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CFPB and NY AG shut down debt collection ring

The CFPB announced on Monday that it, in partnership with the New York Attorney General, filed a proposed stipulated judgment in federal court to settle its case against a debt collection enterprise and its owners and managers. The judgment would order all participants in the scheme, based in upstate New York, to exit the debt collection market after their history of deception and harassment. Their debt collection companies would also be shuttered and required to pay a total of $4 million in penalties.

The defendant companies are JPL Recovery Solutions; Regency One Capital; ROC Asset Solutions, which does business as API Recovery Solutions and Northern Information Services; Check Security Associates, which does business as Warner Location Services, Pinnacle Location Services, and Orchard Payment Processing Systems; Keystone Recovery Group; and Blue Street Asset Partners. The individual defendants are owners Christopher Di Re, Scott Croce, and Susan Croce, as well as Brian Koziel and Marc Gracie, who acted as managers of some or all of the companies.

The companies are interrelated collections businesses based out of a single location in Getzville, New York. Together, they purchased defaulted consumer debt for pennies on the dollar. The debt came from high-interest personal loans, payday loans, credit cards, and other sources. The network then attempted to collect debts from about 293,000 consumers, generating gross revenues of approximately $93 million between 2015 and 2020.

The lawsuit filed by the CFPB and the New York Attorney General in September 2020 allege that the network used deceptive and harassing methods, violating the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and the Consumer Financial Protection Act. Specifically, the complaint alleges that the owners, managers, and companies used the following illegal tactics to collect debt:

  • Falsely threatened arrest and imprisonment
  • Lied about legal action that it never took
  • Inflated and misrepresented debt amounts owed
  • Created “smear campaigns” using social media and other methods to pressured people to pay by contacting and disclosing the debts to their immediate and distant family members, grandparents, in-laws, ex-spouses, employers, work colleagues, landlords, Facebook friends, and other known associates
  • Harassed people with repeated phone calls, calling people multiple times every day over periods lasting a month or longer.
  • Failed to provide legally mandated disclosures

The proposed stipulated judgment filed yesterday, if ordered, would require that the companies, as well as their owners and senior managers, exit the debt collection market. The defendants also must pay a $2 million penalty to the CFPB, which will be deposited into the CFPB’s victim relief fund, and a $2 million penalty to the New York Attorney General. If the defendants fail to make timely payments, however, each penalty amount due would increase to $2.5 million.

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