InfoBytes Blog
FTC Announces Charges Against Debt Collection Operation for FDCPA and FTC Act Violations
On July 17, the FTC issued a press release announcing charges against a Florida-based debt collection operation for allegedly posing as lawyers and threating individuals with lawsuits or prison time if they failed to pay debt they did not actually owe. According to the complaint filed by the FTC, the defendants violated the FTC Act by making false, unsubstantiated, or misleading representations regarding debt owed and threatened legal action. Additionally, the defendants allegedly violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act by (i) engaging in “unlawful third-party communications” without obtaining prior consumer consent; (ii) failing to disclose they were debt collectors; (iii) making false, deceptive, or misleading representations by withholding the true status of the debt, impersonating attorneys, and threatening legal action, among others; and (iv) failing to provide consumers written verification of their debt within the required time frame. As a result, the FTC announced a federal court has temporarily halted the operation and frozen its assets.