What Was Missing from the Dateline Expose on Debt Collection

WASHINGTON — Last Friday, Dateline MSNBC continued their three-part series, "Inside the Financial Fiasco" focusing on America’s debt epidemic. This show profiled the debt collection industry, interviewing debtors, academics and a collection industry spokesperson.

The show used a hidden camera to feature an extended report on the activities of a so-called collection agency operated by Tobias Boyland, a convicted felon. The report replayed several messages threatening arrest from individuals impersonating police officers who solicited payments on behalf of Andrew Bryzski of Buffalo, New York, whom callers claimed was an attorney at law.

The report failed to inform its viewers that law enforcement officials in New York and Maryland were notified several months ago of Boyland and Bryzski’s actions. Consumer protection offices in both states were also given information that an injunction was entered in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, Maryland in August, 2008 against Andrew Bryzksi and MoreStar Consultant, LLC, one of the companies NBC identified as operated by Tobias Boyland ordering Bryzski and MoreStar to cease illegal collection activities. The report also did not mention that the same Court cited both MoreStar and Bryzski for contempt in November, 2008 for violating the injunction and that New York and Maryland authorities learned of the contempt order after it was entered.

The NBC report focused on a perceived need for more regulation of the debt collection industry. The report overlooked the fact that those charged with enforcing existing laws, which are designed to punish those who engage in illegal collections, have known of the activities of Mr. Boyland and Mr. Bryzski for several months, but have not yet seen fit to pursue any enforcement action.

The National Association of Retail Collections Attorneys (NARCA) is the trade association made up of 700 law firms that represent creditors trying to collect monies they are owed in order to be able to extend credit and revive the economy. NARCA’s President, Robert Markoff commented that “it is unfortunate that Dateline chose to focus on a very few rogue collection agents, who so far have avoided enforcement action by state consumer protection offices, rather than the majority of the industry that works hard and acts responsibly. NARCA members and other industry colleagues work ethically to collect debt and uphold the law. We support the good efforts of our members and our extended colleagues in the collection agency industry, especially ACA International and its General Counsel Rozanne Andersen, who have worked tirelessly to treat consumers fairly and rid our industry of those who practice unlawfully.”

“There are hundreds of thousands of Americans employed in the practice of collecting debt who work hard to help the economy and assist consumers to restore their credit,” Markoff continued. “NARCA supports strict enforcement of the law and all efforts to rid our industry of such reprehensible conduct.”