Details Of The 30 Operation Collection Protection Enforcement Actions

As reported earlier this week, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and other law enforcement authorities around the country announced the first coordinated federal-state enforcement initiative targeting deceptive and abusive debt collection practices.

This nationwide crackdown reportedly encompassed 30 new law enforcement actions by federal, state, and local law enforcement authorities. However the press release and announcement only detailed five of those actions. The documents provided listed over 100 cases, so which 30 they were referring to was not immediately clear. We placed a call to Christopher Koegel of the FTC, who clarified that the number refers to those cases with actions since October 1, 2015. To boil this down a bit, we’ve isolated those cases.

Here are the Federal cases with actions dated since October 1, 2015:

Matter Name, Company Location, Action Location	Type of Action	Action Dated 10/1/15 or Later	Responsible Agency
K.I.P., LLC, et. al. (Aurora, Illinois) (Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division)	Civil Lawsuit: Seeking permanent injunction and equitable monetary relief against an alleged fake debt scam. Alleged violations of Section 5 of the FTC Act, Sections 805(a), 806(2), 806(5), 807(2)(A), 807(4), 807(5), and 809(a) of the FDCPA, and analogous Illinois state laws.	November 3, 2015: Stipulated Final Order filed with the Court, banning defendants from the debt collection business, prohibiting defendants from making misrepresentations about any product or service, and imposing judgment of more than $6.4 million.	Federal Trade Commission & Illinois Attorney General (case filed jointly)
Kelly S. Brace, et al. (Buffalo, NY) (Western District of New York, Buffalo Division)	Civil Lawsuit: Seeking permanent injunction and equitable monetary relief. Alleged violations of Section 5 of the FTC Act, various sections of the FDCPA (15 U.S.C. §§ 1692(c)-(e) & (g), and analogous New York State laws.	October 5, 2015: Complaint Filed TRO, and later a preliminary injunction, with asset freeze and restraining order Granted Case Pending	Federal Trade Commission & New York Attorney General (case filed jointly)
BAM Financial (Irvine, California) (Central District of California)	Civil Lawsuit: Seeking permanent injunction and equitable monetary relief for allegedly violating the FTC Act and the FDCPA by collecting unsubstantiated debts, pretending to be process servers, and falsely threatening to report consumers to government authorities.	October 19, 2015: Complaint filed Ex parte TRO with asset freeze, restraining order, and appointment of receiver Granted Case Pending	Federal Trade Commission
National Check Registry (Buffalo, NY) (Western District of New York)	Civil Lawsuit: Seeking permanent injunction and equitable monetary relief for allegedly violating Section 5 of the FTC Act, various sections of the FDCPA, and analogous New York State laws.	October 16, 2015 Stipulated Final Order Entered banning defendants from the debt collection business, prohibiting defendants from making misrepresentations about any product or service, and imposing judgments totaling more than $8.3 million that will be suspended upon payment of $112,000 by Joseph Bella and the surrender of certain bank accounts, two cars and two boats.	Federal Trade Commission
Security National Automotive Acceptance Company (Mason, Ohio) (Southern District of Ohio, Western Division)	Civil Lawsuit: Seeking a permanent injunction, redress, and civil penalties against an auto loan company for aggressive and unlawful collection tactics against servicemembers, in violation of the Consumer Financial Protection Act.	October 26, 2015: Stipulated Final Order Issued October 29, 2015: Administrative Order Issued Company ordered to correct its business practices, pay $2,274,855.70 in redress to consumers and $1 million to the CFPB civil money penalty fund.	Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Cesar Luis Kou Reyna (Miami, Florida) (Southern District of Florida)	Indictment: Charged that defendant, through Fonomundo FC Corp in Miami and Mater Call and other affiliated call centers in Peru, used telephone calls to Spanishspeaking consumers in the United States, threatening lawsuits, arrest, deportation, and harmed credit to coerce victims into paying fraudulent settlements for nonexistent debts.	October 14, 2015: Defendant pleads guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud	Consumer Protection Branch, Civil Division, U.S. Department of Justice
Travell Thomas, the co-owner, CEO, and president of a Buffalo-based debt collection company, Maurice Sessum, a co-owner and COO of the Company, Anthony Brzezowski, the Company’s director of operations, 3 managers and 5 debt collectors (Buffalo, New York) (Southern District of New York)	Indictment: 11 charged with wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with a nationwide debt collection scheme that took in more than $31 million from thousands of victims across the United States As alleged, the defendants engaged in what is believed to be the largest fraudulent debt collection scheme ever to be prosecuted, falsely threatening arrest and prosecution of countless Americans, including those who suffered from disabilities	October 27, 2015: Charges unsealed	U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York
Mark Lavin John Salatino, Jessica Mann, And Jennifer Sherk (Buffalo, New York) (Southern District of New York)	Guilty Pleas: Guilty pleas unsealed as to 4 persons in connection with case charging an additional 11persons with wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with a nationwide debt collection scheme that took in more than $31 million from thousands of victims across the United States As alleged, the defendants engaged in what is believed to be the largest fraudulent debt collection scheme ever to be prosecuted, falsely threatening arrest and prosecution of countless Americans, including those who suffered from disabilities	October 27, 2015: Guilty pleas unsealed	U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York

And here are the State cases with actions dated since October 1, 2015:

Matter Name, Company Location, Action Location	Type of Action	Action Dated 10/1/15 or Later	Responsible Agency
The People of the State of California v. JPMorgan Chase & Co., Chase Bank USA, N.A., and Chase BankCard Services, Inc. (Newark, Delaware) (Superior Court of California, Los Angeles County)	Civil Lawsuit: Civil lawsuit alleging collection violations against tens of thousands of California consumers in connection with its credit-card debt-collection lawsuits and sale of consumer credit-card debt.	November 2, 2015: Stipulated judgment filed Supplementing the nationwide relief in the multistate settlement between Chase and 47 states, and the settlements with the CFPB and the OCC, the California settlement includes an enforceable stipulated judgment and resolves violations of California’s Rosenthal FDCPA (Civil Code section 1788 et seq,) related to improper prelitigation attorney demand letters, as well as privacy violations and violations of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, 50 USC Appendix section 501 et seq., and California Military and Veterans Code section 400 et seq. The judgment includes $50 million in civil penalties and other payments to California, and additional injunctive and monetary relief focused on servicemembers.	California Attorney General
Julie Ann Meade, Administrator v. P.C. Legal Services LLC and Mike Harden (Aurora, Colorado) (District Court Denver, City and County of Denver)	Civil Lawsuit: Seeking injunctive relief, civil penalties and alleging violations of the Colorado FDCPA.	October 13, 2015: Default Judgment entered against Harden.	Colorado Attorney General
In the Matter of Cavalry Portfolio, LLC (Valhalla, New York) (Denver, Colorado)	Administrative Action: Violations of the Colorado FDCPA.	October 5, 2015: Stipulation and Final Agency Order Entered – Provides for injunctive relief and $17,385 administrative fine.	Colorado Attorney General
In the Matter of Georgia Receivables Inc., Frederick J. Hanna (Marietta, Georgia) (Denver, Colorado)	Administrative Action: Denial of license renewal application.	October 20, 2015: Final Agency Order – denying application.	Colorado Attorney General
FTC & State of Illinois v. K.I.P., LLC, et. al. (Aurora, Illinois) (Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division)	Civil Lawsuit: Seeking permanent injunction and equitable monetary relief against an alleged fake debt scam. The Illinois AG alleged violations of Section 2 of the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act, (Illinois Consumer Fraud Act), 815 ILCS 505/2 and Sections 2, 4, and 9(a) of the Illinois Collection Agency Act, 225 ILCS 425/2, 225 ILCS 425/4, and 225 ILCS 425/9(a).	November 3, 2015 Stipulated Final Order filed with the Court, banning defendants from the debt collection business, prohibiting defendants from making misrepresentations about any product or service, and imposing judgment of more than $6.4 million.	Illinois Attorney General & Federal Trade Commission (case filed jointly)
In re Gregory K. Pugh, Gregory K. Pugh, P.C. dba Dominion Asset Recovery and EZ Payday Loans of America (Virginia Beach, Virginia) (Indianapolis, Indiana)	Civil Lawsuit: Alleged violations of IC 24-5- 0.5-3(a)(20), including the collection of stale debt and false threats of suit and jail.	October 6, 2015: Assurance of Voluntary Compliance Approved by Court Prohibits future consumer debt collection in Indiana and requires: (1) accounts to be cancelled; (2) refunds to consumers; and (3) a $5,500 payment to the Consumer Protection Fund.	Indiana Attorney General
In re Dynamic Recovery Solutions, LLC (Greenville, South Carolina) (Indianapolis, Indiana)	Civil Lawsuit: Alleged violations of IC 24-5- 0.5-3(a)(20), including the collection of stale debt.	October 27, 2015: Assurance of Voluntary Compliance Pending Approval by Court In collecting stale or potentially stale debt, company is required to disclose that it cannot sue on the debt and that if a consumer makes a partial payment a new limitations period could arise that would allow company to sue.	Indiana Attorney General
State of Louisiana vs. Stephen F. Wilson and Revenue Recovery & Investigations, LLC (Covington, Louisiana) (Baton Rouge, Louisiana)	Notice of Unfair Trade Practices pursuant to Louisiana Revised Statutes 51:1401, et seq.: Practices include failing to register with the Secretary of State as a debt collector and threatening criminal prosecution against alleged debtors.	October 26, 2015: Assurance of Voluntary Compliance filed AVC includes injunctive relief and civil penalty.	Louisiana Attorney General
In the Matter of P.N. Financial, Inc., and Nelson Macwan (Lincolnwood & Skokie, Illinois) (Before the Maryland State Collection Agency Licensing Board; Baltimore, Maryland)	Administrative Action: Following issuance of a Summary Order to Cease and Desist for unlicensed collection activity in Maryland and engaging in collection practices on illegal and usurious consumer loans and Order to Produce documents and information, a Final Order to Cease and Desist was issued.	October 26, 2015: Final Order Issued to Cease and Desist resulting in order directing a monetary fine of $12,000 and a permanent order to cease and desist from engaging in collection activity.	Maryland Office of the Commissioner of Financial Regulation
Delbert Services Corporation (also CashCall, Inc., Western Sky Financial, LLC, WS Funding, LLC and their owners J. Paul Reddam and Martin Webb) (Las Vegas, Nevada) (Suffolk County Superior Court, Boston, Massachusetts)	Consent Judgment & Consent Order: Settling allegations that Delbert, a then licensed debt collector, collected on illegal, high-interest loans, made over the internet to thousands of consumers by CashCall, Western Sky and WS Funding without proper license or registration to conduct business in Massachusetts.	October 26, 2015: Consent Judgment Entered Entitles more than 2,000 borrowers to refunds totaling approximately $2.4 million. It is estimated that the settlement could provide more than $17 million in debt relief to Massachusetts consumers. October 27, 2015: Consent Order Entered Terminates Delbert’s Debt Collector License in Massachusetts and prohibits its owner, J. Paul Reddam, from ownership in any licensed entity in the future.	Massachusetts Division of Banks & Massachusetts Attorney General
American Credit Bureau, Inc. (Boca Raton, Florida) (St Paul, Minnesota)	Findings of Fact & Conclusions of Law: Respondent threatened to take unauthorized actions which were abusive and harassing to a debtor; they were unlicensed to do collect in MN; and failed to respond to the Department’s investigation.	October 8, 2015: Final Order Entered Order provides for a civil penalty of $10,000.	Minnesota Department of Commerce
SKO Brenner American Inc. (Farmingdale, New York) (St. Paul, Minnesota)	Administrative Action: Allegation – conducted collection activity from an unlicensed location.	October 28, 2015: Civil Penalty Agreement Agreement provides for a civil penalty of $5,000.	Minnesota Department of Commerce
State of Minnesota v. United Credit Recovery, LLC (Sanford, Florida) (Minnesota State Court in Hennepin County)	Civil Lawsuit: Seeking injunctive relief and civil penalties against a Florida debt buyer that purchased millions of charged-off consumer accounts from large banks, and then manufactured on a mass scale fraudulent affidavits to assist with collection of the alleged debts. The company used a computer mail-merge program to cut and paste notarized signatures of bank officials from other documents onto fraudulent affidavits, which it then disseminated to consumers, courts, and other debt buyers as “proof” of the alleged debts.	October 30, 2013: Complaint filed November 6, 2014: Summary Judgment entered against the company in Minnesota’s civil action, permanently enjoining the company from doing business in Minnesota and awarding a monetary judgment of $1.5 million against the company. October 30, 2015: Monetary judgment of $1.5 million against the company in Minnesota’s civil action filed with the Seminole County Circuit Court in Florida.	Minnesota Attorney General
State of Minnesota v. Jeremy M. Umland and Terrill Joseph Jasicki dba TJ Process Service (Wadena, Minnesota) (Minnesota State Court in Koochiching County)	Civil Lawsuit: Seeking injunctive relief, civil penalties, and restitution against a Minnesota process serving company (TJ Process Service) and one of its servers (Jeremy Umland) for falsely claiming in affidavits of service that individuals were served with debt collection lawsuits, resulting in default judgments against individuals who were not actually served with lawsuits.	October 2015: Stipulated orders filed in six Minnesota counties for vacation of over $1 million in default judgments obtained against Minnesota consumers in debt collection actions that were filed with purported affidavits of service bearing the signature of Defendant Jeremy Umland.	Minnesota Attorney General
Collect Pros, LLC (Pacoima, California) (Carson City, Nevada)	Administrative Action: Alleging company collected debts in Nevada without a license.	October 14, 2015: Settlement Agreement entered prohibiting unlicensed debt collection in Nevada and providing for a $10,000 administrative fine.	Nevada Financial Institutions Division
CFS2, Inc. (Tulsa, Oklahoma) (Santa Fe, New Mexico)	Administrative Action: License application denied for violations of the New Mexico Collection Agency Regulatory Act §61-18A-1 NMSA 1978.	October 9, 2015: Order Denying Renewal of License	New Mexico Regulation & Licensing Department, Financial Institutions Division
FTC & People of the State of New York v. Kelly S. Brace, et al. (Buffalo, New York) (Western District of New York, Buffalo Division)	Civil Lawsuit: Seeking permanent injunction and equitable monetary relief. Alleged violations of Section 5 of the FTC Act, various sections of the FDCPA (15 U.S.C. §§ 1692(c)-(e) & (g), and analogous New York State laws.	October 5, 2015: Complaint Filed TRO with asset freeze and restraining order Granted Stipulated Preliminary Injunction with a ban from debt collecting and asset freeze So Ordered Case Pending	New York Attorney General & Federal Trade Commission (case filed jointly)
State of Ohio v. Rotech Holdings, Ltd., Glenn R. Lista, and Sean M. Lista (Buffalo area, New York) (Franklin County Court of Common Pleas, Columbus, Ohio)	Civil Lawsuit: Seeking declaratory judgment, permanent injunctive relief, consumer damages, and civil penalties for unfair, deceptive, and unconscionable debt collection practices.	October 30 2015: Complaint filed Case Pending	Ohio Attorney General
Christi L. Jones, Individually and as President of Christi L. Jones & Associates, Inc. and Christi L. Jones & Associates, Inc. (Tamaqua, Pennsylvania) (Schuylkill County Court of Common Pleas, Pottsville, Pennsylvania)	Civil Lawsuit: Seeking permanent injunction, fines, and restitution. Alleged violations of Pennsylvania’s Fair Credit Extension Uniformity Act, 73 P.S. § 2270.1, et seq., Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law, 73 P.S. § 201-1, et seq., as well as, the Judicial Code, 42 P.S. § 2524, et seq. for using deceptive means to collect or attempt to collect debts and giving the false impression that Defendants were attorneys licensed to practice law in Pennsylvania.	October 15, 2015: Order approving Consent Petition for Final Decree Permanently enjoining Defendants from: (1) future violations of law; (2) advertising and offering to investigate, enforce, and recover unpaid judgments or collecting other past due balances on behalf of consumer and business clients; and (3) representing themselves as attorneys in Pennsylvania. Defendants also required to pay monetary relief in the amount of $14,000.	Pennsylvania Attorney General
Fairbanks, Goldstein & Rodriguez, L.L.C., FG&R, L.L.C, YMS, L.L.C. and Ashley Claudio (McAllen, Texas) (370th District Court of Hidalgo County, Texas)	Civil Lawsuit: Seeking a permanent injunction and monetary relief for alleged violations of the Texas Debt Collection Act and Texas Deceptive Trade Practices – Consumer Protection Act.	October 28, 2015: Complaint Filed Case Pending	Texas Attorney General
Fletcher, Goldmen & Ross, Inc. and Travis Edward Dubcak (McAllen, Texas) (430th District Court of Hidalgo County, Texas)	Civil Lawsuit: Seeking a permanent injunction and monetary relief for alleged violations of the Texas Debt Collection Act and Texas Deceptive Trade Practices – Consumer Protection Act.	October 28, 2015: Complaint Filed Case Pending	Texas Attorney General
State of Washington v. Garnishment Services, LLC, and Richard Brees, d/b/a Garnishment Services, Judgment Day Collections, and The Judgment Recovery Group (Tacoma, Washington) (King County Superior Court, Seattle, Washington)	Civil Lawsuit: Seeking injunction, penalties and restitution for alleged violations of the Washington Collection Agency Act and Washington Consumer Protection Act arising from Defendants’ operation of a “judgment recovery service.”	November 2, 2015: Complaint filed Case Pending	Washington Attorney General