Debt collectors like Valentine & Kebartas, 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 Valentine & Kebartas violated the law, you will get money damages and Valentine & Kebartas 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 at 888-572-0176 for a free consultation.
Who is Valentine & Kebartas, LLC?
Valentine & Kebartas is a third-party collection agency, headquartered in Lawrence, MA, and started its business in 1994. Valentine & Kebartas is a limited liability company. According to the Better Business Bureau (“BBB”), Valentine & Kebartas is categorized as a collection agency. According to Valentine & Kebartas’ website, Valentine & Kebartas focuses on pre-collection programs, third party collections, near shore collections and letter series.It appears that Valentine & Kebartas collects on debts owed to third parties and collects on debts that it purchases. Therefore, in some situations, Valentine & Kebartas may be a junk-debt buyer. For example, some collection agencies buy debt for pennies on the dollar, and then collect on it. Valentine & Kebartas collects on various debts. We’ve helped a lot of consumers deal with Valentine & Kebartas when Valentine & Kebartas is collecting on payday loans; debt owed to major financial institutions, such as credit cards, installment loans, auto loans; retail store credit cards; student loans; insurance claims; and healthcare debt.
Valentine & Kebartas, LLC, Address, Phone Number, and Contact Information
Valentine & Kebartas is located at 15 Union Street, Lawrence, MA 01840. The main telephone numbers for Valentine & Kebartas are 978-975-0799 and 800-731-7766 ext. 206. These are just two of many Valentine & Kebartas contact numbers.Valentine & Kebartas’ website is vnkinc.com
Phone Numbers Used By Valentine & Kebartas
Valentine & Kebartas likely has dozens, if not over 100, phone numbers it calls from. Here are a few phone numbers Valentine & Kebartas may be calling you from:
- 213-873-5000
- 877-250-7416
- 310-256-3541
- 902-443-6453
- 502-410-4813
- 978-687-1264
- 713-338-2013
- 208-287-6691
- 866-598-2788
- 978-975-0799
Valentine & Kebartas Lawsuits
If you want to know just how unhappy consumers are with Valentine & Kebartas, take a look at the number of lawsuits filed against Valentine & Kebartas on the Public Access to Court Electronic Records (“PACER”). PACER is the federal docket throughout the country that lists federal complaints filed against Valentine & Kebartas. When you do a search for Valentine & Kebartas, there are nearly 200 lawsuits filed against Valentine & Kebartas. Most of these lawsuits involve consumer rights’ violations.
Valentine & Kebartas 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 Valentine & Kebartas can and cannot do while collecting a debt, as well as things debt collectors must do while collecting a debt. If Valentine & Kebartas 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 Valentine & Kebartas violates the TCPA. Have you received a message from Valentine & Kebartas that sounds pre-recorded? Or, maybe the message you received from Valentine & Kebartas 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 Valentine & Kebartas.The Electronic Fund Transfer Act (“EFTA”) protects electronic payments that are deducted from bank accounts. If Valentine & Kebartas took unauthorized deductions from your bank account, you may have an EFTA claim. Valentine & Kebartas, like most collection agencies, wants to set up reoccurring payments from consumers. Imagine how much money Valentine & Kebartas 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, Valentine & Kebartas must follow certain steps to comply with the EFTA. Did Valentine & Kebartas continue to take electronic payments after you said stop? Did Valentine & Kebartas 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 Valentine & Kebartas reported debt on a consumer’s credit report. Valentine & Kebartas likely reports on credit reports to obtain greater leverage over the consumer. If Valentine & Kebartas 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 Valentine & Kebartas, and they delete the debt from your credit report. Even if Valentine & Kebartas is not on your credit report, maybe the original creditor is. If you pay off the debt to Valentine & Kebartas, then the original creditor, and Valentine & Kebartas, 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 Valentine & Kebartas 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 Valentine & Kebartas debt collection. We will send a cease and desist letter to get the harassment to stop the same day. If Valentine & Kebartas 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, Valentine & Kebartas pays our attorney’s fees and costs. If you have a TCPA case against Valentine & Kebartas, we will handle it based on a contingency fee.THAT’S NOT ALL…We have helped hundreds of consumers stop phone calls from Valentine & Kebartas. 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, Valentine & Kebartas pays our attorney’s fees and costs.
What If Valentine & Kebartas Is On My Credit Report?
Based on our experience, Valentine & Kebartas does credit report. That means, Valentine & Kebartas will mark your credit report with the debt they are trying to collect on. In addition to Valentine & Kebartas, 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 Valentine & Kebartas is collecting on it, both Republic Bank and Trust and Valentine & Kebartas 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 Valentine & Kebartas 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 Valentine & Kebartas
If you’re on this page, chances are you are just like the hundreds of consumers out there being harassed by Valentine & Kebartas. 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. Valentine & Kebartas is not accredited by the BBB. There are several customer complaints on the BBB.Here are some of the many BBB complaints regarding Valentine & Kebartas:
- “They contact different members of our companies organization daily harassing them for payment when they have no authority or knowledge of situation. We have diplomatically tried to resolve the issues but this law firm has become rude, demeaning, and made personal accusations that are unprofessional, offensive, and make it difficult to work with them.”
- “ calls us on a daily basis (weekdays and weekends, mornings, afternoons, and evenings). When we pick up there is no one on the other end or they hang up. I have called multiple times to tell them to stop calling and they blame the hangups on some kind of ‘delay’ with their… phone system. The excuse doesn’t make any sense and they keep on calling us.”
Although there are not many reviews on Google, they are just as bad. These reviews give Valentine & Kebartas an average of 1.6 stars. Here’s a snippet of the reviews on Google:
- “Harassing us over a family member’s debt. We’ve repeatedly told them to stop and they continue to call us.”
- “Customer service is terrible and they always say they do not have past statements to show you proof of completion of payments. Be cautious about paying them.”
Cases We Have Handled Against Valentine & Kebartas
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 Valentine & Kebartas:
- Angie C. v. Valentine & Kebartas. In this case, Valentine & Kebartas called our client on her cellular and work telephone numbers. Valentine & Kebartas called from 978-332-5480 and 800-731-7766, which are two of Valentine & Kebartas’s phone numbers. On or around September 15, 216, Angie spoke with one of Valentine & Kerbartas’s collectors and requested that Valentine & Kebartas stop calling Angie’s place of employment. Despite this request, Valentine & Kebartas continued to place collection calls to Angie at her place of employment. In or around September 2016, Angie answered one of Valentine & Kebartas’s calls to her cellular telephone and requested that Valentine & Kebartas stop calling her cellular telephone. Despite this request, Valentine & Kebartas continued to place collection calls to Angie’s cellular telephone. In this case, we alleged Valentine & Kebartas violated several sections of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
- Ronnie J. v. Valentine & Kebartas. Ronnie lives in Georgia, and Valentine & Kebartas was attempting to collect a debt originating with Verizon Wireless. Valentine & Kebartas called our client on his cellular telephone number. Valentine & Kebartas called from 978-332-5480, which is one of Valentine & Kebartas’s phone numbers. Our client spoke with one of Valentine & Kebartas’ male collectors. During the aforementioned conversation, Valentine & Kebartas’s male collector did not state the communication was an attempt to collect a debt. Valentine & Kebartas’s male collector was working within the scope of his employment when communicating with Plaintiff in an attempt to collect an alleged debt. Valentine & Kebartas’ male collector knows the FDCPA requires debt collectors to state the communication is an attempt to collect a debt when speaking to consumers. During the aforementioned conversation, Valentine & Kebartas’ male collector told Plaintiff he worked for Verizon, and he was calling from a law firm. Further, the male collector threatened to garnish Ronnie’s wages and taxes if he did not pay the alleged debt. In this case, we alleged Valentine & Kebartas violated several sections of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
- Christina G. v. Valentine & Kebartas. Our client lives in Louisiana. In this case, Valentine & Kebartas was attempting to collect on a debt from Plaintiff. Our client alleged Valentine & Kebartas violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”) and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) by failing to state required disclosures and using an automatic telephone dialing system to call Christina after Christina requested the calls stop. Valentine & Kebartas collector failed to state that they were calling on behalf of Valentine & Kebartas in an attempt to collect a debt. The FDCPA requires debt collectors to identify the company’s name when placing a telephone call. The FDCPA also requires debt collectors to state that the communication is an attempt to collect a debt when placing a telephone call.
Here’s What Our Clients Say About Us
Mike Agruss Law, has over 630 outstanding client reviews through Yotpo, an A+ BBB rating, and over 100 five-star reviews on Google. Here’s what some of our clients have to say about us.“Contacting The Agruss Law firm brought me unexpectedly fast and professional results to constant harassment from a debt collector.”“I have used Mike a few times, and he is very good at what he does. He’s aggressive and gets the work done.”“Thanks to Mike Agruss and his team of speedy and expert service professionals, the collection agency calls stopped. I am very glad that I came across this agency, they were very professional and most of all able to assist me with my issue. It is nice to know that there is help out there for the consumer who is being harassed and treated less than human.”
Can Valentine & Kebartas Sue You?
Although anyone can sue anyone for any reason, we have never seen Valentine & Kebartas sue consumers. It’s likely Valentine & Kebartas does not sue because they do not always own the debt they are collecting on. Also, Valentine & Kebartas would have to hire a lawyer, or use in-house counsel, to file a lawsuit. It’s likely Valentine & Kebartas 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 Valentine & Kebartas. Therefore, it would be very unusual if Valentine & Kebartas sued you. The original creditor, on the other hand, may hire a collection firm, or lawyer, to sue you. If Valentine & Kebartas has threatened to sue you, call us. We can help.
Can Valentine & Kebartas Garnish Your Wages?
No, not unless they have a judgment. If Valentine & Kebartas has not sued you, then Valentine & Kebartas cannot get a judgment. If Valentine & Kebartas does not have a judgment, then Valentine & Kebartas 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 Valentine & Kebartas file a lawsuit against a consumer. So, Valentine & Kebartas cannot garnish your wages, minus the exceptions listed above. If Valentine & Kebartas has threatened to garnish your wages, contact our office right away.
Valentine & Kebartas Settlement
If you want to settle a debt with Valentine & Kebartas, 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 Valentine & Kebartas 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 Valentine & Kebartas 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 Valentine & Kebartas, the folks at Mike Agruss Law are here to help you.
Share Your Complaints About Valentine & Kebartas Below
Post your complaints about Valentine & Kebartas. Sharing your complaints about Valentine & Kebartas will help other consumers know what to do when Valentine & Kebartas starts calling. Sharing your experience may help someone else.HERE’S THE DEAL!If you are being harassed by Valentine & Kebartas 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.
