On July 27, 2017, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office (Massachusetts AG) announced that it entered into a consent judgment with the largest debt collection law firm in the state and two of its principals. The agreed consent judgment, which asserted violations of the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act, G.L. chapter 93A, section 2, was entered in…
On July 10, 2017, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida entered a temporary restraining order (“TRO”) halting operations and freezing the assets of a debt collection operation, at the request of the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”). The FTC charged the defendant company and individuals with violating Section 5(a)…
On July 11, 2017, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton secured a $25 million judgment and permanent injunction against a portfolio management company and a small law office for violations of the Texas Debt Collection Act, Texas Deceptive Trade Practices-Consumer Protection Act, and Identity Theft Protection and Enforcement Act. A jury in the District Court of…
On July 13, 2017, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office (“Massachusetts AG”) announced that it obtained a preliminary injunction against a debt collection law firm and its principal attorney. The Massachusetts AG alleged that the law firm engaged in unlawful collection practices, in violation of the Massachusetts AG’s debt collection regulations. The law firm collected debts for…
On June 23, 2017, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it has filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina against a North Carolina debt collection company and its owner, alleging that the defendants took money from consumers for fake or “phantom” debts they did not owe. According…
On May 26, 2017, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt (Kansas AG) announced that a New York-based debt collector and its owner were banned from debt collection and enforcement in Kansas. Shawnee County District Court Judge Teresa Watson approved the consent judgment ordering the company to stop doing business in Kansas, dismissing…
On May 23, 2017, the District of Columbia Attorney General’s Office announced that it had entered into a consent order with a Maryland debt relief company and its owner for violating the District of Columbia’s Consumer Credit Service Organizations Act, D.C. Code § 28-4601, et seq., by falsely promising to help consumers reduce or eliminate debt. The debt relief…
On May 15, 2017, the Minnesota Attorney General’s office (“Minnesota AG”) announced that it obtained a judgment in a lawsuit filed in Minnesota state court against a debt collection company. As a result of the final judgment, the company is permanently barred from collecting debts in Minnesota and must pay a…
On April 24, 2017, Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that a federal court ordered the president of a debt collection company to pay $2 million in civil penalties under the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTC Act) and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). A Judge in the U.S. District Court…
On April 20, 2017, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York (USAO) announced that the president and chief executive officer of a Buffalo-based debt collection company was sentenced to 100 months in prison for engaging in illegal and abusive debt collection practices. According to the USAO, the defendant…