In an era where the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has abandoned its consumer protection mission, state attorneys general are determined to carry out theirs. This week, for example, Massachusetts AG Andrea Joy Campbell announced a final consent judgment against debt collectors, debt buyers, and their owners. The judgment reportedly will provide $52 million in relief for alleged debt for 6,000 Massachusetts consumers. The AG’s office nabbed the companies Judgment Acquisitions Unlimited, Champion Funding, Inc. and their owner, Andrew Metcalf, for alleged unfair and deceptive practices in their debt collection activities.
In the case which began in 2024, the AG alleged that the collectors went so far as to seize consumers’ cars to force payments even though the cars were completely unrelated to the supposed debt they were seeking to collect. They also allegedly violated state law by trying to collect old debt (outside the statute of limitations). The entered judgment includes an injunction ordering the companies to stop all debt collection activity in the state, and a $650,000 suspended monetary judgment.
