U.S. watchdog fines New York debt collectors more than $60 million
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[July 26, 2019]
By Katanga Johnson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. consumer
watchdog on Thursday said it had fined a group of New York-based
debt-collection firms and their two owners more than $60 million to
settle claims they inflated consumer debts and broke the law when
attempting to collect the money.
The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) also said it had
permanently barred the group of companies and their owners from acting
as debt collectors, in a joint consent order with the New York Attorney
General's office.
Thursday's order alleges that since at least 2009, the companies
"purchased millions of dollars’ worth of consumer debt, inflated those
consumer debts, and relied on illegal tactics to extract as much money
as possible from consumers for their debts," the regulator said.
The settlement with Northern Resolution Group, LLC, Enhanced
Acquisitions, LLC, and Delray Capital, LLC and their owners Douglas
MacKinnon and Mark Gray, resolves a lawsuit filed by the CFPB and the
New York Attorney General's office in 2016.
MacKinnon and Gray did not admit or deny the allegations.
MacKinnon as well as Northern Resolution Group, LLC, and Enhanced
Acquisitions, LLC, agreed to pay $40 million in redress to consumers and
a combined $20 million penalty to both the CFPB and the office of the
New York Attorney General, the consent order said.
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The skyline of lower Manhattan is seen before sunrise in New York
City, U.S., July 17, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
Gray and Delray Capital, LLC agreed to pay $4 million in redress and
a combined $2 million penalty to the CFPB and the New York Attorney
General's office.
However, full payment of those amounts would be suspended subject to
the defendants paying a $1 civil money penalty to the CFPB and
$10,000 for consumer redress, the CFPB said.
(Reporting by Katanga Johnson; Editing by Paul Simao)
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