CAMCO ripoffs Gets Extension To Pay Fine Rockford Illinois
From the Rockford Register Star (local daily) ...
Collection firm gets more time to pay
By SARAH ROBERTS, Rockford Register Star
ROCKFORD Capital Acquisitions and Management Co. received a week's extension to pay $300,000 to settle charges of abusive and deceptive collection practices after company attorneys said they weren't given enough notice by the federal government.
Last week, the Federal Trade Commission filed a 13-count complaint in Rockford, accusing CAMCO of systematic and widespread violations of the Fair Debt Collection and Practices Act.
The company settled the charges by agreeing to adopt stringent record-keeping policies and pay $300,000 in civil penalties. The debt collection company is at 303 N. Main St.
The company had until Monday to pay the fine, but the FTC extended the deadline to April 5. A commission representative said the extension was granted as a courtesy to CAMCO attorneys.
An attorney with the Chicago law firm representing CAMCO said the firm raised hell with the U.S. attorney's office and the FTC that the company did not know the settlement had been entered in court Friday until media inquiries began later that day. They didn't give us a notice they were going to court to have it entered. Not knowing when it started, we missed a couple of days (on the deadline), said Mike Hayes of Bell, Boyd and Lloyd.
Nadine Samter, FTC attorney, said the commission notified CAMCO attorneys twice: when it first sent its case to the U.S. Department of Justice for review and the day it filed the complaint in court.
The judge's decision to enter the settlement the same day was unusual, Samter said, but CAMCO attorneys were aware it would be entered within two weeks. We didn't do anything out of the ordinary, she said. We haven't had this problem with any other company.
Hayes said he expects CAMCO to meet the extended deadline.
The commission's complaint was the first regulatory action taken against the company. CAMCO did not admit wrongdoing in the settlement.
CAMCO's collection letters to consumers must include information about the federal law and how consumers can file complaints.
Company employees must also sign statements that they will comply with consumer protection laws.
Phil
Machesney Park, Illinois
U.S.A.
1 Updates & Rebuttals
Phil
Machesney Park,Illinois,
U.S.A.
CAMCO Finally Pays Fine
#2Consumer Comment
Tue, April 06, 2004
From the local daily ...
Local collection firm pays $300K
By SARAH ROBERTS, Rockford Register Star
ROCKFORD Capital Acquisitions and Management Co. fulfilled the first requirement of a settlement with the federal government by paying $300,000 in civil penalties involving charges it violated federal debt collection law.
The U.S. Department of Justice confirmed Monday that it received payment from the Rockford debt collection company, which employs about 350 people at its Rockford headquarters at 303 N. Main St.
The payment comes one week after the original deadline. The company, known as CAMCO, received a one-week extension after claiming the government did not provide enough notice of the charges.
The Federal Trade Commission, the top consumer watchdog, filed a 13-count complaint March 24 in Rockford, claiming the company engaged in abusive and deceptive collection practices. The commission said that it notified CAMCO that day and the company was aware of the impending charges. The complaint, culminating a two-year investigation, was the first action taken by a regulatory agency against CAMCO in the company's seven-year existence. In settling the charges, the company does not admit to wrongdoing.
Company officials said the decision to settle was purely a business decision. A court case could drag on for years, they said, and would divert resources away from handling consumer complaints.
Mike Hayes, the company's attorney, expressed frustration that the FTC has yet to turn over complaints on which charges were based. Nadine Samter, FTC attorney in Seattle, said the commission is following standard procedures of blacking out names before letting the company view the complaints. She said that during the FTC's investigation, CAMCO officials handed over complaints representative of those received by the commission.
Profile: Capital Acquisitions and Management Co.
* Headquarters: 303 N. Main St., Rockford
* Founded: 1997 in Genoa
* Top executive: George Othon, chairman
* Service: Debt collection
* Employees: 350
* Revenues: Would not disclose