Frederick J. Hanna & Associates has responded to a lawsuit filed Monday by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The lawsuit, filed against the firm and its three principal partners, accuses the Georgia-firm of operating a
The following is a statement from the firm:
"Frederick J. Hanna & Associates P.C. has completely cooperated with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau over the course of the last year, including thousands of man hours expended, in assisting the Bureau with reviewing our law practice. We are obviously surprised and disappointed by yesterdays events. Of course, we strongly deny the allegations of the complaint and, moreover, the overall mischaracterization of our law firm as a 'mill' or 'factory.'
Our law firm takes great pride in its commitment to compliance with all consumer protection laws and takes great pains to ensure compliance with state civil procedure and evidentiary laws, step by step. At all times, our firm has faithfully followed the long established legal rules and guidelines set forth under the Georgia Civil Practice Act and the long line of established federal judicial precedent with regard to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
We believe the law and evidence will show that; and we look forward to presenting our side of the case to the court at the appropriate time."
The firm performs collections and typically files lawsuits if the efforts do not lead to collections.
The CFPB alleges that between 2009 and 2013 the firm filed more than 350,000 collection lawsuits in Georgia alone. The CFPB has asked for compensation for victims, a civil fine and an injunction against the company and its partners - Frederick J. Hanna, Joseph Cooling and Robert Winter.
Editor's Note: Monday's story on the lawsuit was updated with portions of the company's statement several hours after the initial story was published.
