Created: 9/22/2009 6:38:47 PM 
JACKSONVILLE, FL -- Joy Jenkins knows what's it is like to get an aggressive call from a debt collector.
"It is harassing," says Jenkins. "And it is illegal what they're saying." Jenkins says she was told to pay up or else.
Jenkins says, "Or else they will turn it over to the courts."
Jenkins says the problem is she has never heard of the debtor, even so she agreed to a payment plan to pay off $375.
She says the next day she called the payday loan company she owes $200 to,and asked if they had hired the company Revenue Reporting Services.
"They said they have never heard of them and so my guess is it is fraud," says Jenkins.
Tom Stephens runs the Northeast Florida Better Business Bureau.
"We are seeing more and more complaints about collection tactics involving the payday loan companies," says Stephens.
He says there is little that you can do about an aggressive debt collector, but if the collector is threatening that is against the law.
"If they are threatening to take you to jail or tell you there's a warrant for not paying the bill, that is illegal, a bad debt is a civil matter," says Stephens. He adds, "It is not a criminal issue."
Jenkins is reporting her experience to the Federal Trade Commission as a violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
As for the Revenue Reporting Services, the New York company has an "F" rating with the Better Business Bureau.
A consumer tip:
Report a debt collector's bad practices to the Federal Trade Commission or to the Attorney General's office. You also have the right to tell a debt collector to communicate only by mail.
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