FEDS SEEK TO SHUT DOWN SLEAZY NATIONAL DEBT COLLECTION OPERATION

For some reason, Buffalo, NY is a hot bed of sleazy debt collectors.  This town raises scummy debt collection agencies faster than the Feds can put them out of business; kind of like Whack-a-Mole.

Most recently, the CFPB and the New York Attorney General have alleged that Cooper Financial, LLC, and its owner, Mark Gray, both of Buffalo, NY have illegally harassed, threatened and deceived millions of people across America.  According to the lawsuit, the defendants operate a network of approximately sixty debt collection agencies and used tactics to collect money from consumers such as: (1) falsely threatening legal action; (2) impersonating law enforcement officials, government agencies and court officers; and (3) misrepresenting the amounts owed by consumers.  The debt collectors obtained tens of millions of dollars from their victims through their illegal tactics.  The lawsuit seeks to shut down the operation, assess penalties against the defendants and obtain compensation for their victims.

Mark Gray was also named as a defendant in a civil lawsuit filed by a consumer in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.  In that lawsuit, the consumer alleged that Cooper Financial, LLC, and another collection agency operated a joint venture to engage in a pattern of abusive, deceptive, and unfair debt collection practices against the consumer, including: (1) misrepresenting the amount of the consumer’s debt; (2) misrepresenting that the co-defendant was a law firm and would file civil and criminal charges against the consumer if the consumer did not pay; and (3) threatening imprisonment if the consumer did not pay. Ultimately, the court entered a default judgment against Gray and the other defendants and awarded damages to the consumer in the amount of $105,000 for their illegal debt collection tactics.

If the recently-filed lawsuit against the network of debt collectors is successful, hopefully the incidence of abusive debt collection practices by deceitful debt collectors, such as those by Cooper Financial and its cohorts, will be severely diminished.

It’s hard to believe that in this day and age, that such sleazy debt collectors exist.  However, I am here to tell you, that they exist in droves.  We are in business to stand up to these collection thugs and frankly, to legally beat them down.

If you have been a victim of debt collector harassment and abuse or receive threatening and harassing phone calls from debt collectors and want to speak to a lawyer, contact us at Credit Repair Lawyers of America.  Call Attorney Gary Nitzkin at (855) 956-2089 or email him at gary@crlam.com.  Call today for a free, no obligation consultation.  We beat down sleazy debt collectors at no charge to you.  Under the law, the defendants have to pay our fees and costs in successful actions.