The Federal Trade Commission shut down a Southern California debt collection business accusing them of harassing consumers and small business owners with obscene language and threats. They are being charged with violating the Federal Trade Commission Act and Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
On Sept 30, the FTC froze the business operations and seized the assets of this Southern California debt collection agency. The business is owned by David M. Hynes Jr. He runs the business along with his wife Loren Quiroz-Hynes and operated under different names. These names included Commercial Investigations Inc., Joseph, Steven & Associates, Specialized Debt Recovery, Forensic Case Management Services Inc. and Rumson, Bolling & Associates.
This company has been accused of harassing consumers. In one case, the debt collectors told a woman if she did unable to pay the balance due on her daughter’s funeral that they were going to dig her up and hang her from a tree. They are also accused of threatening to take her dog and eat him.
This is good news for the Los Angeles County, but will it stop abusive practices in the rest of California or impact other states? For quite some time now, we have seen collectors with very similar tactics trying to collect old payday loans. We have even had our own run-in with the Rumson Bolling company. I wrote an article in our quarterly new letter which can be found at our websitewhich discussed our encounters with this and similar companies. Consumers should be aware of these scams and armed with enough knowledge to protect themselves.
Do you have collection agencies contacting you? Check our website for a free case review or give us a call. We can help you determine if they are violating your rights under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
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