Debt collectors like Firstsource Advantage, LLC, cannot harass you over a debt. You have rights under the law. We will stop the harassment once and for all.
THE BEST PART IS…
If Firstsource Advantage violated the law, you will get money damages and Firstsource Advantage will pay our fees and costs. You will not pay us a penny for our time. Plus, some of our clients also receive debt relief and cleaned up credit reports. You have nothing to lose! Call us today 888-572-0176 for a free consultation.
Who is Firstsource Advantage, LLC?
Firstsource Advantage is a third-party collection agency, headquartered in Amherst, New York, and started its business in 1995. Firstsource Advantage, LLC has changed its name several times over the years. Starting out in 1995 it was called Receivables Services of America, LLC. Then in 1997 it was calling itself Account Solutions Group, LLC. 10 years later, in 2007, it re-invented itself as Firstsource LLC. A little bit later in 2007, it took on its current moniker of Firstsource Advantage, LLC. According to Firstsource’s website, they are a “1000 strong workforce.” Firstsource also describes the scope of its collections as: “We generate value across the life cycle of delinquent debt from First Party pre charge-off collections to later stage post charge-off Recoveries.” Although Firstsource is headquartered in New York, and collect debt in the US, they also provide collection services in the United Kingdom and Australia. Firstsource also boasts managing “$4 Billion in charged-off debt for our customers.” Firstsource manages this massive amount of debt with a “delivery model [that] leverages a customized combination of on-shore and off-shore staffing models to adapt to client requirements.” Firstsource “provides debt recovery services for credit card issuers, retail banking and mortgage.”
According to the Better Business Bureau (“BBB”), Firstsource is categorized as a Limited Liability Company and a collection agency. The BBB also identifies some of the key individuals at Firstsource: Arjun Mitra, President; Elizabeth Delano, Compliance Dept contact; and Virginia Marczynski, Compliance Officer. Bloomberg.com (“Bloomberg”) identifies additional key individuals: Rahul Basu, President and President of Account Solutions Group (ASG), Amherst, NY; Dennis Cardarella, Co-Founder, Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President; and Lance Dellamea, Senior Vice President and Director of Operations. Bloomberg further informs that Firstsource Advantage, LLC is a subsidiary of Firstsource Solutions Limited. Firstsource has call centers in the United States, the United Kingdom, India, and the Philippines.It appears that Firstsource Advantage collects on debts owed to third parties and collects on debts that it purchases. Therefore, in some situations, Firstsource Advantage may be a junk-debt buyer. For example, some collection agencies buy debt for pennies on the dollar, and then collect on it. Firstsource Advantage is known for collecting on student loans. Firstsource Advantage also collects on various debts. We’ve helped a lot of consumers deal with Firstsource Advantage when Firstsource Advantage is collecting on behalf of credit card issuers, retail banking and mortgage industries.
Firstsource Advantage, LLC, Address, Phone Number, and Contact Information
Firstsource Advantage is located at 205 Bryant Woods South, Amherst, NY 14228-3609. The main telephone numbers for Firstsource Advantage are 716-564-4400 and 800-486-9164. These are just two of many Firstsource Advantage contact numbers.Firstsource Advantage’s websites include firstsourceadvantage.com, fsapay.com and firstsource.com One of Firstsource Advantage’s fax numbers is 716-564-4440.
Phone Numbers Used By Firstsource Advantage
Firstsource Advantage likely has dozens, if not over 100, phone numbers it calls from. Here are a few phone numbers Firstsource Advantage may be calling you from:
- 888-753-3223
- 800-430-7345
- 763-689-1500
- 888-263-1099
- 716-564-4905
- 306-228-3622
- 716-213-5187
- 716-564-4932
- 866-391-1911
- 716-213-5567
- 716-564-4355
- 888-737-4709
- 805-256-7329
- 866-798-7783
- 800-736-2107
- 234-542-0316
Firstsource Advantage Lawsuits
If you want to know just how unhappy consumers are with Firstsource Advantage take a look at the number of lawsuits filed against Firstsource Advantage on the Public Access to Court Electronic Records (“PACER”). PACER is the federal docket throughout the country that lists federal complaints filed against Firstsource Advantage. When you do a search for Firstsource Advantage, there are at least 329 lawsuits filed against Firstsource Advantage. Most of these lawsuits involve consumer rights’ violations.
Firstsource Advantage Harassment
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”) is a federal law that applies to everyone in the United States. In other words, everyone is protected under the FDCPA. The FDCPA is a laundry list of what Firstsource Advantage can and cannot do while collecting a debt, as well as things debt collectors must do while collecting a debt. If Firstsource Advantage is harassing you over a debt, you have rights under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) protects you from robocalls. Robocalls are those annoying, automated, recorded calls that a computer makes to you all day long. You can tell it’s a robocall because either no one is on the other end of the line or there’s a delay when you pick up the phone before a live person comes on the line. You can get $500 per call if Firstsource Advantage violates the TCPA. Have you received a message from Firstsource Advantage that sounds pre-recorded? Or, maybe the message you received from Firstsource Advantage is cutoff at the beginning or the end? These are tell-tale signs that the message is pre-recorded. If you have these messages on your cell phone, you may have a TCPA case against Firstsource Advantage.
The Electronic Fund Transfer Act (“EFTA”) protects electronic payments that are deducted from bank accounts. If Firstsource Advantage took unauthorized deductions from your bank account, you may have an EFTA claim. Firstsource Advantage like most collection agencies, wants to set up reoccurring payments from consumers. Imagine how much money Firstsource Advantage gets if hundreds, if not thousands, of consumers electronically pay them $50-$100, or more, per month. If you agreed to this type of reoccurring payment, Firstsource Advantage must follow certain steps to comply with the EFTA. Did Firstsource Advantage continue to take electronic payments after you said stop? Did Firstsource Advantage take more money from your checking account than you agreed to? If so, let’s talk about your rights under the EFTA.
The Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”) works to ensure that no information reported to your credit report is false. In essence, it gives you the right to dispute those inaccuracies that you find on your credit report. We handled a lot of cases recently where Firstsource Advantage reported debt on a consumer’s credit report. Firstsource Advantage likely reports on credit reports to obtain greater leverage over the consumer. If Firstsource Advantage is on your credit report, they may tell you if you pay the debt, they’ll remove it from your credit report. This is commonly known as pay for delete. You pay Firstsource Advantage and they delete the debt from your credit report. Even if Firstsource Advantage is not on your credit report, maybe the original creditor is. If you pay off the debt to Firstsource Advantage then the original creditor, and Firstsource Advantage should accurately report this on your credit report.
Several states also have laws that provide its citizens an additional layer of protection. For example, if you live in California, Texas, Florida, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Michigan, Montana, or Pennsylvania you may be able to tack on a state-law claim with your federal law claim above. North Carolina, for example, has one of the most consumer-friendly statutes in the country. If you live in NC, and you’re harassed over a debt, you may get $500.00 – $4,000.00 in damages per violation. We work with a local counsel in NC. Our NC clients have received some great results in debt collection harassment cases. If you live in NC, and Firstsource Advantage is harassing you, you have tons of leverage to get a great settlement.
HOW CAN WE USE THE LAW TO HELP YOU?
We will use state and federal laws to immediately stop Firstsource Advantage debt collection. We will send a cease and desist letter to get the harassment to stop the same day. If Firstsource Advantage violates the FDCPA, EFTA, FCRA, or any state laws, you may be entitled to money damages. For example, under the FDCPA, you can get up $1,000.00 in damages plus actual damages. The FDCPA has a fee-shift provision. This means, Firstsource Advantage pays our attorney’s fees and costs. If you have a TCPA case against Firstsource Advantage we will handle it based on a contingency fee.
THAT’S NOT ALL…
We have helped hundreds of consumers stop phone calls from Firstsource Advantage. We know how to stop the harassment and get you money damages. ONCE AGAIN, you will not pay us a penny for our time. We will help you based on a fee-shift provision and/or based on a contingency fee. That means, Firstsource Advantage pays our attorney’s fees and costs.
What If Firstsource Advantage Is On My Credit Report?
Based on our experience, Firstsource Advantage does credit report. That means, Firstsource Advantage will mark your credit report with the debt they are trying to collect on. In addition to Firstsource Advantage, the original creditor may be on your credit report. For example, if you owe Republic Bank and Trust on an elastic line of credit, and Firstsource Advantage is collecting on it, both Republic Bank and Trust and Firstsource Advantage may have separate entries on your credit report. This is important because you will want both parties to update your credit report if you pay off the debt.
THE GOOD NEWS IS…
If Firstsource Advantage is on your credit report, we can help you dispute it. Mistakes on your credit report can be very costly. Along with causing you to pay higher interest rates, you may be denied credit, insurance, a rental home, a loan, or even a job because of these mistakes. Some mistakes may include someone else’s information on your credit report, inaccurate public records, stale collection accounts, or maybe you were a victim of identity theft. If you have a mistake on your credit report, there is a process to dispute them. My office will help you pull your credit report and dispute any inaccurate information.
REMEMBER…
If a credit reporting agency violates its obligations under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”), you may be entitled to statutory damages up to $1,000.00, plus the credit reporting agency will be required to fix the error. The FCRA also has a fee-shift provision. This means, the credit reporting agency pays your attorney’s fees and costs. Therefore, you will not pay me a penny for my time. We have helped dozens of consumers fix inaccurate information on their credit reports.
Complaints against Firstsource Advantage
If you’re on this page, chances are you are just like the hundreds of consumers out there being harassed by Firstsource Advantage. The complaints on the Better Business Bureau (“BBB”), various consumer websites, including on Pissed Consumer, and even the complaints on this page (below) are endless. Firstsource Advantage is accredited by the BBB. The BBB gives FIRSTSOURCE ADVANTAGE an “A+” rating. Despite its “A+” rating, there are 72 customer complaints on the BBB as well as 4 customer reviews, which are all negative.Here are some of the many BBB complaints and reviews regarding Firstsource Advantage:
- “Harassing phone calls. I have 3 numbers, home, work and cell. They call on each 2-3 times every day. Not sure what they are calling about. No letter received. No email available that doesn’t force you to accept their requirements that they can contact you anytime they want. I want the email record…not a phone call they can record.”
- “Since September, 2015, First Source Advantage has been issued a check directly through my bank to pay off an **** bill. For some reason, they never debited my account for November and I’ve been sent to another collection agency which says I’m delinquent. I called FSA and they have no information on me, even though I have a contract and a reference number.”
- “I had an emergency room bill I never received for an emergency surgery, I thought it was covered with the surgery bill. It was added to my credit report. I never received notice in mail nor by phone about the bill, and it was added to my credit report. I called about it when I was buying a house, and I spent 3 hours on the phone with the company and they could not find the debt. They had no record of it. I disputed it and it was pulled from my credit report. This week a month after I won the dispute they put it back on. I spent 3 hours trying to get through to find out why it was added, when I tried to pay it and they couldn’t find it, but they wouldn’t talk to me. This company is fraudulent in their actions, and do not follow the proper protocol. I have been trying to pay this from the time I was aware of it, and they are hurting my credit by their incompetence………”
- “I would like to report several issues with firstsource advantage. They are a very sketchy company that doesn’t follow the HIPPA laws when it comes to hospital collections”
- “First Source has repeatedly tried contacting me and now has resorted to calling my family members in an attempt to collect a corporate debt tied to a former employer. Any charges tied to that corporate card reside with the former company and are not tied to me in anyway. This is not my debt, the… company I was formally employed by was foreclosed on by its senior lenders and I have no way to direct them on how to go about collecting those debts.”
- “I have received yet another junk debt collection agency. This is the 3rd time I have been
- solicited by an account that I have no knowledge of or at worst is time barred to collect. The letter states that they won’t report it and won’t sue due to this junk debt being time barred. This is an illegal… solicitation and is in violation of FDCPA.”
- “This company has added an account to my credit report that I do not own, and they have not shown a valid contract or legally sufficient proof to prove that I own the account.”
Although there are only 15 reviews on Google, they are just as bad. The 15 reviews give Firstsource Advantage an average of only 1.7 stars out of 5. Here’s a snippet of the reviews on Google:
- “Only debts I have are some old medical ones from many years ago that are close to coming off of my record. Guessing that the collection was sold to another company but they will never leave a message and refuse to do any type of mailing to you. Don’t trust the scam at all.”
- “I didn’t answer when they called me, but i called back from an office phone. The prick who answered would only say the name of the company, but apparently is not allowed to disclose the nature of their business due to “regulations and policies” . . . Yeah right! What a load of bullshit. As soon as he said he wouldn’t tell me what services they provide I hung up. There is no such thing as a company that is not allowed to tell you what they do until you divulge all your personal info and pay them. Total scam!!! Dishonest, intrusive and annoying. DO NOT GIVE THEM THE TIME OF DAY, LET ALONE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION!! !”
- “These pushy bastards wouldn’t even tell me what the call (or debt) was about, until I supplied them with PII (Personally Identifiable Information). They had my name, phone number and mailing address. I told them to send me something in writing in the mail. They refused. I told them they get no PII. Just mail me a bill, if there really is a debt.Then they scampered off the phone just before I could call them illegitimate and a fraud. If they refuse to snail-mail me anything, it is fraudulent. AND THEY GET NOTHING until they snail-mail me something in writing.WHAT A CROCK OF S&IT AND A BUNCH OF THIEVES!!!!!I would give ZERO stars, but a minimum of one star is required to post.Really??? They can’t mail me a bill???True sign of a thief!!”
- “After 30 minutes of sorting out the facts with a rude and inconsiderate employee it was turned around to where I was actually owed money for paying a medical co-pay 2 times extra. I still have not received it back, I should start calling them up to 5 times a day, and no one answers when I receive a call from them-DAILY. I had to put a star to post, it’s a minus star……..”
Cases We Have Handled Against Firstsource Advantage
I THINK YOU’LL AGREE WITH ME WHEN I SAY…
Threats and harassment by collection agencies can be pretty intimidating. Well, it turns out we can stop the harassment, attempt to get you money damages under the law, and the collection agency will have to pay us our fees and costs. Here are some of the cases we’ve handled against FIRSTSOURCE ADVANTAGE:
- Barbara A. v. Firstsource Advantage, LLC. Barbara is from Texas. Barbara allegedly owed on an American Express account that Firstsource was attempting to collect on. With the assistance of an organization that assists senior citizens, Barbara sent a cease-and-desist letter to Firstsource. However, despite receiving a written cease-and-desist request, Firstsource continued to send collection letters to Barbara. Barbara alleged that Firstsource violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act for Firstsource’s continued contact with Barbara despite the cease-and-desist request.
- Brian A. v. Firstsource Advantage, LLC. Brian lives in New Jersey, and Firstsource Advantage was attempting to collect a consumer debt from Brian. FIRSTSOURCE ADVANTAGE attempted to embarrass or coerce Brian into paying the alleged debt by leaving voicemail messages for Brian’s mother and sister illegally disclosing that Brian allegedly owed a debt. We alleged that Firstsource Advantage violated multiple sections of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act for those actions.
- John W. v. Firstsource Advantage, LLC. Our client John lived in Kentucky, at least at the time we represented him. John had reviewed his credit report and saw two debts that Firstsource Advantage was reporting, which John did not believe he owed. Worse yet, these debts were being reported as a “charge off” or “collection account.” As provided for by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, John informed Firstsource Advantage in writing that he disputed owing these alleged debts. Firstsource Advantage was given plenty of time to comply with the FDCPA, but it still failed to properly update its reporting with the credit bureaus—or at least report the debts as being disputed. Therefore, we alleged that Firstsource Advantage had violated 15 U.S.C. § 1692e(8) by failing to report John’s alleged debt to the credit reporting bureaus as disputed by John and that Firstsource also violated 15 U.S.C. § 1692e(10) by using false representations or deceptive means to collect or attempt to collect any debt or to obtain information concerning a consumer. These violations are of two subsections of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
Can Firstsource Advantage Sue You?
Although anyone can sue anyone for any reason, we have never seen Firstsource Advantage sue consumers. It’s likely Firstsource Advantage does not sue because they do not always own the debt they are collecting on. Also, Firstsource Advantage would have to hire a lawyer, or use in-house counsel, to file a lawsuit. It’s likely Firstsource Advantage collects debts through the entire country. Therefore, it would be very difficult to have lawyers, or a law firm, licensed in every state. There are collection agencies that do sue consumers. For example, Midland Credit Management is one of the largest junk-debt buyers. Midland Credit Management collects on debt and also sues on debt. The opposite is true with Firstsource Advantage. Therefore, it would be very unusual if Firstsource Advantage sued you. The original creditor, on the other hand, may hire a collection firm, or lawyer, to sue you. If Firstsource Advantage has threatened to sue you, call us. We can help.
Can Firstsource Advantage Garnish Your Wages?
No, not unless they have a judgment. If Firstsource Advantage has not sued you, then Firstsource Advantage cannot get a judgment. If Firstsource Advantage does not have a judgment, then Firstsource Advantage cannot garnish your wages. Minus limited situations (usually dealing with debts owed to the government for student loans, taxes, etc.), in order to garnish someone’s wages, you need a judgment first. In short, we have not seen Firstsource Advantage file a lawsuit against a consumer. So, Firstsource Advantage cannot garnish your wages, minus the exceptions listed above. If Firstsource Advantage has threatened to garnish your wages, contact our office right away.
Firstsource Advantage Settlement
- If you want to settle a debt with Firstsource Advantage, ask yourself these questions first:
- Do I really owe this debt?
- Is this debt within the statute of limitations?
- Is this debt on my credit report?
- If I pay this debt, will Firstsource Advantage remove it from my credit report?
- If I pay this debt, will the original creditor remove it from my credit report?
- If I pay this debt, will I get something in writing from Firstsource Advantage confirming the payment and settlement terms?
These are not the only things to consider when dealing with debt collectors. We are here to help you answer the questions above, and much more. Whether it’s harassment, settlement, pay for delete, or any other legal issue with Firstsource Advantage the folks at Mike Agruss Law are here to help you.
Share Your Complaints About Firstsource Advantage Below
Post your complaints about Firstsource Advantage. Sharing your complaints about Firstsource Advantage will help other consumers know what to do when Firstsource Advantage starts calling. Sharing your experience may help someone else.
HERE’S THE DEAL!
If you are being harassed by Firstsource Advantage over a debt, you may be entitled to money damages. Get up to $1,000 for harassment, and $500-$1,500 for illegal robocalls. Under various state and federal laws, we will help you based on a fee-shift provision and/or based on a contingency fee. That means, the collector pays your attorney’s fees and costs. You won’t pay us a penny. We have settled thousands of debt collection harassment cases. Let us help you today. Contact Mike Agruss Law at 888-572- 0176 to stop the harassment once and for all.
