once you have told them that it is prohibited.
- MCU Holdings LLC must honor your request to not be contacted further. They can send you a notice after receiving a cease-and-desist letter only to:
- Tell you that they have received your letter and they will be ceasing all communications with you henceforth.
- To inform you about their intention to pursue legal action.
Note that sending a cease-and-desist letter doesn’t make you any less liable for the debt, it only stops all communications from a debt collector while the debt is still active. For further help with debt collection, contact an attorney at (877)-700-5790.
Who is a debt collector?
A debt collector (not to be confused with a debt buyer) is a person or organization who collects debts on behalf of a business, otherwise known as the original creditor).
A debt collector could be:
- A first-party creditor collecting a debt owed directly to them by a debtor by themselves (this includes ‘assignees’–people or businesses who have been sold or ‘assigned’ a debt account by the original creditor)
- A third-party entity collecting delinquent debts on behalf of another business entity (for example, an independent collection agency).
If you are contacted about a legitimate debt that you owe by MCU collection, you should be cooperative but also expect to be treated professionally. Failure to treat you professionally can potentially have serious consequences for the collection agency.
What should you do if you have received a call from MCU Holdings?
There are many things you should do immediately after you receive a call from MCU Holdings debt collection agency. There are also many options regarding what step to take towards settling the debt that they claim you owe. It is your duty to educate yourself regarding what steps you are allowed to take after you receive the first debt collection call because many debt collection agencies fail to inform people about their right to dispute the debt and the range of repayment options available to them.
First, you must request written validation of the debt they claim you owe. This statement should contain all the necessary information regarding the alleged debt such as the amount and the name of the original creditor. You have only five days (counting from the day that you received the first phone call) to do this. When you have received the written statement containing all the information about your debt, you have a choice to dispute the debt with the three credit bureaus. This can get some or all of your debt waived and eliminate the debt from your credit report. It is additionally advisable to seek legal advice.
What to do when a debt collector calls
When a debt collector calls, you can be thrown off balance if you have little to no knowledge of how to handle the situation. Debt collection calls are no one’s favorite thing to have to deal with, especially if you are not in the best financial state. The first thing to do when a debt collector calls you is to be calm.
Panicking when a debt collector call can lead you to make wrong and hasty decisions. Being in the wrong state of mind can make you accept that you owe a debt that automatically commits you to the debt.
Below are some helpful tips that will lead you to make the best out of your conversation with debt collectors.
- Be ready for the conversation: When a debt collector calls you, you have the right to politely ask them to call you at a later time if you are not in the best position to talk at that time. It is important to be fully ready before you speak with a debt collector. Get your writing materials ready. You will need to document important information that the debt collector gives like the debt amount, name of the creditor, and so on.
- Understand that you have rights: Even though you owe, it doesn’t mean that you should be treated unfairly. You have rights under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act that shields you from unfair treatments from debt collectors. The FDCPA prohibits debt collectors from using any unfair, deceptive, and abusive methods in their attempts to recover a debt from you. If a debt collector is harassing you with calls, lying to you, using wrong and profane words or you, or harassing you in any way, they are violating your rights and you should tell them to stop. If a debt collector continues to harass you, you can choose to sue them.
- Ask more questions and give less information: The FDCPA allows you to ask the debt collector questions about the debt and mandates them to give you answers. If you have any confusion as to the debt being spoken about, ask the debt collector, and expect answers. You must also be careful not to divulge too much information to the debt collector. When a debt collector calls to tell you about a debt, refrain from admitting that you owe the debt. This is because admitting that you owe the debt automatically commits you and makes you responsible for it. This is dangerous due to many reasons; the debt may not be yours, it may be a scam, and you may ruin your chances of settling the debt at a fairer rate. Listen more than you speak. Don’t release any of your personal financial information to the debt collector.
Additionally, it is important for you to confirm that the debt is yours before proceeding to have further discussions with the debt collector. You can do this by making a debt validation request. This request mandates the debt collector to send you full information about the debt which will help you further understand and confirm if it is really yours.
After confirming that the debt is yours, you should pay it up immediately if it is within your capacity. However, if the debt is one you cannot pay, there are options available for debt resolution. You can discuss it with the debt collector and negotiate a payment suitable for your income bracket.
Debt resolution (commonly known as debt relief), simply put is a program that helps consumers get out of their credit problems. There are several debt resolutions options available to you for the resolution of your outstanding debts. You want to be able to make a good choice by analyzing each choice carefully and finding out which can give you the best result before you decide.
The options available to you for debt resolution are:
- Debt consolidation loan. The main goal of taking out a debt consolidation loan is to restructure your debt payments. This is ideal for people who have enough income to cover the entire sum of what they owe. If you wish to take this option, then it involves applying for a much larger loan that is enough to pay for your multiple debts. When you are approved for the loan, and you have used it on your other credit card accounts that will leave you with one debt under one lender and only one monthly payment. That should keep you from exerting too much effort in monitoring your accounts. It will also keep you from missing your payments; however, the major reason that people consider taking out a debt consolidation loan as a debt reduction strategy is that it reduces the overall amount of interest on each loan by consolidating several smaller loans into one large one
- Credit counseling and debt management. Unlike the previous option, you need the help of a credit counselor here. You will begin with a counseling session wherein they will analyze your debt and financial situation. If you qualify, you will enter a debt management program. This is when the counselor will take a more active role in helping you pay up your debts. You will create a debt management plan or DMP and that contains your proposed lower monthly payments over a longer payment period. This will be presented to the creditor. When or if approved, you get to send a single payment to the counselor who will distribute that fund to your different credit accounts.
- Debt settlement. This program offers debt reduction. You will have to convince MCU collection that you are in a financial crisis if you haven’t done so yet. The idea is to convince them that you can only pay a portion of your debts. As soon as you notice that you may not be able to meet up with your required payments, you should begin to put some money aside for your settlement fund. When the time is right, you will offer this to the creditor – explaining that this is the only amount that you can afford to pay. Any bigger and you have to declare bankruptcy. You want them to accept this and have the rest of your debt forgiven.
- Bankruptcy. There are two ways this can go. Chapter 7 is all about liquidating any eligible asset and using the funds to pay off your debts. Anything not paid will be discharged. In Chapter 13, you will be asked to go through a repayment plan that will pay for a portion of your debts. Anything that is not covered there will be discharged.
Be careful in making your debt resolution choice. Make sure you take your unique situation and income bracket into consideration before agreeing to any debt resolution strategy.
Is MCU Holdings a scam?
According to the Better Business Bureau website, MCU Holdings/HLA Services has been in business since 2014. There has been 1 complaint closed in the last 3 years against the company. Read more about it here: MCU Holdings Better Business Bureau
What is MCU?
MCU Holdings is a third-party debt collector located in Coral Springs, Florida. This law firm has gone after MCU Holdings for violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. They have been accused of breaking several collection laws and violating the rights of consumers.
Contact Information
Address: 3200 NW 62nd Ave # 202
Margate, FL 33063-8303
Phone: (866) 680-8921
Fax: (754) 229-6933
Alternate Business Name: Management Capital United
Are you a victim of MCU Holdings Phone Harassment?
Are you receiving any harassing phone calls from any of these numbers?
844-256-4266, 954-461-3028, 844-973-1437, 413-339-3894, 844-904-6836, 301-259-3741,844-368-0301, 704-550-4385, 844-923-0295, 469-447-7426, 914-240-2172, 928-756-8380, 844-904-6826, 281-326-6574
If so, you may be a victim of MCU Holdings’ phone harassment. If you are receiving any form of harassment during these calls, do not hesitate to reach out to a qualified professional at 877-700-5790 for help.
More information about MCU debt collection
What is MCU? MCU collection is a licensed third-party collector based in Margate, Florida. MCU services, LLC collection agency specializes in collecting delinquent debts on behalf of original creditors. You can contact the agency at (866) 680-8921, or via the MCU website. HLA Services is another name by which MCU holdings is searched for.
As a professional debt collection agency, MC holdings reserves the right to make collection attempts on your delinquent debts. A professional debt collector will call you with details about your MCU account and how you can resolve or dispute your debt.
ABOUT 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 as a result of the MCU Holdings debt collection process. 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.
Check out the links below for more information:
https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/debt-collection-faqs
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
