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Nationwide Debt Collector Will Pay $2.25 Million to Settle FTC Charges

Academy Collection Service, Inc. and its owner, Keith Dickstein, have agreed to pay $2.25 million to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that Academy and its collectors misled, threatened, and harassed consumers; disclosed their debts to third parties; and deposited postdated checks early, in violation of federal law. This is the largest civil penalty the FTC has obtained in a debt collection case.

“These defendants are responsible for their debt collectors’ abusive practices,” said Lydia Parnes, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “They ignored people's complaints and rewarded the collectors who broke the law. This is not a business model that the FTC tolerates.” More...

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