CFPB & NY AG Team Up To Slay MacKinnon Dirty Debt Collection Hydra

A well overdue Federal lawsuit filed today targets a trio of Buffalo debt buyers and a ridiculously long list of fellow collection agencies which have steamrolled the rights of alleged debtors for several years. The lead companies are Delray Capital LLC, Enhanced Acquisitions LLC, and Northern Resolution Group LLC. Their mastermind, bankroller, and office and software supplier is Douglas MacKinnon. He'd set up DelRay for his pal Mark Gray, to be explained shortly. Their opponents are the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.

It might be simpler to list the parts of the FDCPA, CFPA, and FTC Act these creeps actually obeyed. Essentially their game was collecting junk debts and payday loans through classic extortionist tactics like posing as law enforcers and court personnel, false threats of arrest and litigation, hassling employers and relatives of victims, and wrongfully larding on extra fees and inflated balances. Naturally the debts were often dubious and never validated, and not once was a consumer actually sued.

The Washington Examiner capped its summary in a wanting manner: "Little public information about the duo was immediately available, although some business journals and consumer sites appeared to have noted their debt collection practices at different points." Well, allow me to dig into my own notes and see if I can help.

MacKinnon is a name familiar to those who have monitored Buffalo's favorite industry. Possibly his most infamous creation about a decade ago was the Giove Law Firm, which was a misnomer for "lawless firm". Giove was pure extortion dressed up as debt collection, and given "brand extensions" of other debt collector names like Goldstein Weinberg & Associates, Siegel Bennett & Associates, Viking Recovery, and Vincent P Cignarale. Same bogus legal threats, different era, and an operation so heinous the late Bud Hibbs once devoted an entire internet domain name to busting the fraud. If I recall rightly, Giove did not outlast Hibbs.

Now as to DelRay, AKA Cooper Mediation Group, fans of 800Notes may recall a persistent stream of shill remarks throughout 2014 and early 2015. They tried several popular tropes, like "Shoulda Paid When I Had the Chance", and "Victim of the Internet", and browbeating "deadbeats" whose rights were denied. One memorable clown whined about "bad advice not to pay their bills" and warned that those foolish skeptics now pay "absorbent [sic] interest rates for the things that they need now".

https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-855-463-8828/2

Not content with those routine disruptions, one DelRay dipstick felt a need to paste the same windy tirade against consumer "bottom feeders" 42 times or more in April 2014. Those were all soon destroyed by Admin. I think the last one standing is a repeat posted ninety days after the first known round.

https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-855-463-8828/6#p742086176137945917

Funny story about DelRay, as revealed in the civil complaint. One of MacKinnon's debt portfolio sources became quite unnerved by his FDCPA compliance policy. Understandably so, as MacKinnon simply didn't have one. The seller refused to do business with him because of the appearance that he would not control his cowboy collectors the way the FTC prefers. Rather than take the lesson to grow on, he simply erected DelRay as a faux virgin debt buyer and named his chum Mr. Gray as its management. With that problem solved, the flow of new accounts resumed, and with them the sewage pump of lawbreaking behavior.

The sole exhibit in the complaint is a list of eighty-seven (87) companies controlled in this naughty network, often of the straw house variety. Lookie there, some of the old "Giove Law" aliases are still in play! Well, not for much longer if the prosecution lops off enough hydra heads.

CFPB and New York Attorney General File Lawsuit Against Illegal Nationwide Debt Collection Scheme  (CFPB press release with link to complaint)
A.G. Schneiderman and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau File Lawsuit Against Illegal Nationwide Debt Collection Scheme  (NY AG press release)
Regulators Take Action Against 'Massive' Debt Collection Operation  (Dow Jones Business News)
Consumer bureau takes aim at big debt collector  (Washington Examiner)

Merchants of Debt  (Education Center 2000) - a few repro articles from July 2006 with mentions of Giove

It is good to see that, while they turn slowly, the wheels of justice do turn.

What bothers me is that the articles only mention a Federal lawsuit, and not criminal charges.  I just hope this does not play out as: Acceptance of a fine with no admission of guilt, followed by an appeal claiming poverty and a reduction of the fine to next to nothing.

Would be better to turn the two over to their victims, who have been supplied with a couple vats of boiling hot tar, a couple hundred pounds of feathers and a couple rails to tie them to prior to parading them around the Buffalo, NY area as a warning to other “debt collectors”

One thing at a time, friend. I'm sure it took months just to untangle the mess of affiliated companies. The plaintiffs seek injunctive and compensatory relief, and Schneiderman is asking $5K for each state law violation. I think they'll start the damage bidding pretty high.

It's easier to stop the bleeding of victims in civil court, then worry later about the higher standard of evidence needed for criminal prosecution. Citizens are not precluded from filing their own actions, for that "death by a thousand cuts" approach.

I fear for poor, beleaguered Buffalo. If the Feds. & Eric ever actually managed to stamp out the fraudulent debt collection industry in Erie County, that "American Riviera on the Beach" would be left in a shambles...

Res47 - Great catch and thanks for sharing this material.  Looking at the complaint filed in U.S. District Court, there is a list of known MacKinnon Collection Shops.  Many names will be familiar to folks who frequent 800notes

Quote:

1. ACB Asset
2. ADR Arbitration Services
3. ADR LLC
4. Albright Consultants
5. Allied Retention Services
6. Altamonte Springs
7. American Asset Recovery Group
8. American Capital
9. Arbitration of Peterson and Schwartz LLC
10. ARS LLC, fka Retention Services LLC
11. Asset & Arbitration Group LLC
12. Assurance Asset Management
13. Blue Circle Asset
14. Buhanen & Cohen & Associates
15. Bums & Hoffman
16. Cambridge Huxley & Associates
17. Capital Resolution Services
18. Capital Resource Consultants LLC
19. Check and Credit Solutions
20. Cornerstone Mediation
21. Credit First Recovery
22. Delaware Solutions
23. Direct Mediation Services
24. EAG
25. Eisenburg Roth and Associates
26. Empire Mediation
27. Executive Acquisition Group LLC
28. Executive Summary Services
29. Featured Mediation
30. Fidelity Asset Recovery INC
31. FNAS
32. Focus Gold
33. Goldstein, Weinberg & Associates
34. Gordon, Cappolli & Associates
35. Harbor Front Acquisitions
36. Hartford Management Group
37. Integrity Management Group
38. JAB Arbitration
39. Joshua Tree Funding LLC
40. JTF Management
41. Kaden Asset Group
42. Kauffman, Burstein & Associates
43. Law Offices of Scott Wheat
44. Leading Edge Solutions
45. Lockhart Mediation Services
46. Mariner & Associates
47. Mariner & Associates/ Northpointe
48. Mediated Credit Solutions
49. Midway Mediation Services Group
50. Mile High Mediation
51. Morgan Mediation Group LLC
52. National Credit Works
53. Nationwide Intermediary Services
54. Nationwide Processing
55. NCW Ridge Lea
56. Neiman, Rona & Associates
57. New Beginnings
58. Northeast Capital
59. Northeast Credit Solutions
60. Northeast Receivables Management
61. Onsite Collection Bureau LLC
62. Paramount Solution Services
63. Peak Recovery/Peak Resolution
64. PR Associates LLC
65. Premier Mediation Solutions LLC
66. RPG
67. S Brookfield Consulting
68. Shapiro & Price
69. Siegel Bennett & Associates
70. Simon Eichler & Associates
71. Solidus
72. Southern Capital Arbitrations
73. Southpoint Management Group
74. Spielman, Weiss & Associates
75. Spotlight Resolution
76. Stein & Witzen Receivables
77. Sun Resolution
78. The Cambridge Group
79. Thomas Bella & Associates
80. TS Holdings
81. UAG
82. United Skye Portfolio Recovery
83. Viking Holding Group
84. WHL Enterprises
85. William Isaro & Associates
86. Zimmerman Young & Associates
87. Zittermann, Bosh & Associates

Great article. They've called here. Back in July, we received a series of calls from someone attempting to collect on an old credit card my wife had. The caller stated if we didn't respond immediately we could expect to be sued within a week. Yes, that's actually what he said. The disturbing thing was, he knew my wife's name and the county we live in. Although, it wouldn't be that hard to find that information out. Apparently they also called everyone in the country with the same last name as ours, because my brother in FL got a similar call. I looked up the number here, and guess what? It came back to the above mentioned McKinnon in Buffalo, NY. There have been no calls since, so we thought that was the end of it until about 2 weeks ago, when we got a collection notice for the same account from a Asset Recovery Solutions, LLC out of IL. I can only assume they're part of the same scam. Well, they can just go eff themselves, for two reasons. First, we pulled my wife's credit report when this started. It clearly shows the account as closed in good standing back in 2009. Second, even if the account was in default, the statute of limitations for filing a suit on a commercial debt like a credit card is 6 years in our state, so they're a day late and a dollar short. All I can say to these scumbags is, if you want to waste your time and money trying to sue us, go for it!

How did Mackinnon's partner in crime, Mark Bohn, not get mentioned in the suit?

Just think how satisfying it would be to get a nice big check from them.  All you have to do is file a lawsuit against them.  Shouldn't cost you anything but a few hours of your time for a really nice payback.

Use these web sites to find an attorney in your state that will probably take the case on a contingency basis (no money out of your pocket up front):  http://www.consumeradvocates.org/
http://www.consumeradvocates.org/find-an-atto ... tates_value=All

If Bohn had any supervisory role, he should have been named in the action. Possibly he was not on the Delray/Northern team at all. The Education Center 2000 article compilation was sourced mainly from Buffalo News ten years ago. One item on Lenahan Law, a shop of MacKinnon's thugs in attorney garments, tells of them filing bankruptcy to duck $800K in civil judgments for bad collector behavior. It suggested that Bohn made a "sour grapes" exit.

    "Bohn denied that his company ran the Lenahan operation but acknowledged that it did provide office space. He was disappointed with the firm's record of complaints, he said, and both companies agreed to part ways last summer."

Does anyone know if their accounts were seized? What will happen to the restaurants and Crunch Roll company that Mackinnon owns with his collections partner, Mark Bohn?

Seem to be awfully worried about what is going to happen to this particular crook and some other related businesses.  I saw you posted the same question in a number thread.  Tell us, "Frank", are you possibly this Mark Bohn?  If not what do you care what happens to the restaurant and this Crunch Roll company?

Related post:  https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-716-651-0161#p1124696170630878939

Are you kidding? These guys are the worst of the worst. They screw with everyone they do business with. I hope they get what they deserve.

One of the curious things about these corrupt collection agencies is that once you get a judgement against them, most people find it almost impossible to collect from them.

They are very good at playing the "hide my assets" game.
I wonder if their "businesses" have ever pulled the Trump card and filed for bankruptcy to prevent collection, or they simply close the business. This is where "piercing the corporate veil" becomes necessary.

"I wonder if their "businesses" have ever pulled the Trump card and filed for bankruptcy to prevent collection.."
And taking a page from many of these scambags' collection practices, wouldn't it be equally as nice if they were told, "We're sorry, but your debt to the consumers for harassment and fraud are not covered by the U.S. Bankruptcy Laws."