On April 7, 2008 Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum announced a judgment of $1.3 million to be paid by a debt collector that violated collection laws. Ellis Crosby & Associates, including the owner Ted Ellis Crosby himself, engaged in willful violations of Florida’s Consumer Collections Practices Act and Deceptive and Unfair Business Practices Act.
The $1.3 million judgment consists of $700,000 in fines, $253,000 in legal costs and $388,000 in restitution to be paid to victims. Furthermore, Ellis Crosby and his company are prohibited from practicing debt collection within the State of Florida.
The Attorney General’s office fielded over 380 complaints from victims citing illegal threats and collection methods by Crosby’s company. Ellis reportedly used deceptive collection practices with the intent to intimidate debtors into paying more than they actually owed.
While Ellis Crosby & Associates illustrates the extent that rogue debt collectors will try to harass debtors, it underscores a larger problem throughout the entire debt recovery industry. Violations of the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act occur at nearly every debt collection firm almost every business day.
Most people do not know what their rights are, and they allow rogue debt collectors to intimidate and harass them. The Florida Attorney General may have shut down one firm with illegal practices, but there are hundreds more that commit collections violations on a regular basis.
Most violations are much milder by comparison to what Ellis Crosby & Associates committed. Still, a knowledgeable debtor may more assertively defend their rights when other violations are committed by a debt collector.
Tags: debt collector judgment, Ellis Crosby, Ellis Crosby & Associates
Who the **** do these people think they are! I hope KARMA bites them in the A.S.S…… What worries me is that they are banned from practicing in Florida….know they are gonna go somewhere else and do the same thing all over again to these poor people. My heart definately goes out to anyone who was a victim to these jerks. I currently have someone trying to pull a fast one on me as well…but because my husband and I know state laws, we called these people out on their scam. Needless to say, they didnt like it too much when we didnt fall for their crap! Haha! All these people will get whats coming to them…and I cant wait!