On May 26, 2017, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt (Kansas AG) announced that a New York-based debt collector and its owner were banned from debt collection and enforcement in Kansas. Shawnee County District Court Judge Teresa Watson approved the consent judgment ordering the company to stop doing business in Kansas, dismissing the 140 lawsuits the company currently had pending in the state, and requiring the company to file Satisfactions of Judgment in collection lawsuits that it had won. The Court also ordered the company to pay $7,572 in restitution and $150,000 in civil penalties. The parties agreed to suspend the civil penalties, however, on the condition that the financial statements Defendants provided in the course of negotiating the consent judgment are truthful and accurate. This suspension may be set aside if the Defendants violate any term of the consent judgment.
The Kansas AG accused the debt collector and its owner of deceptive and unconscionable acts and practices, and of making false, misleading, or untrue representations to Kansas consumers in violation of the Kansas Consumer Protection Act. According to the consent judgment, the company failed to obtain or apply for the license required for debt collection under Kansas law, and therefore had no legal authority to enforce debts in the state.