Cedars Business Services, LLC
Cedars Business Services, LLC is an third-party debt collection agency that does business as Cedar Financial. Cedar Financial specializes in international and domestic debt collections in education, healthcare, commercial, government and retail. Cedar Financial was founded in 1991 and is based in Calabasas, California.
According to its website, Cedar Financial takes a consumer-centered approach to debt collection, but the consumer complaints reported to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) paint a different picture. The CFPB is a government agency charged with protecting consumers from unfair, deceptive or abusive debt collection practices. Over 100 complaints have been filed with the CFPB regarding Cedar Financial’s unlawful debt collection practices. Consumers complain that Cedar Financial has engaged in the following unlawful debt collection practices:
- Attempting to collect a debt that is not owed by the consumer;
- Improperly discussing the consumer’s debt with a third party
- Threatening to take legal action if payment is not made;
- Continuing to contact consumers after being asked to cease communication; and
- Refusing to validate or provide proof of a debt.
After receiving repeated telephone calls from Cedar Financial, one consumer sent a letter via certified mail to Cedar Financial requesting that they cease from contacting the consumer. Despite receiving the letter, Cedar Financial continued to call the consumer for months on end. The consumer filed a complaint with the CFPB and the matter was resolved to the satisfaction of the consumer.
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and the Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (RDCPA) prohibit debt collectors and creditors from communicating with you after you have informed them in writing to stop communication. Once the debt collector has received a letter from you requesting that all communication stop, the debt collector may only contact you again to either inform you that the debt collector is no longer seeking to collect the debt or to inform you that the debt collector will be filing a lawsuit. Any other forms of communication are a direct violation of the law.
Creditors and debt collectors should be held accountable for these unethical and unlawful practices. If you are being harassed or subjected to any of these, deceptive, or abusive debt collection practices, it is time to hold Cedar Financial accountable. Please contact our office for a free, no obligation consultation at 1-800-219-3577.