Collection Recon

Under FTC Settlement, Debt Buyer Agrees to Pay $2.5 Million for Alleged Consumer Deception

Posted on 30. Jan, 2012 by Collections Recon.

One of the nation’s largest consumer debt buyers has agreed to pay a $2.5 million civil penalty to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it made a range of misrepresentations when trying to collect old debts. In addition, the company, Asset Acceptance, LLC, has agreed to tell consumers whose debt may be too old to be legally enforceable that it will not sue to collect on that debt.

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FTC Action Bans Payment Processor from Using a Novel Payment Method to Debit Accounts

Posted on 06. Jan, 2012 by Collections Recon.

Allegedly Debited Millions of Dollars from Consumers’ Bank Accounts Without Their Consent

A payment processor and two of its principals are now banned from using a new payment method to process electronic payments under a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission, which resolves charges that they debited consumers’ bank accounts without their consent. The settlement furthers the FTC’s ongoing efforts to protect financially-strapped consumers during the economic downturn by scrutinizing not only merchants, but all parties who participate in defrauding consumers.

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Debt Collector Complaints Spike As Americans Struggle To Pay Bills

Posted on 20. Nov, 2011 by Collections Recon.

As the down economy makes it increasingly difficult for Americans to pay their bills, debt collectors are targeting consumers in droves, prompting an uptick in complaints against the companies.

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Debt collectors harassed consumers with violent threats, FTC says

Posted on 26. Oct, 2011 by Collections Recon.

Two California debt collection firms used abusive tactics to harass financially distressed consumers, with one firm threatening to kill debtors’ pets or desecrate the bodies of their deceased children, the Federal Trade Commission says.

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Debt Collector Complaints On The Rise

Posted on 17. Oct, 2011 by Collections Recon.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The Federal Trade Commission has seen a steady increase in complaints concerning debt collectors.

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Lawsuit cites campaign of threats, vile insults by Van Nuys-based collection agency

Posted on 14. Oct, 2011 by Collections Recon.

You’re flat broke. You’ve got bills. You owe thousands for your daughter’s funeral. A debt collector calls, an ex-convict from an office in Van Nuys.

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#1 Complaint Received by FTC in 2011 Involves Collection Agencies and Bad Debt Collectors

Posted on 03. Oct, 2011 by Collections Recon.

The number one complaint received by the FTC in 2011 involves bad debt collectors and the alleged abusive and underhanded tactics used by collectors to get consumers to pay past due bills, according to the most recent FTC fair debt collection report. To make matters worse, the number of complaints continues to grow at an alarming rate each year. Many consumers are not aware of the protection afforded by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and state consumer protection laws and that the laws provide for the right to seek legal help according to national consumer law firm Weisberg & Meyers, LLC, Attorneys for Consumers.

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Debt collection after death gives little time to grieve

Posted on 28. Sep, 2011 by Collections Recon.

Michael and Celia Ingram of Newark, Del., lost their son last Thanksgiving. His car was hit by a drunken driver, going the wrong way on I-95.

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FTC Returns Almost $2 Million to Payday Loan Applicants Who Were Tricked into Buying Prepaid Debit Cards

Posted on 02. Sep, 2011 by Collections Recon.

The Federal Trade Commission is mailing more than 110,000 refund checks to consumers defrauded by an online operation that tricked payday loan applicants into paying for an unrelated debit card. The FTC alleged that payday loan marketers Matthew Patterson, Mark Benning, Jason Strober, and Swish Marketing, Inc., worked with debit card marketers Jerry Klein, Joshua Finer, and VirtualWorks, LLC, to design the deceptive payday loan application form that triggered a charge of up to $54.95 for a prepaid debit card with a zero balance.

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FTC Issues Final Policy Statement on Collecting Debts of Deceased

Posted on 31. Aug, 2011 by Collections Recon.

The Federal Trade Commission recently finalized a policy statement clarifying that the agency will not take enforcement action under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act or the FTC Act against companies that are attempting to collect the debts of deceased consumers.

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