End Coast Professional Debt Collection Harassment

If Coast Professional is calling you about a student loan you thought was settled, a federal debt you do not recognize, or an IRS balance you already paid, you are not alone. Coast Professional, Inc. is a legitimate debt collector with nearly 50 years in business and contracts with the U.S. Department of Education and the IRS. But that federal backing does not make their tactics legal.

The company has faced multiple class action lawsuits, including Graham v. Coast Professional (2018) over misleading collection letters and Harper v. Coast Professional (2018) over deceptive fee disclosures. BBB complaints document aggressive calls, collection on debts consumers do not owe, and IRS-related contacts that turned out to be baseless.

If Coast Professional has crossed the line with you, call +1-844-638-1122 for a free case review. The Wood Firm PLLC works on contingency, which means Coast Professional pays our fees if we win.

Also searched as: Coast Professional Inc, Coast Professionals, CPI, Coast Collections, Coast debt collection, Coastal Professional Inc, and Coast Professional Services. Coast Professional’s website is coastprofessional.com, and it also operates under the domain coastprofessional.net. Not to be confused with Coastal Collection Agency or Gulf Coast Collection Bureau, which are separate companies.

Who Is Coast Professional, Inc.?

Coast Professional, Inc. is a full-service debt collection agency headquartered at 4273 Volunteer Road, Geneseo, New York 14454, with a second major office at 651 Downing Pines Road, West Monroe, Louisiana 71292, and a third location at 300 Gleed Avenue, East Aurora, New York 14052. The company was founded on February 1, 1976, incorporated on September 30, 2004, and has been BBB-accredited since April 2007 with an A+ rating.

Coast Professional describes itself as “Collectively Different” and specializes almost exclusively in educational and government debt.

Unlike most debt collectors, Coast Professional holds federal contracts. The company is a Private Collection Agency (PCA) for the U.S. Department of Education. Also, it collects for the IRS, state and county governments, municipalities, courts, and hundreds of colleges and universities across the country. The company’s leadership includes Co-Owner Brian Davis and Chief Compliance Officer Annmarie Buchanan. Coast Professional is ISO 9001-certified, a member of ACA International, and employs advanced skip tracing, automated dialers, and omni-channel outreach across phone, mail, and digital channels.

The BBB has logged 35 complaints against Coast Professional in the past three years. These complaints, combined with three class action lawsuits filed in a single year (2018), paint a picture of a company that operates at the intersection of government authority and aggressive collection tactics. When a collector calls and says they represent the IRS or the Department of Education, consumers often feel they have no choice but to pay. That pressure is exactly where violations tend to occur.

Why Is Coast Professional Calling You?

Coast Professional is calling because a federal agency, state government, university, or court turned your account over for collection. The company collects four primary categories of debt:

• Federal student loans. This is Coast Professional’s core business. If you defaulted on a federal student loan held by the Department of Education, your account may have been assigned to Coast Professional as one of its contracted private collection agencies. The company has been a top-performing PCA for the Department for over a decade.
• IRS tax debts. Coast Professional is one of a small number of private agencies authorized to collect on behalf of the Internal Revenue Service. This is the source of the most alarming BBB complaints: consumers report being contacted by Coast Professional about IRS debts they say do not exist. One documented BBB complaint describes a consumer who received multiple lawsuit threats from Coast Professional, claiming to represent the IRS, only to confirm directly with the IRS that no balance was owed.
• University and college debts. Tuition, parking fines, auxiliary accounts, and other campus-related obligations. Coast Professional Services hundreds of colleges and universities nationwide.
• Government and court debts. State and county government receivables, municipal debts, and court-ordered fines and fees. A recent BBB complaint involves a consumer whose driver’s license was suspended over a balance Coast Professional claimed was owed to a court, which the consumer disputed.

If Coast Professional is calling you, verify the debt before paying anything. Contact the original creditor directly, whether that is the IRS (check your IRS online account), your loan servicer, or the university. Just because Coast Professional says you owe a federal debt does not mean the balance is correct, or that you owe it at all.

The Lawsuits Against Coast Professional

Coast Professional has faced multiple federal lawsuits alleging violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Three class actions filed in 2018 alone reveal a pattern of misleading written communications.

• Graham v. Coast Professional, Inc. (2018). A California class action alleging that Coast Professional sent collection letters listing both “interest” and “other interest” fees without explaining the difference between the two. Consumers received letters with confusing, duplicative charges that made it impossible to determine the actual amount owed. This violates the FDCPA requirement that collection communications clearly and accurately state the debt.
• Harper v. Coast Professional, Inc. (2018). A Tennessee class action alleging that initial collection letters either falsely stated that interest and fees were continuously accruing, or failed to clearly state the total amount due. The conflicting language left consumers unable to determine whether the balance was fixed or growing, creating urgency and confusion that the FDCPA specifically prohibits.
• David Kaykov v. Coast Professional, Inc. (2018). A New York class action alleging FDCPA violations related to deceptive practices in collection communications.

These lawsuits share a common thread: Coast Professional’s written communications failed to give consumers the clear, accurate information they are legally entitled to receive. If you received a collection letter from Coast Professional that is confusing about the amount owed, lists unexplained fees, or makes conflicting statements about whether interest is accruing, that letter itself may be a violation worth statutory damages. Keep every piece of correspondence. Do not throw away collection letters. You can review the top FDCPA violations to see how these tactics fit into the broader pattern of collection abuse.

Is Coast Professional a Scam?

Coast Professional is not a scam. The company has operated since 1976, holds contracts with the U.S. Department of Education and the IRS, maintains an A+ BBB rating, and is a member of ACA International. It is one of the most well-established collection agencies in the country.

But that legitimacy creates a specific problem. When Coast Professional calls and says they are collecting on behalf of the IRS or the Department of Education, consumers assume the debt must be real. BBB complaints tell a different story.

Multiple consumers report being contacted by Coast Professional about IRS debts that they confirmed do not exist after checking directly with the IRS. Others describe being told they owe student loan balances they had already resolved through rehabilitation or consolidation programs.

There is also a scam risk going the other direction: fraudsters impersonate the IRS and use company names like “Coast Professional” to trick people into paying fake tax debts. If someone calls claiming to be Coast Professional, collecting for the IRS, verify independently before sending money. Check your IRS account online, call the IRS directly, and confirm that Coast Professional actually holds your account before providing any payment information.

Does Coast Professional Collect for the IRS?

Yes. Coast Professional is one of the private collection agencies contracted by the Internal Revenue Service to collect certain federal tax debts. The IRS publishes a list of its contracted agencies, and Coast Professional is on it. This means Coast Professional can legally contact you about overdue tax obligations assigned to them by the IRS.

However, the IRS will always send you a written notice (typically CP40 or Letter 4903) before transferring your account to a private collector. If you never received that notice, or if your IRS online account shows no balance owed, the contact from Coast Professional may be in error, and continuing to collect on a debt you do not owe is itself a federal violation.

Coast Professional Phone Numbers to Watch For

Coast Professional operates from multiple locations and uses several phone numbers. If any of these numbers have called you, it is almost certainly Coast Professional, Inc. The list below includes common format variations because people often search without hyphens or spacing.

• 📞 888-869-1170 (also 8888691170, (888) 869-1170, 888.869.1170): Main toll-free line
• 📞 800-231-0225 (also 8002310225, (800) 231-0225, 800.231.0225): General collections line
• 📞 888-815-2843 (also 8888152843, (888) 815-2843, 888.815.2843): College and university division
• 📞 800-964-0881 (also 8009640881, (800) 964-0881, 800.964.0881): Department of Education division
• 📞 318-331-4500 (also 3183314500, (318) 331-4500, 318.331.4500): West Monroe, LA office
• 📞 714-678-8787 (also 7146788787, (714) 678-8787, 714.678.8787): ACA International listed contact

Document every call. Write down the date, exact time, phone number, and what was said. If the calls are automated, meaning prerecorded messages or a robotic-sounding dialer pause before a human comes on, each call to your cell phone without your express written consent may be a separate Telephone Consumer Protection Act violation worth $500 to $1,500.

Do not delete voicemails. They are evidence. You can also check how many times a debt collector can legally call you per day to see whether Coast Professional has already crossed that line.

How to Stop Coast Professional and Protect Your Rights

Given Coast Professional’s documented history of misleading collection letters and disputed IRS contacts, your response sequence matters. Do not assume the balance is correct, even if they claim federal authority.

1. Verify the Debt at the Source

Before engaging with Coast Professional at all, check directly with the original creditor. For student loans, log in to your Federal Student Aid account at studentaid.gov. For IRS debts, check your IRS online account. For university debts, contact the school’s billing office. If the original creditor has no record of the balance Coast Professional claims, you have strong grounds for a federal violation claim.

2. Request Debt Validation in Writing

Send a certified letter to Coast Professional at 4273 Volunteer Road, Geneseo, NY 14454 within 30 days of their first contact. Demand: the original creditor’s name, the date the debt originated, the full itemized balance including any interest and fees, and proof that the debt belongs to you. Under federal law, Coast Professional must pause all collection activity until they respond adequately. Our full guide on how to request debt validation walks through the exact language to use.

3. Document Every Contact

Keep a running log with the date, exact time, phone number, and a summary of what was said in every call, text, or letter. Save voicemails. Do not delete them. If Coast Professional’s letters list confusing fee categories like “interest” and “other interest” without explanation, keep those letters. That was the exact allegation at the center of the Graham lawsuit.

4. Send a Cease-and-Desist if Calls Continue

If Coast Professional continues contact after the validation request, send a certified cease-and-desist letter to the Geneseo, NY address. Once received, Coast Professional can legally only contact you to confirm they have stopped or to notify you of legal action. If you are unsure what to say (and not say) to a collection agency, review that guide before making any call yourself.

5. Call an Attorney

Once Coast Professional has legal notice that you are represented, all contact must route through your attorney. Call +1-844-638-1122. The Wood Firm PLLC handles contact within 48 hours of legal notice.

Can Coast Professional Sue Me or Garnish My Wages?

Coast Professional can sue you in court if the debt is valid and within the statute of limitations. For federal student loans, there is no statute of limitations, which means Coast Professional can pursue collection indefinitely. For IRS debts, the IRS generally has 10 years from assessment. For university and court debts, the statute of limitations varies by state.

Coast Professional cannot garnish your wages without first filing a lawsuit, winning a judgment, and obtaining a garnishment order, with one critical exception: federal student loan debt. For defaulted federal student loans, the Department of Education can authorize administrative wage garnishment of up to 15% of disposable pay without a court order. Coast Professional itself cannot initiate this process, but the Department of Education can. Any threat from Coast Professional of immediate garnishment without explaining this process is misleading and potentially a federal violation.

Coast Professional can also report the debt to the three credit bureaus, but only after properly validating the debt. If Coast Professional reported inaccurate information, such as a balance you do not owe or a debt already resolved through rehabilitation, dispute it immediately with all three bureaus and call +1-844-638-1122. These reporting violations create separate claims.

How to Remove Coast Professional From Your Credit Report

A Coast Professional entry on your credit report is most commonly a student loan or government debt. Dispute the entry with all three bureaus if any of these apply:

You already completed a loan rehabilitation program. If you successfully rehabilitated your federal student loan, the default entry should be removed. If Coast Professional is still reporting the original default balance, dispute it with documentation from your current servicer.

The reported balance is inaccurate. If payments you made directly to the original creditor, servicer, or government agency are not reflected in the Coast Professional reporting, dispute the entry with payment documentation.

Coast Professional never provided validation after you requested it. Reference the unanswered validation request in your dispute letter.

The debt does not belong to you. Multiple BBB complaints document Coast Professional collecting from the wrong person. If the debt is not yours, dispute it and provide any identifying information that proves the error.

Inaccurate Coast Professional reporting gives you a separate claim under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, on top of any FDCPA claim for the underlying collection conduct.

How The Wood Firm PLLC Helps

Student loan and government debt collection by Coast Professional combines federal FDCPA requirements, FCRA rules on credit reporting, and TCPA limits on automated calls and texts. When Coast Professional sends misleading collection letters with confusing fee disclosures, continues collecting on debts consumers do not owe, or reports inaccurate balances to the bureaus, those are actionable claims under federal law.

The Wood Firm PLLC has handled FDCPA, FCRA, and TCPA cases exclusively since 2011. We have never represented a creditor or a collection agency. We work on contingency, which means you pay nothing up front and nothing out of pocket.

If we win, Coast Professional pays our fees, not you. Contact from Coast Professional typically stops within 48 hours of the legal notice we send on your behalf. Learn more about how we work for you and why clients choose us.

Attorney Jeff Wood founded the firm for one purpose: protecting consumers from abusive debt collection. With more than 15 years of consumer protection litigation and Of Counsel relationships across Arizona, California, Florida, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and West Virginia, the firm has the jurisdictional reach to pursue Coast Professional wherever the violations happened. Read more on the attorney profile page.

Real Cases We Have Handled Against Collectors Like Coast Professional

The following describes the types of cases the firm regularly handles. Client identities are protected.

• Student loan harassment case. A client received more than 15 calls per day from a student loan collector while they were already making payments through a rehabilitation program. The calls disrupted their job performance and caused documented anxiety. The Wood Firm PLLC documented the violations, filed suit, and the case resolved with a four-figure recovery while stopping all future contact.
• Wrong-person collection case. A client was contacted repeatedly about a student loan debt that was not theirs. The collector had reported the debt to all three credit bureaus, dropping the client’s score and preventing a mortgage refinance. The Wood Firm PLLC proved the error, obtained deletion of the inaccurate entry, and recovered damages for the credit harm.
• Workplace harassment case. A client’s employer received multiple calls from a student loan collector despite written requests to stop contacting the workplace. The Wood Firm PLLC intervened within 48 hours, stopped all workplace contact, and secured statutory damages for the federal violations.

These are the tactics the firm sees most often, and the kinds of outcomes that are possible when violations are properly documented and pursued.

Frequently Asked Questions About Coast Professional

Is Coast Professional, Inc. legit?

Yes. Coast Professional is a legitimate debt collection agency founded in 1976, headquartered in Geneseo, New York, BBB-accredited since 2007 with an A+ rating, and contracted by the U.S. Department of Education and the IRS. Being legitimate does not mean being compliant. Three class action lawsuits in 2018 and 35 BBB complaints in three years document a pattern of misleading letters and disputed debts.

Does Coast Professional collect for the IRS?

Yes. Coast Professional is one of the private collection agencies authorized by the IRS to collect certain federal tax debts. The IRS will always mail you a written notice (CP40 or Letter 4903) before transferring your account. If you never received that notice, or your IRS online account shows no balance owed, the contact from Coast Professional may be in error. Call +1-844-638-1122 if this applies to you.

Why is Coast Professional calling me about student loans?

Coast Professional holds contracts with the U.S. Department of Education to collect defaulted federal student loans. If your federal loan went into default, the Department may have assigned your account to Coast Professional. Verify the debt by logging into your Federal Student Aid account at studentaid.gov before making any payment to Coast Professional.

What phone numbers does Coast Professional use?

Coast Professional uses multiple numbers, including 888-869-1170 (main line), 800-231-0225, 888-815-2843 (college division), 800-964-0881 (Department of Education division), 318-331-4500 (West Monroe, LA), and 714-678-8787. Like most collectors, Coast Professional uses multiple numbers across its three offices.

Can Coast Professional garnish my wages for student loans?

Coast Professional itself cannot garnish your wages without a court judgment. However, for defaulted federal student loans, the Department of Education can authorize administrative wage garnishment of up to 15% of disposable pay without going to court. Coast Professional cannot initiate this process directly, but the Department of Education can. Any threat from Coast Professional implying they can garnish your wages immediately is misleading.

How do I get Coast Professional off my credit report?

Dispute the entry with all three bureaus in writing. Strong grounds include: a balance you already resolved through loan rehabilitation or consolidation, payments not credited to the reported balance, validation never provided after you requested it, or a debt that simply is not yours. Inaccurate reporting creates a separate claim under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

What were the Coast Professional lawsuits about?

Three class action lawsuits were filed in 2018. Graham v. Coast Professional alleged misleading letters with unexplained “interest” and “other interest” charges. Harper v. Coast Professional alleged deceptive fee disclosures about whether interest was accruing. David Kaykov v. Coast Professional alleged broader FDCPA violations. All three centered on misleading written communications.

Can I sue Coast Professional for harassment?

Yes. If Coast Professional broke federal rules by harassing you with excessive calls, sending misleading letters, collecting a debt you do not owe, or reporting inaccurate information to credit bureaus, you can sue for up to $1,000 per FDCPA violation plus attorney fees. For illegal robocalls, the TCPA allows $500 to $1,500 per violation. The Wood Firm PLLC handles these cases on contingency at no upfront cost to you.

Take Action Against Coast Professional Today

Student loan and government debt collection by Coast Professional carries a weight that other collectors do not: the implied authority of the federal government behind every call and letter. But federal backing does not authorize federal violations. Misleading fee disclosures, collection on debts you do not owe, IRS contacts that turn out to be baseless, and aggressive calls to your workplace are all violations with real financial consequences for the collector. The Wood Firm PLLC has handled consumer protection cases exclusively since 2011, works on contingency, and makes Coast Professional pay the legal fees if we win.

Call +1-844-638-1122 for a free case review. There is no cost to you unless we recover on your behalf, and contact from Coast Professional typically stops within 48 hours of legal notice. You can also learn more about how we work for you, browse our full list of collection agencies, or review our practice areas.

If you are experiencing harassment from other debt collectors, The Wood Firm PLLC has successfully stopped similar tactics from agencies using comparable methods. We have handled cases against Professional Account Services, Professional Service Bureau, and Core Recoveries.