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On November 1, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri order a Missouri company to pay a civil fine of $ 30,000 to resolve allegations it used the letterhead of a district attorney to threaten consumers with criminal prosecution. As previously covered by InfoBytes, the CFPB filed a complaint against the company claiming that it engaged in deceptive and otherwise illegal debt collection acts and practices in connection with the operation of “pre-trial diversion programs on behalf of more. of 90 district attorney offices across the United States. . The complaint claimed that the company not only did not include the information required by the FDCPA in the letters it sent to consumers, but also failed to identify itself in the letters and did not informed consumers that she was a debt collector and not a district attorney. In addition, in most cases, the company did not refer a case for prosecution, even though the check writer did failed to respond to the collection letter, failed to pay suspected overdue debt and charges, or failed to complete the financial education course. engage in debt collection activities and refrain from disclosing, using or benefiting from customer information obtained before the effective date of the order as part of a Pre-Trial Bad. Check the program In addition, society cannot “attempt to collect r, sell, assign or otherwise transfer the right to collect payment from any consumer who has purchased or agreed to purchase services or products in connection â€with the Company’s program. The company ordered to pay more than $ 1.4 million in damages to injured consumers; however, full payment of this amount is suspended upon fulfillment of certain obligations due to the financial situation of the company. The $ 30,000 penalty also reflects the company’s limited ability to pay.
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