The Better Business Bureau serving Central California is warning businesses to avoid collection agency Maxwell, Turner & Associates Inc. The Fresno, Calif. agency has an F-rating for 32 unanswered complaints within the last 10 months.
According to complaints, the company charges businesses an upfront fee to collect on court-ordered judgments of at least $1,500 and then severs contact with the businesses. The companies and individuals owing the debts have not been contacted. Maxwell, Turner & Associates solicited all of the companies that subsequently were deceived.
Letterhead for the agency lists a Fresno address that is a mail drop at a UPS store. The company has a Bakersfield, Calif. telephone number that is simply an answering machine with an outdated phone message.
„Although victims of this company have so far been from out of state, there is no reason to believe that they will not begin targeting unsuspecting businesses closer to home," Doug Broten, president of the BBB in Central California, said in a statement.
The BBB has forwarded the complaints to the Federal Trade Commission for further investigation.
