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New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo yesterday announced that his office has shut down a New York collection operation that consisted of at least nine debt collection companies across Western New York, run by Buffalo resident Tobias Boyland.
Cuomo says hundreds of consumer complaints filed with law enforcement agencies across the country state that Boyland's employees violated state and federal law by allegedly posing as law enforcement officials, threatening to arrest consumers and throw them in jail unless they made arrangements to pay the company immediately.
Under the terms of the court order obtained by Cuomo's office in Buffalo Supreme Court, Boyland's operation will shut down all of its companies in the Buffalo area. Cuomo also announced that his office executed search warrants on four of the operation's known locations and on Boyland's residence. Investigators found a loaded, .380 semi-automatic pistol on Boyland's person, according to the attorney general's office. The Erie County Sheriff took Boyland into custody and the Office of the Erie County District Attorney will handle the resulting gun-possession case.
"Plain and simple, this company was run by people who lied, bullied and preyed on vulnerable Americans struggling to resolve their financial situation," Cuomo said in a news release. "Pretending to be a police officer, threatening to throw consumers in jail – these practices are as despicable as they are illegal."
According to the lawsuit filed by Cuomo's office, Boyland, a convicted felon, and three other individuals ran numerous debt-collecting companies that operated out of at least four locations in Western New York. The other three individuals named in the lawsuit are Kayla Pritchett, Dellian Sharp and Dorian Wills. Both Sharp and Will also have criminal records, according to the attorney general's office.
These debt collection agencies operated under several names across the Buffalo area, including: Central Resource Management, Final Claims Asset Locators, Final Control Asset Locators, Interchange Payment Solutions, Next Step Services, Portfolio Asset Assurance, Silverbay Services and Teleport. Their collectors allegedly made scripted telephone calls designed to intimidate consumers into paying their debts. These employees also falsely informed consumers that they were being sued in civil court.
Cuomo said his investigation revealed that collectors regularly demanded payment for non-existent debts, demanded payments for debts that had already passed the statute of limitations, or substantially inflated the amount owed on an actual debt. Using their false law enforcement identities, collectors coerced and cajoled consumers into agreeing to make payments. Consumers were intentionally given misleading names, addresses and telephone numbers that led them to believe the businesses were located far from the Buffalo area.
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and the New York State debt collection and consumer protection laws prohibit the following conduct: posing as an attorney, threatening lawsuits or other legal action which cannot be taken, saying a consumer committed a crime or will be arrested and talking with third parties except to get location information. The law further requires collection agencies to send a written notice within five days of initial communication with the consumer explaining how he or she can dispute the debt. If properly disputed, the collection agency must stop all collection attempts and send verification.
As previously reported in Credit & Collections World, yesterday's action is part of a larger investigation by Cuomo into unlawful debt collection practices. Earlier this month, Cuomo announced settlements with three Western New York-based debt collection companies to reform their deceptive methods.
