Diana Mey unable to collect money debt collectors owe her

The West Virginia woman is owed more than $10M from Reliant Financial Associates, but they seem to have disappeared

A U.S. woman seems to be unable to collect the $10 million she is owed by a debt collection agency.

Diana Mey, of West Virginia, won the largest settlement ever against a debt collection company claiming they were abusive, but now the company is being like some of the people they go after - evasive.

ABC News reports a company called Reliant Financial Associates left a message two years ago for Mey saying her house may be taken away if she didn't pay a debt.

"I'm calling in regards to a preliminary asset liability investigation. They are in the process of serving some court documents in regards to case 29369... They have some information now pending questions at the property,... Springdale Avenue, in Wheeling, West Virginia. It is in your best interests to contact the department. You are required to contact 866-764-9779," said the message.

How Mey was able to fight back is because it is illegal for debt collectors to make empty threats about seizing people's homes or serving them with lawsuits and Mey was actually debt free.

Mey wrote the company a cease and desist letter, but despite RFA receiving it, Mey continued getting mysterious hang-up calls from a local government number.

When she called the number back it was for a sheriff's office, but no one there was calling her.

After two days of hang-up calls, a person on the other end didn't hang up. This time he called Mey vulgar names and said he wanted to subject her to violent sexual acts.

"I was so frightened. I felt violated, but then I realized, you know, I'm taping this call," Mey said to ABC News.

She then called 911, bolted the door and got out her husband's gun.

Mey started recording calls after winning a class action lawsuit against a telemarketer in 1999. She eventually found lawyers to take the case against RFA and because RFA's lawyer failed to show up in court, she testified unopposed and was awarded $10,860,000.

According to a Wall Street Journal article, Mey is not alone in complaining about debt collectors. The industry is a booming market for entrepreneurs, as many Americans are behind on payments, but many of the people aren't so nice about going after the debt. The industry received about 165,000 complaints in 2011 according to the Federal Trade Commission. That's up 17 per cent from 2010. But only four of those complaints have lead to enforcement action.

As for Mey, she will probably never see a dime of that money. Nightline discovered RFA is a fake company and collection companies often change names and move.