What goes around….

New York State Attorney General’s Office shut down two collection firms, Emanee Development, Inc. and Dial Tech LLC, run by Lamont Cooper. The collections firms also did business under the names of various shell companies and fictitious law firms across the state, including: Claims Process Services, Claims America, CMC Recovery Services, Lomax & Barnes and Murray, Bradshaw & Associates. Collectors at the companies used illegal and fraudulent tactics to collect debts:

• Falsely accused consumers of criminal activity and told them that they had committed criminal fraud;
• Falsely informed consumers that they would be arrested within 24 hours if they failed to pay the alleged debt;
• Threatened consumers with law suits even though the collectors were not lawyers
• Sought collection of debts beyond the six year statute of limitations;
• Illegally discussed debts with third parties like employers and neighbors to embarrass and harass consumers; and
• Failed to provide legally required written notices to consumers about their rights to dispute the validity of the alleged debt.

Some consumers, intimidated by these unlawful practices paid debts that they did not even owe. The tactics used by Emanee and Dial Tech are prohibited by both the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and the New York State debt collection and consumer protection laws.

It’s about time. These bottom feeders were the topic of a Dateline MSNBC exposé on debt collection agencies earlier this year. In the Dateline story, collectors were shown to be bullying and threatening. In one incidence, a collector threatened to have a sheriff’s deputy come out to a debtor’s house and “pick them up” if they did not pay immediately. Not only is this practice is strictly prohibited under the FDCPA, but it’s a total bluff. A consumer will never be imprisoned over a debt.

Source: http://www.oag.state.ny.us

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