The Texas Attorney General has sued Coppell-based American Home Mortgage Servicing Inc. (AHMS) for alleged use of improper debt collection tactics.  State investigators contend that AHMS debt collectors used aggressive and unlawful tactics to collect mortgage payments.  The Attorney General also alleges that AHMS failed to credit homeowners who properly and timely submitted payments.

Click here for AG press release

Click here to see the AG’s lawsuit

We have handled hundreds of cases against abusive collectors over the years, and we have run across collection agencies in small towns and large cities.  We are also aware of collection agencies being run from apartments and homes.  However, until now, we had not heard of anyone attempting to run a collection agency from prison.  Take a look at this story -

Collection Agency Run from Prison

A Dallas-area contractor allegedly called a woman the “N” word and hit her related to a debt collection dispute.  Take a look at this WFAA Channel 8 story -

http://www.wfaa.com/news/crime/Woman-claims-contractor-hit-her-used-racial-slur-101204874.html

Dean Malone and our firm’s client, Melissa Jenkins, appeared in a Dallas television news story last week.  We represent Ms. Jenkins regarding alleged harassment at her place of employment.  An Atlas Credit Co., Inc. employee went to Ms. Jenkins’ place of employment when attempting to collect a debt.  Ms. Jenkins alleges that the employee would not leave until police were called.  Here is a link to the story -

http://www.wfaa.com/news/local/Woman-suing-loan-company-after-debt-collector-goes-to-her-work-100666949.html

D CEO Magazine published “Debt Collectors Gone Wild” yesterday as a result of Dean Malone’s recent $1.7 million verdict in the Allen Jones case against Advanced Call Center Technologies, LLC.  Mr. Malone was quoted several times in the story.  Here is a link -

http://www.dmagazine.com/Home/D_CEO/2010/September/Debt_Collectors_Gone_Wild.aspx

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As we posted recently, Dean Malone and co-counsel obtained an approximate $1.7 million dollar verdict against a collection agency for racist voicemail messages allegedly left by it employee.  It was our hope that the verdict would send a message to other collectors who use improper and abusive tactics.  We just ran across a story of yet another situation in which someone was leaving racist voicemails to collect a debt and/or repossess a vehicle -

http://www.azfamily.com/news/consumer/offensive-email-leaves-valley-man-outraged-99902794.html

Two title loan company employees were recently arrested for allegedly illegally posing as detectives when attempting to collect loan payments or recover vehicles.  The men were employed by Cash Time Title Loans.  According to the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, the men placed hundreds of calls using a system that caused the Sheriff’s office telephone number to appear on the recipient’s caller ID screen.  One of the suspects will be charged with impersonating a police officer.  The other suspect will be charged with conspiracy to aid in impersonating a police officer.  Here is a link to a story about the bust -

http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/region_phoenix_metro/central_phoenix/mcso%3A-2-caught-impersonating-detectives-to-intimdate-auto-loan-clients

Unfortunately, I find that this type of tactic is common.  Many collectors believe that they are above the law.  If you or someone you know is receiving calls from a person alleging to be a law enforcement officer, and the alleged officer is calling to collect a debt, contact your local police department.  More that likely, the call is a scam.

The link below is to an interesting Dallas Morning News article about ACE Cash Express.  The Council honored ACE Cash Express for a contribution.  On the same day, the Council unveiled a program to, in part, assist low income people in avoiding high check-cashing fees.

http://cityhallblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/06/on-same-day-dallas-council-to.html

News about last week’s 1.7 million dollar jury verdict obtained by Dean Malone and co-counsel has spread like wildfire.  Television stations, newspapers, radio stations, and blogs across the United States have covered the story.  I understand that media throughout Europe are also now covering the jury’s verdict.  Here is a link to one of the latest newspaper articles about the abusive debt collection trial -

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/95594769.html

T. Dean Malone and his co-counsel finished an approximate two-week jury trial yesterday against Advanced Call Center Technologies, LLC (“ACCT”) and two of its previous employees.  The jury heard evidence of calls which included racial slurs, sexual comments, threats of violence, and profanity.  The jury found that ACCT and its prior debt collector employees violated the Texas Debt Collection Act, engaged in unreasonable collection efforts, and invaded our client’s right to privacy (by intruding on his seclusion).  The jury also determined that ACCT was negligent in hiring, supervising, training, and/or retaining a debt collection supervisor.

The jury provided $50,000.00 in mental anguish damages to our client and $143,000.00 in attorneys’ fees through trial.  The jury also provided $1,500,000.00 in additional/punitive damages against ACCT.

Mr. Malone, his co-counsel, and our client were interviewed yesterday for a Channel 8 news story.  Here is a link to the story (which ran during last night’s 10:00 p.m. news) -

http://www.wfaa.com/news/consumer/Vulgar-voicemails-force-debt-collector-to-pay-15M-95163714.html

Here is the video -

The court will hold a hearing to decide whether to grant a permanent injunction against one or all of the defendants.  The court will also consider a motion for judgment to be filed by our firm.  No amounts have been paid by any of the defendants toward amounts awarded by the jury.