Expert Global Solutions Penalized $3.2 Million for Illegal Debt Collection Tactics
Expert Global Solutions and its subsidiaries, the world’s largest debt collection agency comprised of over 32,000 employees, have agreed to pay a $3.2 million civil penalty for badgering consumers and violating the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), this is the largest fine ever obtained against a third-party debt collector.
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act was passed on September 30, 1996 in order to amend the Consumer Credit Protection Act. Along with other findings, in Section 802 of The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Congress stated that: (a) There is abundant evidence of the use of abusive, deceptive, and unfair debt collection practices by many debt collectors. Abusive debt collection practices contribute to the number of personal bankruptcies, to marital instability, to the loss of jobs, and to invasions of individual privacy; and (b) Existing laws and procedures for redressing these injuries are inadequate to protect consumers. The purpose of the Act is to “eliminate abusive debt collection practices by debt collectors, to insure that those debt collectors who refrain from using abusive debt collection practices are not competitively disadvantaged, and to promote consistent State action to protect consumers against debt collection abuses.”
According to the FTC, Expert Global Solutions and its subsidiaries violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act by calling consumers several times each day, continuing to call after being asked by the consumer to end collection attempts, calling during the early morning and late evening hours, calling at consumers’ jobs although being aware that the employers banned collection calls, and leaving messages to third parties including the debtor’s name and the existence of the debt. The FTC also charged that the companies continued collection activities without verifying the debt and even after the consumer denied owing the debt.
Upon a consumer challenging the validity or amount of a debt, under the proposed order, Expert Global Solutions and its subsidiaries must either close the account and cease collection efforts, or collection must be halted until an investigation by the company has been completed and has verified the debt being collected is accurate. Restrictions are also implemented in the proposed order regarding voicemails left by the company that include the alleged consumer’s name and the fact that he or she may owe a debt.
According to the FTC, other conditions included in the proposed order are the defendants must “stop falsely representing that they will not call a number to collect a debt; not harass, oppress, or abuse a consumer while attempting to collect a debt; not communicate with third parties about a consumer’s debt; not communicate with a consumer at his or her workplace if it is clearly inconvenient or prohibited by the consumer’s employer; except in limited circumstances, cease communications if a consumer has requested no further contact or if a consumer refuses to pay a debt; and not violate any provision of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. The defendants also are required to record at least 75 percent of all their debt collection calls beginning one year after the date of the order, and retain the recordings for 90 days after they are made.”
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For more than 20 years, the Sasser Law Firm has been helping individuals and business owners sort through financial hardships to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Our North Carolina bankruptcy attorneys are all board-certified specialists, which means we have passed a complex exam, undergone a thorough peer review, and continue to earn legal education credits in this ever-evolving area of law.
