Received a letter from Phillips and Cohen, debt collection?

Cease and Desist = the magic words.
Also, when answering the phone, you can use a simple system, to 'litmus test' if it is a (compliant) debt collector. "Hi is this John Smith?"
Respond with "Who's calling please" and "What is the purpose of this phone call". Even of you ARE John Smith, don't confirm, nor deny, that you are him.
I then end with "If you have a message you'd like to be relayed, IF there is a John Smith here, I will relay it"
-this is wise even in general to protect yourself, or especially your elderly loved one's from 'Social Engineering' schemes. Which generally will either try to fool the person into sending money on the spot, or the scammer(carder aka identity thief) is gathering info to complete a few missing blanks of their full profile, so they can start getting credit cards in your name, or access your existing one's, etc. etc.
This is one of the reasons for the surge in robocalling lately. It precisely that, information gathering, with the worst of intentions. In my state, and I'm pretty sure in every state, there are only two things a debt collector can do as recourse. They can report their loss to the 3 credit beureaus, and lower your credit score, or they can file a civil action against you, which would have to be served by a constable and be in a real court(pretty rare).*- failing to appear to such a court date, could eventually lead to garnishment, but social security is protected from this times two, and if you live in your own home. A whole lot of its equity cannot be touched, depending on some details.

If you want to CHOOSE to pay a debt, for the purpose of personal integrity or the same towards a certain party, you are always free to, and I highly recommend being honest with money. But legally, for unsecured debt, I think I just covered every possibility. Would be happy to be corrected of course.

Be very careful, I got a phone call from a collection agency trying to collect on my college tuition from 45 yeas ago! I paid cash each quarter and had no loans so I knew it was bogus. I told them the facts and never heard from them again.

I absolutely do not wish to contradict anyone, but I really need to emphasize that any action has to be taken pursuant to the FDCPA - it provides the framework for and governs interactions on debt collection.

Additionally, I would strongly advise that no phone contact at all be made.  I've read of debt collectors that record conversations then omit certain words and phrases to change the meaning of the potential debtor, then use that against them as evidence of admission to a debt.

Do NOT contact these people by phone!

Just looked up the collection agency. No, they do not have a good reputation. I was a collector for a private company and FTCs rules in collecting are harsher for Collection agencies that buy debt. I actually had more freedom but because we did business on a regular basis with a client we tried to work things out.

You cannot be harassed. First, since the debt is Moms do not give them any personal info. Call from a phone you can easily block. Once you give them a date for payment, they can not call you till then. The big thing to remember is they work on commission. The more they collect, the more commission they make. If you tell them to not call them, they can't. You can file a complaint with the FTC.

I had a collection agency call me. All they had was a total. When asked for an invoice they had no copies, I had to contact the Drs office who sent the bill to collection. Thank god I had done accts receivable because this Drs office did not know how to post payments. The whole problem was theirs and they never sent a second billing.

All you need to tell them is that you are probating Moms estate. That when you can, all outstanding debts will be paid. Until then, please do not contact you again.

If you find out who put Mom in collections I would call them just to make sure the debt "is" owed. I found with one of the providers Mom owed that the balance was do to them not billing Moms secondary insurance. Once they put that thru, there was no balance due. Another time a doctor was trying to bill the difference between what he billed and what Medicare felt was reasonable, can't do this if ur contracted with Medicare. Another time a drs office was trying to bill my MIL a balance when her paperwork showed " provider has excepted this amount as full payment". You have good billing clerks and those who aren't. So make sure billings are correct. The secondary statement is the best. It shows what Medicare paid, what the secondary paid and any balance if there is one. The Medicare statement shows what the provider billed and what Medicare thought reasonable. The balance will be the 20% Medicare doesn't pay. Thats why secondary statement is important. So what I am saying, just because you are being billed doesn't necessarily mean u owe it.

There are also scammers. They see a death in the paper or on the internet and send out a fradulent bills. So beware.

In a previous career, I had clients who would bring me their collection notices all the time. Among other legalities, the notice has to state who owes the debt, what the debt is, and how to pay the debt. I am wondering if by them referring you to a website, if the debt info is somehow listed there? If so, I didn't know they could do that. I thought everything had to be included in the written notice because not everyone has computer knowledge/access. Generic requests for money were sometimes received by our clients and we always told the client to respond in writing to request written verification/proof of the debt. One more thing I'll add is to literally do everything in writing and I'd advise against calling them instead. I had clients who thought they would not write a letter, but would call and "straighten things out." Calling them will only get you to an aggressive collector who will say terrible things to you, scare you half to death to where you cannot sleep, keep you on the phone indefinitely, and will not clarify the info you're seeking. They are not in the customer service business, they are in the collecting business. And I don't think calling protects your rights anyway.

Bob, you might want to contact any of the medical or other services used by your mother over the last few or so months and ask them if there are any outstanding bills or issues, just to reassure yourself that all bills have been sent.   But it IS POSSIBLE that a subcontractor or billing service for a provider hasn't sent anything yet; however, typically they wouldn't involve a collection agency if bills haven't even been sent.

I'm not really sure what information these debt collectors would be seeking, although the info I read indicated that this isn't a particularly honest outfit.

Still, you really DO need to respond to the letter and preserve your and the estate's rights under the FDCPA.    If you need help writing the letter, just say so.  It would be emphatic in stating that the collectors haven't provided information pursuant to the FDCPA, nor have they provided any information indicating liability on the part of you or the Estate.

Protect yourself and the Estate from these predators.

This letter was sent to my moms estate she passed last month. I handle the estate.

She does not have any loans, credit cards etc that i know of as i have paid for what i know of.

I have not received any letters from anyone or out stanading bills from anyone yet.

I didn't think Debt collectors come out until you receive final notices in the mail on a bill that has not been paid that is what makes me think they are just trying to collect info.

AARP also has a lot of good information on their web site about collections fraud and about collections in general and collectors,how to handle them.

I checked.  There are 2 law firms with this name. One is a whistle blower firm; their practice wouldn't likely be involved in debt collection.  The other is in fact a debt collection firm, with an apparently poor reputation.

This will offer insight into the latter's practices:

https://consumerlawfirmcenter.com/phillips-cohen-associates-debt-collection-harassment-stop-the-calls/

If you have no outstanding debts, and/or if there are debts arising from other's actions for which you are NOT OBLIGATED, then you are not required to provide them with any information at all.   You should before doing anything familiarize yourself with the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act:

https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/fair_debt_collection_practices_act

This is in legalese, so it might be a bit difficult to interpret.   Sections 804, 805 and 806 might be easier to start off with as they address the issue of providing information as well as harassment by the debt collector.

Read Section 809(a)(1 - 4) for your basic rights in terms of further contact.  Basically, if you notify this company in writing w/I 30 days that you are not obligated or have no responsibility for this debt, the company by law should not contact you further.

However, debt collectors breach this provision and harass people nevertheless.    You do have rights to complain to the FTC about the company.

If any of this is confusing and you need further clarification, just post again.   But also state whether or not you do have outstanding debts, whether anyone in the family (or even outside the family) have outstanding debts.    The first step in assessing action is whether or not you're liable for the alleged debts.

And keep track of the date you received this notice; by law you  must respond w/I 30 days.   And definitely send it certified mail, return receipt requested.  Under no circumstances should you respond by e-mail.

So do you have outstanding bills you did not pay? You are not obligated to give anyone information when they are not supplying you with what they require that information in regards to. If they say they are collecting on a bill tell them you require a copy of this bill WITH details of the bill before you can supply them with any information. Never give anyone access to any accounts to withdraw on a bill. Debt collectors pay pennies on the dollar to buy old, uncollected debt, hoping they can make a few bucks. Be careful.