Georgia law firm Frederick J. Hanna & Associates was accused of relying 'on deception and faulty evidence to coerce consumers into paying debts that often could not be verified or may not be owed,' the director of the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Richard Cordray, said. The regulator had accused the firm of violating federal consumer-protection laws by issuing over 350,000 credit card collection complaints against customers. It alleged that the firm's lawyers spent less than a minute reviewing each case.
Settlement terms
Lawyers at the firm have been forbidden from filing or threatening lawsuits to enforce debts 'unless they have specific documents and information showing the debt is accurate and enforceable.' In a press release, the firm denied it had instituted 'any pattern or practice with the intent to decieve or harm consumers' and added that the requirements of the agreement had been in place in the firm for a number of years.
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