Diversified Consultants, Inc. is NOT part of Diversified Consumer Services or Diversified Company

It has come to our attention that in or around April of 2020, Diversified Consultants, Inc., a Jackson, Florida corporation, open since 1993 closed its doors permanently.  More information about that can be found at this link which will open in a new window: https://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/news/2020/04/21/jacksonville-based-company-closes-lays-off-250.html

Diversified Consumer Services (DCS) is not at all affiliated with Diversified Consultants, Inc. (DCI) nor is our parent company Diversified Company, an Indiana corporation.

Over the years, we have received several calls from DCI customers trying to pay or locate their wireless phone account. We do not own any wireless phone accounts nor are we a collection agency. We are a debt buyer.

A few things that might help you with respect to the DCI closure and what it means for you:

• Your debt is not eliminated. In fact, even if the original creditor goes out of business, the debt is still owed. It can only be erased by paying it in full or with a discharged bankruptcy you file.
  
  
• If you have a SPRINT account, you can call the DCI toll-free number at 1-800-771-5361. Calls are now answered by (Enhanced Recovery Company (ERC). ERC reportedly only deals with Sprint accounts.
  
  
• If you have an account other than Sprint, DCI and ERC advised you contact the original creditor. (More on this later. Pay close attention!)
  
  
• If DCS appears on your credit report, it is NOT from us. We do NOT report to credit bureaus. That only happens when we outsource collections. It is common to see DIVERSIFIED CONS on a credit report (which is why people contact us). Good news! When a collection agency is no longer in business or is no longer collecting on your account, by law under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act requires that the debt be DELETED from your credit report(s). THIS DOES NOT ERASE THE DEBT, but legally the entry on your credit report MUST be removed. It is possible this has been done through a process at the respective credit bureaus. If you are unsure or know it remains, please take advantage of your FREE ANNUAL CREDIT REPORT at https://www.annualcreditreport.com/index.action which will open in a new window. NOTE: This is THE only OFFICIAL site for your annual credit report, and while normally annual, they are allowing WEEKLY credit reports through at least April 2021. This may be extended at their option. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO PAY OR PROVIDE A CREDIT CARD SO IF YOU ARE ASKED FOR THAT, YOU’RE AT THE WRONG SITE!! You can usually file a dispute online right through that portal. If not, you can contact the credit bureaus individually through their websites, but this route is fastest.
  
  
• Remember the “More on this later. Pay close attention!”? Here’s that part! While not getting your hopes up too high, it is quite common for companies that have sold debts to no longer have a record of them in active files accessible by customer service staff. In the case of DCI, what would logically happen is the account would be placed with a new agency. If you contact the original creditor (except for Sprint, see #2) and they cannot locate your account, do nothing.  Again, the account may be placed with another agency or it may one day be accessible at the original creditor level… and… if it’s a phone account and you apply for new service, you may have to address that balance at that time, but when there is no way to post the payment to an account because the creditor cannot locate it, you’d be sending your money into the physical version of cyberspace and it may never get applied to anything.  HOWEVER, if you file bankruptcy, INCLUDE THE DEBT. Be sure your attorney knows who the original creditor was as well as that DCI went out of business. Including it, assuming your case is discharged, protects you from being chased down for it later. There could be a quiet period of months to years and suddenly this can resurface, so don’t ignore correspondence BUT see #6.
  
  
• FRAUD – There is a high amount of fraud in the credit industry when it comes to selling accounts. A buyer has to have a clear and clean Bill of Sale (also known as a Chain of Title) from a legitimate broker if not the original creditor in order to legally be allowed to claim ownership to and collect on a debt. It is entirely possible you will be contacted by a company perpetrating a fraud. ALWAYS CHECK THEM OUT!!! Being BBB A+ Accredited (like we are) helps, but there are many non-accredited legitimate companies. Also, an A+ rating in this business is not easy thing to maintain, so when rated lower than A+, check out the reasons and read the complaints. When in doubt, VERIFY before sending any money to anyone.

We hope this information proves useful and welcome you to share it freely.  Usually we’d say we hope you’ll consider being our customer, but this particular division of the company isn’t where people bang down the doors to join. However, do check out our corporate headquarters site at https://diversified.company where you can see all the various divisions of our “diversified company” (clever name eh?). No two divisions seem to compliment each other, so you may find something you want!

Best wishes!

Diversified Consumer Services
A Division of Diversified Company