Houslanger & Associates, PLLC is a debt collection law firm located at 372 New York Ave, Huntington, New York 11743.

Houslanger & Associates, PLLC has been sued repeatedly by consumers for its unfair and deceptive debt collection practices.  For example:

• In October 2011, Schlanger & Schlanger filed a federal lawsuit against Houslanger & Associates alleging violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), based on Houslanger’s attempt to collect debt allegedly owed to AT&T.  Voltaire v. Houslanger & Assoc., 11-CV-4924 (E.D.N.Y. 2011).  Our client, Eddy Voltaire, only became aware of the claims regarding the AT&T “debt” when his bank account was frozen on the basis of a default judgment entered by Houslanger on behalf of debt buyer Palisades Collection, LLC.  On learning of the “debt,” Mr. Voltaire repeatedly informed Houslanger that the debt was not his and, on no fewer than three occasions, arranged for three way telephone conferences between himself, the debt collector and representatives from AT&T, with AT&T confirming on each call that Mr. Voltaire did not owe any money on the account and had never been an AT&T customer.  Undeterred, Houslanger continued to pursue Mr. Voltaire, who eventually came to Schlanger & Schlanger.  Our suit alleges that Houslanger’s conduct in Mr. Voltaire’s case, is part of a larger pattern in which Houslanger “routinely fails to perform due diligence on the facts underlying its Palisades Collection, LLC cases prior to taking collection action, even when informed by the consumer that the debt is not valid and that the consumer never had an account with the original creditor.”  The lawsuit also alleges that Hauslanger’s policy is to press forward with the cases against self represented consumers, “knowing that many consumers will lack the ability to mount a meaningful and effective challenge even when service was improper, there is no substantive basis for the lawsuit[.]”  Check back here for more updates as the case progresses.
• Houslanger & Associates was accused by the New York Attorney General and the Administrator for the New York State Courts of using process servers who intentionally failed to properly serve New York consumers with a Summons and Complaint.  See Pfau v. Forster & Garbus, et al.  In many of these cases, the process server claimed to be at several locations at once.  This practice, known as “sewer service” is a classic unfair debt collection practice that denies a debtor his or her day in court.  The Attorney General settled its claims against Houslanger & Associates, PLLC in late 2010.
• Houslanger & Associates has attempted to collect debts from consumers even after the debtor consumer has discharged the alleged debt in bankruptcy, a violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). In Asset Data Corp. v. Massaro, 12 Misc.3d 678 (N.Y. City Civ. Ct. 2006), Houslanger & Associates represented the debt buyer, Asset Data Corp.  The Court vacated the default judgment entered against the defendant debtor and dismissed the action against the consumer because the debt had previously been discharged in bankruptcy.

Debtors have rights.  If you are being sued, abused or harassed on a debt by Houslanger & Associates contact the consumer lawyers at Schlanger & Schlanger, LLP at 1-800-685-2580 or by filling out our consumer questionnaire.