Nelson, Hirsch & Associates, a Fairburn, Ga.-based collection agency, reached a $4.3 million settlement with state regulators on several charges of engaging in unfair business practices - including threatening consumers with arrest if they did not pay.
The agency agreed Tuesday to cease operations as part of the settlement, according to Georgia's Office of Consumer Protection. Owner Tanya Santiago agreed to not engage in collection activities in Georgia or in connection with Georgia consumers for at least five years.
Other alleged Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and/or Georgia Fair Business Practices Act charges include:
* failing to disclose that it was a debt collector attempting to collect a debt;
* refusing to send consumers written proof of the debt owed;
* threatening to call the consumer’s employer and have the consumer’s wages garnished;
* continuing to contact consumers even after they told the company to stop calling them;
* calling consumers at unusual hours (e.g. before 8:00am or after 9:00pm);
* calling consumers at work when they knew their employers prohibited such contact; and
* speaking to consumers in a harassing and abusive manner;
The agency agreed to pay a $26,000 civil penalty and forgo collection of 5,809 consumer accounts worth $4.3 million, state regulators said.
“We are sending a strong and clear message that this kind of abuse and harassment of consumers, and the egregious disregard for the law that these practices typify will not be tolerated,” says John Sours, administrator of the Governor’s Office of Consumer Protection.
Santiago could not be reached for comment.
