Better Business Bureau of Southern Arizona today issued a warning to businesses to avoid Fresno-based collection agency Maxwell, Turner & Associates, Inc. The agency has an F-rating for 32 unanswered complaints within the last 10 months.

Letterhead for Maxwell, Turner & Associates, Inc. lists a Fresno address of 438 E. Shaw Ave., Suite 138 along with an 888 telephone number. The street address listed is a mail drop at a UPS store located near Fresno Street and Shaw Ave. The company also has a Bakersfield telephone number that is simply a message machine with an outdated phone message.

“Victims of this company have been from multiple states, and there is no reason to believe that they will not begin targeting unsuspecting businesses closer to home,” said Kim States, BBB President.

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 debt(s) have not been contacted. All of the companies fleeced out of the upfront fees were solicited by Maxwell, Turner & Associates, Inc. to use their services as a collection agency.

BBB has forwarded the complaints to the Federal Trade Commission for further investigation.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 25th, 2010 at 3:43 pm and is filed under Life. Tags for this post: BBB, Better Business Bureau, Better Business Bureau of Southern Arizona, collection, collection agency, debt, Maxwell, Maxwell Turner & Associates, Turner & Associates. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.