FTC – Original Creditor Suit Finalized 10/8/2004

Complaints about creditors’ in-house collectors: The Commission also received 12,906 complaints in 2003 about creditors that were collecting their own debts, down from 14,705 in 2002. Because creditors are not generally covered by the FDCPA, some in-house collectors use no-holds-barred collection tactics in their dealings with consumers. While the Commission cannot pursue such creditors under the FDCPA, it has done so under the Federal Trade Commission Act in the past, and will continue to do so in the future as appropriate cases present themselves.

Two Companies Settle Harassment Charges Relating to Debt Collection

Two companies whose representatives allegedly harassed consumers with multiple phone calls and abusive language have agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that their business practices violated federal law. The FTC’s complaint against Applied Card Systems alleged that, as part of the companies’ debt collection practices, representatives repeatedly call third parties who had already told them they did not have any information about the consumers from whom the companies were trying to collect payments.

According to the FTC, representatives of Applied Card Systems, Inc., and Applied Card Systems of Pennsylvania, Inc., call third parties, including relatives, neighbors, and employers, attempting to get information about where consumers live or work in order to contact them about a delinquent debt. The FTC alleges that the representatives have continued to call these third parties, even after they have told the representatives that the consumer they are looking for does not reside or work with them. Many of the third parties requested that the representatives stop calling them. The FTC charges that, in many cases, the companies’ representatives harassed the third parties with repeated phone calls, and abusive, sometimes obscene, language.

The consent order bars the respondents from:

·         Contacting any third party more than once unless the third party requests that they do so, or unless they reasonably believe that the third party gave them incorrect or incomplete information and now has further information;

·         Harassing third parties with abusive or obscene language or repeated phone calls;

·         Communicating with a consumer to collect on a delinquent debt: (1) at a time or place the consumer has said is inconvenient; (2) at the consumer’s place of employment if the consumer has already stated that the employer prohibits personal phone calls; and (3) if the consumer is represented by an attorney with respect to the debt;

·         Falsely representing to consumers the amount or status of a debt or threatening to take action against a consumer that they do not intend to take or that is illegal to take;

·         Collecting any amount other than the amount expressly stated in the agreement creating the debt; and

·         Applying a consumer’s payment in a way that the consumer has not directed.

The proposed consent agreement also contains standard record keeping requirements to assist the FTC in monitoring the Respondents’ compliance.

The Commission vote authorizing the staff to file the comments was 5-0.

Commission approval of final consent order: Following a public comment period, the Commission has approved a final consent order in the matter concerning Applied Card Systems, Inc., et al. The Commission vote to approve the final consent order was 5-0. (FTC File No. 032-3040; the staff contact is Jessica D. Gray, FTC Southeast Region, 404-656-1350; see press release dated August 25, 2004.)  (http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2004/10/fyi0458.htm)