Don't believe they can really be as bad as we're claiming? No problem...read about their antics, dirty-dealings and record-setting fines for yourself.....

ONE OF COUNTRY'S LARGEST DEBT COLLECTORS AGREES TO PAY RECORD $1 MILLION CIVIL PENALTY TO SETTLE CHARGES OF VIOLATING FAIR DEBT COLLECTION PRACTICES ACT: Settlement Includes Comprehensive Consumer Complaint Handling, Employee Training

Nationwide Credit, Inc., of Atlanta, Georgia, has agreed to pay a $1 million civil penalty as part of a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission to resolve allegations that the company violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). The $1 million civil penalty is the largest ever in a debt collection case. According to the FTC...[Read the complete story here.]

JUDGE FREEZES ASSETS OF COLLECTION AGENCY THAT ILLEGALLY THREATENED CONSUMERS WITH ARREST, CRIMINAL PROSECUTION

Since 1995, Check Investors Inc. of Secaucus used intimidation to collect at least $10.2 million from about 42,100 people - many of whom did not even owe any money...[Read the complete story here.]

DEBT COLLECTION AGENCY AGREES TO SETTLE FTC CHARGES THAT IT VIOLATED FAIR DEBT COLLECTION PRACTICES ACT: Payco American Corporation agrees to pay $500,000 Civil Penalty

Payco American Corporation (Payco) has agreed to pay a $500,000 civil penalty to settle Federal Trade Commission allegations that it violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) by illegally revealing consumer debts to third parties, using obscene or abusive language, and falsely threatening arrest, garnishment of wages, or other legal action against consumers from whom it was attempting to collect debts for clients...[Read the entire story here.]

PERIMETER CREDIT AGREES TO PAY $300,000 CIVIL PENALTY TO SETTLE CHARGES OF VIOLATING FAIR DEBT COLLECTION PRACTICES ACT

Account Portfolios, Inc. (API), and a subsidiary, Perimeter Credit, L.L.C., have agreed to pay $300,000 civil penalty as part of a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission to resolve allegations that they violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) when attempting to collect delinquent health spa accounts they had purchased from Bally's Health and Tennis Corporation. According to the FTC, Perimeter's debt collectors harassed consumers, made false and misleading representations, failed to send required validation notices, failed to verify debts when requested to do so by consumers, and made impermissible third party contacts regarding consumers' debts. [Read the entire story here...]

DEBTORS, BEWARE: Not all credit-counseling agencies honest

In the world of television commercials, switching toothpaste brands will improve your love life. Gourmet dog food will transform your cantankerous mutt into an obedient show dog. And with just a phone call, you can free yourself from a mountain of crushing debt. Real life is much more complicated, particularly where your finances are concerned. Getting out of debt is hard. And if you sign up with an unscrupulous credit-counseling agency, your problems could get worse. [Read the entire USA Today story here...]

NORTH AMERICAN CAPITAL CORP. AGREES TO PAY $250,000 CIVIL PENALTY TO SETTLE CHARGES OF VIOLATING FAIR DEBT COLLECTION PRACTICES ACT

North American Capital Corporation (NACC) has agreed to pay a $250,000 civil penalty as part of a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission to resolve allegations that it violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) when attempting to collect delinquent consumer credit accounts. According to the FTC, the company's debt collectors made impermissible third party contacts regarding consumers' debts, such as to the consumers' employers and co-workers; harassed consumers by using obscene or profane language; and made false and misleading representations, such as that the consumers' wages would be garnished and their property seized. [Read the entire story here.]

HOUSTON-BASED DEBT COLLECTOR AGREES TO PAY $240,000 TO SETTLE CHARGES OF VIOLATING FAIR DEBT COLLECTION PRACTICES ACT: First FDCPA Enforcement Action Specifically Protecting Spanish-Language Consumers

Houston, Texas-based United Recovery Systems, Inc. (URS) has agreed to pay a $240,000 civil penalty as part of a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission to resolve allegations that the company violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). This is the FTC's first enforcement action against a debt collection company for allegedly violating the rights of Spanish-speaking consumers.

According to the FTC's complaint, on numerous occasions, in connection with the collection of debts in both English and Spanish, the company's debt collectors communicated with consumers at improper times or places, engaged in prohibited communications with third parties, harassed and abused consumers, and used deceptive practices to collect consumer accounts. [Read the entire story here.]

(You don't think a lawyer would lie, do you?
CALIFORNIA LAW FIRM AGREES TO SETTLE FTC CHARGES OF VIOLATING FAIR DEBT COLLECTION PRACTICES ACT

Alvin R. Lundgren, principal of Lundgren & Associates, P.C., has agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that he repeatedly violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act when attempting to collect debts by threatening to take legal action when none was intended and by misrepresenting the amount he was entitled to collect under state law. (Read the entire story here...)

DEBT-COUNSELING GROUPS ANGLE FOR CHECKS & BALANCES

In recent years, there has been an upsurge in complaints about debt-counseling services. Some consumers say the agencies don't disclose fees, cause late fees to pile up because they don't make payments to creditors in a timely manner or don't make payments at all. [Read the entire USA Today story here...]

CREDIT COUNSELING IN CRISIS, Part I: Why Consumers Are Being Duped By So-Called Non-Profits"

Overburdened with indebtedness, consumers who seek help from the new generation of credit counseling agencies are putting their trust in a largely unregulated industry rife with the potential for worsening, not improving, consumers' indebtedness problems.

Too often, under-funded credit counseling agencies offer improper advice, deceptive practices, excessive fees and abuse of their non-profit status...[Read the entire story here.]

CREDIT COUNSELING IN CRISIS, Part II: The Impact on Consumers of Funding Cuts, Higher Fees and Aggressive New Market Entrants

Read this eye-opening "white paper," the first ever such study of credit counseling agencies...[Read the entire study here.]

FIRST USA TO HALT VENDORS' DECEPTIVE SOLICITATIONS: Agreement Extends Protections to Cover Millions of Credit Card Holders

Attorney General Eliot Spitzer today announced a settlement that will provide new protections against misleading telemarketing campaigns for more than 53 million credit card holders. First USA Bank N.A. - the largest issuer of Visa credit cards - and also known as Bank One Delaware NA, has agreed to implement broad reforms in its relationships with third-party vendors to ensure that non-deceptive marketing campaigns are used in soliciting the bank's credit card holders. Specifically, under the agreement, First USA must prohibit vendors from engaging in deceptive solicitations. (Read the entire story here...)

THE LITTLE GUY FIGHTS BACK: Woman Sues A Debt Collector (and WINS!) Over Their Petty Pursuit Of An Illegitimate 18 Cent Debt!

This is a terrific story about a woman that pursued the bad guys as hard as they pursue-and-abuse the masses on a daily basis. (Read the entire story here...)

A MEDICAL BILL HORROR STORY THAT'S HAPPENING EVERY DAY IN AMERICA: Six days of uninsured emergency hospital care: $108,000

A situation that was exacerbated by the lies of one of America's most notorious (and eventually, fined) collection agencies. From USA Today: Read the entire story here...

AMERICAN SENIOR RACK UP DEBT LIKE NEVER BEFORE...and are easy targets for unscrupulous tele-terrorists

Once known for their thrift, older Americans are piling on debt - filing for bankruptcy in record numbers and jeopardizing retirement dreams. From USA Today: Read the entire story here...

 

Fire these clowns and immediately take back control of your life: Click here to read (for free of course) chapters from the 21st Century edition of Back Off! by Benjamin Dover.

Wanna pick your copy of Back Off! in your local bookstore?  You can't...and here's why.