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Edited by Hannah Locklear

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Hannah Locklear is SoloSuit’s Marketing and Impact Manager. With an educational background in Linguistics, Spanish, and International Development from Brigham Young University, Hannah has also worked as a legal support specialist for several years.

Summary: Have you been contacted about a debt with Carmel Financial or New Coast Direct? Here's everything you need to know about them. SoloSuit can help you get them off your back.

Have you gotten a call, text, or email from someone claiming to be a Carmel Financial debt collector? Do they insist you have an unpaid loan or credit card balance you are unaware of? Have they demanded immediate payment and threatened to file a lawsuit? You are not alone.

Carmel Financial has received countless complaints from consumers reporting that they have been asked to pay a non-existent debt or debt that was:

Fully paid
Canceled
Discharged
Forgiven
Beyond the collection period

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), and the attorney general's office protect consumers from wrongful debt and mistreatment. All debt collection companies can be reported even if they have an excellent accreditation score with the Better Business Bureau (BBB).

Carmel Financial has an A+ accreditation from BBB despite the many complaints filed against it. To help you beat Carmel Financial, we will discuss how to spot a fake Carmel Financial debt collector and the dos and don'ts when communicating with legitimate ones. But first, how is Carmel Financial connected to New Coast Direct?

How Carmel Financial works with New Coast Direct

Carmel Financial collects debt from organizations they partner with or buy, such as New Coast Direct. New Coast Direct enables consumers to purchase goods at subsidized rates from online shopping platforms. During debt collection, Carmel Financial takes over debts owed to New Coast Direct and ensures they receive more than the consumer owed by charging exorbitant interest rates, late fees, and doubling the debt amount. Before making any payments to Carmel Financial, request a debt verification by sending a Debt Validation Letter with the help of SoloSuit.

Carmel Financial negative reviews

Nikkis Job wrote on the complaints board that he had planned to pay his debt and got an email from Carmel Financial with a debt payment deal. This deal exceeded the original debt amount. He tried to get an explanation, but they ignored his attempts. They reported him to the credit bureau, claiming he had a balance of $6,000 instead of $2,300. They continued to ignore his request for a statement of charges and stuck to the unfair debt amount.

Alicia Shaffer wrote a complaint on RipOff Report that Carmel Financial bought his debt with Metropolitan Education Enterprise. Carmel Financial stopped taking automatic payments from his account and did not contact him about the changes for four years. He later learned he had a debt dating four years back after checking his credit history report, but the debt would not exist if Carmel Financial hadn't stopped the automatic payments that Shaffer had originally set up with Metropolitan Education Enterprise. When he tried calling Carmel Financial, they were rude and said they were not obliged to answer his questions but that he should pay the debt.

If you encounter these and other challenges, you can report Carmel Financial debt collectors who go against the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Report them on FTC online platform or call 877-382-4357. You can also go to the CFPB website to submit a complaint or call 855-411-2372. Better Business Bureau also accepts complaints on the Carmel Financial profile page.

Warning signs of a fake Carmel Financial debt collector

Not all debt collectors are legitimate. Some individuals call and pretend to be Carmel Financial agents or attorneys collecting debt on their behalf. You may be dealing with a fake debt collector if they:

Ask for information a debt collector should have: A legitimate debt collector should obtain your account details from New Coast Direct. They should know how much you owe, your address, social security number, birthday, bank, etc. Do not engage with a collector if they ask you to give this information.
Refuse to share information about themselves: A Carmel Financial debt collector should share with you their full names, employee number, their company's address, phone number, website, email, and professional licensing number.
Insist you pay immediately: Legitimate Carmel Financial debt collectors usually try to get their payment quickly. However, suspect you are being scammed if the debt collector pushes you too much and uses threats to convince you to pay now.
Ask you to pay using untraceable methods: Scammers avoid being found out by asking their victims to pay via Visa gift card, iTunes gift card, or wire transfer. Carmel Financial will accept traceable payments such as checks and traditional credit cards.

Carmel Financial's address is 580 E Carmel Dr. Ste 101, Carmel, IN 46032-331, website: Carmel Financial, phone Number: (317) 708-7570. New Coast Direct's address is 11625 Custer Rd. #110-227 Frisco, TX. 75035, website: New Coast Direct, email: support@newcoastdirect.com, phone number 877-824-3864

Dos and don'ts when communicating with Carmel Financial debt collectors

When you receive a call from Carmel Financial debt collectors, it is advisable not to talk to them for an extended period as things you say can impact your chances of winning if the debt collector sues you. Here are the dos and don'ts to bear in mind.

Dos

Don'ts

Do insist on proper identification to avoid wasting time talking to scammers
Do demand information about your debt to show them they can't intimidate you
Do send a Debt Validation Letter requesting debt validation
Do check your credit card report by sending a request to Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion
Do dispute the debt if your credit report shows a different debt amount or no debt

Don't give personal information; not even your full names
Don't discuss your debt with anyone from Carmel Financial or New Coast Direct until they validate the debt
Don't respond to threats but report them to FTC or CFPB
Don't make payments to get the debt collector off your back until you have verified the debt and are sure it belongs to you
Don't cause unnecessary delay in making payments if Carmel Financial verifies the debt and your credit report confirms it

Make Carmel Financial validate a debt

Legitimate debt collectors know that consumers have rights and protections under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Send Carmel Financial a Debt Validation Letter as soon as they make contact with you regarding a debt. The letter forces Carmel Financial to prove that the debt legally belongs to you and that the information they have is accurate and up to date.

What if Carmel Financial sues me?

While it is unlikely that Carmel Financial will bring a lawsuit against you for a debt, it could happen. If you receive notice of a suit, you need to file a timely response. SoloSuit makes that easy with its Answer to a Summons.

What is SoloSuit?

SoloSuit makes it easy to respond to a debt collection lawsuit.

How it works: SoloSuit is a step-by-step web-app that asks you all the necessary questions to complete your answer. Upon completion, you can either print the completed forms and mail in the hard copies to the courts or you can pay SoloSuit to file it for you and to have an attorney review the document.

Respond with SoloSuit

"First time getting sued by a debt collector and I was searching all over YouTube and ran across SoloSuit, so I decided to buy their services with their attorney reviewed documentation which cost extra but it was well worth it! SoloSuit sent the documentation to the parties and to the court which saved me time from having to go to court and in a few weeks the case got dismissed!" – James

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