Division Of Banks, Consumer Affairs Shut Down Predatory Debt Collectors

Tuesday, April 30, 2013, 1:07pm

The state Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation and the Division of Banks this week issued a series of cease orders against five unlicensed lenders and one licensed debt collector who were not adhering to consumer loan protections.

?The Division of Banks ordered Nevada-based Delbert Services Corporation, a licensed debt collector, and its owner, John P. Reddam, to immediately cease collecting payments on more than 100 illegal loans made to Massachusetts consumers. The division also issued orders to five unlicensed, Internet-based lenders who sold loans to Massachusetts consumers. The payments on those loans were collected by Delbert Services.

?Massachusetts small-loan statute prohibits excessively high interest rates and fees. Any business that makes loans of $6,000 or less at an interest rate greater than 12 percent in Massachusetts must be licensed as a small-loan company by the Division of Banks. The maximum annual rate of interest for these loans is 23 percent. Third-party debt collectors must also be licensed and supervised by the division.

?According to the division, Delbert Services was collecting on illegal loans, ranging in amount from $850 to $5,075, and collaborating with a network of predatory lenders that were making loans with annual interest rates ranging from 59 percent to 169 percent, with origination fees as high as $500.

Delbert Services was ordered to cease all collections on loans which violate state law and refund all collection fees received to Massachusetts consumers.

?The division issued related orders to the unlicensed lenders, all Internet-based companies, requiring them to immediately cease making, offering or purchasing illegal small loans in Massachusetts. These companies are required to refund all interest, finance charges, and fees collected from Massachusetts consumers on the illegal loans. Those companies are as follows: Cash Call and its wholly-owned subsidiary WS Funding, LLC, based in Anaheim, Calif.; GP Investors, LLC, located in Sicklerville, N.J.; Novea Resource Management, LLC, located in Surfside, Fla.; and Western Sky Financial, LLC, a/k/a Western Sky funding, LLC, a/k/a Western Sky, a/k/a westernsky.com, located in Timber Lake, S.D.

Source: http://www.bankerandtradesman.com/news154816.html

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