According to the FTC, a Houston-based debt collection company called Goldman Schwartz, Inc., used insults, lies, and false threats of imprisonment to collect on payday loans. Under a settlement announced this week, the company’s owner will surrender his assets, approximately $550,000, to pay restitution to consumers who were charged unauthorized fees. The settlement also permanently bans the defendants (the company owner, two company managers, and several corporate entities) from debt collection.
The FTC’s press release explains that “[t]he debt collection operation did business nationwide, collecting primarily on payday loans. In some cases it owned the debt, and in others, it acted as a third-party collector. The operation was charged with multiple violations of both the FTC Act and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.”
States do not regulate collection agencies and state attornies general determine if it has time and resources to protect consumer rights. Problems with collections agencies have increased over the decades , an industry that has had NO reform when it needs it most. Shame on the industry, not on those who are in debt.
Posted by: michele | Sunday, May 25, 2014 at 04:31 PM
Compared with J.P. Morgan and Goldman Sachs, Goldman Schwartz doesn't even make it to the minor leagues; but it's good to see the regulators doing their job. Now it's time for the regulators to do their job on the major league players.
Anyone who believes that the market place will regulate itself, is a believer in the "tooth fairy". The last decade has proven conclusively that the market place desperately needs adult supervision.
Posted by: W. R. Knight | Saturday, May 24, 2014 at 12:45 PM