Call it “theater of the real.” A debt collection firm is accused of setting up a fake courtroom, complete with a raised “bench” and judge in black and other decorations and furniture, to trick and holding bogus hearings to extract payment from debtors.
Men dressed like sheriff’s deputies also went to clients’ homes and delivered paperwork and “summons” for the phony hearings. The documents implied the recipients would be arrested by the sheriff if they did not comply.
In a lawsuit, the Pennsylvania AG accused the firm, Unicredit, of using the courtly trappings to intimidate consumers into giving access to their bank accounts, making payments, and handing over title to cars and other assets.
“This is an unconscionable attempt to use fake court proceedings to deceive, mislead or frighten consumers into making payments or surrendering valuables to Unicredit without following lawful procedures for debt collection,” Attorney General Tom Corbett said in a statement.
The president of Unicredit told the Erie Times-News that he wasn’t aware of the lawsuit.
If you’re being pursued by debt collectors, make sure to read and understand your rights under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. And scrutinize any paperwork you receive, just because it looks official doesn’t mean it is.
Attorney General goes to court to shut down Erie debt collector [GoErie] (Thanks to Double Echo and Jeff!)
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I would think the real reason they are going after the debt collection firm is because they want the debt collection agencies to use the court system, where the judges and sheriff’s can collect a percentage under the table from the amounts extorted from supposed debtors. Judges need money to fund their re-election campaigns.
Are you kidding, trolling or really that far removed from reality?
What happens if we enacted a tinfoil hat tax? Would the circular logic of that cause those wearers’ heads to combust?
Maybe we should try.
They just don’t like the competition. Besides, the phake court got things done much, much faster and with a lot less taxpayers’ money. Any Ron Paul supporter should love this idea.
So how does a “fake” court with a biased “judge” get things done exactly?
I realize (or at least I hope) you are being sarcastic, some people actually think this way though.
Oh, you caught that hint of sarcasm.
you can’t recognize sarcasm?
It’s hard to tell when so many people actually think that way.
I was gonna add my own $.02.
That’s what these people get for not paying their obligations as the promised. Pay your bills and you’ll never get screwed over…. oh, yeah… they probably defaulted on their Best Buy card, so you know they really deserved it.
How about a real court summons instead of a fraud one? Them setting up a fake court system to get money from someone is just as bad as someone avoiding to pay the money back. Also some of the times the people don’t pay the money back because they simply can’t afford it if they wanted. It’s not all debtors that are avoiding payments on purpose.
I hope when the AG gets done dishing out fines that they won’t have to send debt collectors after this crap company to collect.
If shes the judge, I plead guilty and offer her all my “assets”.
Speaking of easily spotted fake judges, did none of these people realize they were walking into a business (it really looks like an old warehouse…) and not a courthouse? Yes, this is clearly illegal and I’m surprised they’re not able to bring criminal charges, but here’s what this court of law looks like on the outside. Come on, people, be a little more skeptical.
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=1537+W.+39th+St+erie+pa&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=1537+W+39th+St,+Erie,+Pennsylvania+16508&gl=us&ei=QTPLTN_zKeWfnwe9oIkU&ved=0CBcQ8gEwAA&ll=42.089178,-80.099173&spn=0.000985,0.002642&t=h&z=19&layer=c&cbll=42.089045,-80.099528&panoid=RVLmiBXTtFUbUKbeBedmlg&cbp=12,0.02,,0,3.68
I’ve been in courts that looked a lot less official than that. I am assuming the Google-ogle view is old and the building had a new sign on it with official looking name. I’m not quite ready to ‘blame the victim’ just yet.
Ditto, in smaller and poorer communities often JP courts are housed in very similar looking facilities.
Right, and it sounds like they did a very good job of making it look like the real deal once you were inside. But come on, if it doesn’t say “courthouse” or somesuch, it ain’t.
Wrong, but thanks.
I had to go to jury duty in an auxiliary courthouse building in Lexington County, SC, that was housed in an old Kroger grocery store, not in the big, official courthouse downtown. It very much still looked like a grocery store. So it is possible these people thought the “court” in this situation was legit. Unlikely, yes, but technically possible for the more gullible among us.
http://maps.google.ca/maps?hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&q=Unit+A+-+284+Reimer+Avenue+Steinbach,+Manitoba+R5G+0R5&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=284+Reimer+Ave,+Steinbach,+Division+No.+2,+Manitoba+R5G+0R5&gl=ca&ei=4ozLTPSQNcGdnAe028DtDw&ved=0CBcQ8gEwAA&ll=49.527183,-96.683461&spn=0.000823,0.002411&z=19&layer=c&cbll=49.527243,-96.683611&panoid=UzSwSdo04BMo9cjQg4t4eQ&cbp=12,273.37,,0,15.11
that’s where i had to go to court for driving without a license a few years back
I think it’s a man.
This unbelievable.
In other new….It’s Not!
Still…I’d gladly confess all to her….and make a few new confessions to boot..
And I guarantee you not one SINGLE person serves jail time because of this
How many married people will?
Wakka wakka WAKKA!
Thank you Fozzy Bear!
LOL
I thought the same thing. Should be, “…not one person…†or “…no one…†or “… nobody…â€.
Mock Trial with J. Reinhold is now in session.
Randal: You were never in a Speilberg movie.
Judge: I was in Gremlins
Randal: But not Gremlins 2…
Judge: I’ll allow it.
I knew I liked you for a reason…
Big American Party! Everyone disco dancing!
I’m dealing with NCO right now. I just sent them a letter asking for a complete statement of account they promised me and I haven’t received. They said there were two things on there, but they only sent me a bill and it only had one.
Read up on NCO before dealing with them. They just got their butts handed to them because of shady dealings.
I’m still of the opine that when a company writes off the account as “bad debt” and takes a tax credit – the deal is DEAD, and can’t be sold for pennies to these scummy mofo firms.
They can only take a tax credit for the amount of the loss. If someone owes a company $1000, and they give up on collecting and sell the debt for $100, the company only gets to write off a $900 loss. By the same token, if the debt collector ends up getting $300 from the debtor, the $200 profit is taxable.
I’m still of the opinion that “opine” is a verb, not a noun. Also, there’s a big difference between a tax write-off and a tax credit. Also, NeverLetMeDown schooled you on your other mistake.
So not only is this shady, but it also looks like impersonation of official figures of authority. Isn’t that alone a broken law?
A felony in some states.
also you have various “under colour of law” modifiers for whatever other crimes they’ve committed (and I’m sure there are more)
You betcha! It’s called impersonation of a police officer (the ‘deputies’) since they committed an act (serving a ‘summons’) under the guise of authority. Here in Colorado – it’s a felony. I don’t know the exact law that would cover the ‘judge’ and the others, but I do know impersonating a public official is definitely illegal.
And suppose that the “sheriff” actually “arrests” the person, and the “sheriff” has a fake uniform and a real gun and they demand money; then we have at least impersonating an officer and armed kidnapping and demanding a ransom. Armed kidnapping is a very serious felony; I checked the California statues, and kidnapping with ransom carries a life sentence. The debt collection firms know they can get away with quite a bit; they just go out of business and reopen under another name perhaps in another state.
Hopefully “Just following orders” won’t hold up here. Those who committed the acts should go to jail.
Then, for the bosses and owners of the company, we have the RICO Act.
And you forgot possesing a firearm while committing a felony. Which is another felony charge.
And I think in Texas such actions are considered a capital offense punishable with the death penalty. Though it might require murder, not certain.
What’s the point of discussing things that didn’t happen? They didn’t “arrest” anyone.
Farking hell this kind of shit pisses me off.
Companies that purposely engage in fraud like this need to be disbanded, not given little fines as a slap on the wrist.
They’d just reopen as another business.
Busines OWNERS who perform haneously illegal acts as the business owner should be barred from obtaining a business license.
These kind of people don’t need no steeeenking business license. They’re in the same group as loan sharks and would be glad to avoid paying any taxes at all.
And there’s the perfect bit of legislation for just such a class of people: RICO Act.
So you hire some nobody to get the business license and pretend to run the company, like Dan Halen on Squidbillies.
Nothing short of prison time is going to do a damn thing. And if the money involved is big enough, it would have to be a lot of prison time to make the reward not worth it.
Oh well…needs to be a lot of people going to jail on this one. Impersonating cops, judges, fake documents…that’s some serious stuff there.
I can’t even imagine how much fun I would have with this if I stumbled across it. The possibilities are endless.
“Now I may be a simple hyperchicken from a backwoods asteroid…”
“Your honor, my client is clearly insane. I mean he choose me to defend him!”
“Oh, land-o-Goshen! Your Honours, I’m not some slick, big-city lawyer like my opponent here…” “Buckaw!”
This is like the “free concert tickets to Metallica” notices that sheriff’s depts. send out to people with outstanding warrants. They show up to get the free tickets and get arrested.
None of this would happen if people would just PAY THEIR DEBTS and STOP BUYING HOUSES THEY CAN’T AFFORD.
I have no sympathy for the “victims” at all. This company should be lauded for their innovation in collecting from scumbag deadbeats.
… anyone see what I did there?
Obvious troll is obvious?
Did you read the “…anyone see what I did there?” with the smiley?
I was mock-parroting what Commenters always seem to chime in with for any story involving debt and/or mortgages.
Damn you and your sarcasm. I was all ready to set free my indignant rage at the lack of humanity involved with your post. But you rage-blocked me.
They have opened themselves up to a world of hurt with Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. I mean If they showed up at my door. That is Identifying themselves to the consumer violation 1000 bucks. Notifying the consumer about their right to dispute the debt 1000 bucks. Filing the lawsuit in the proper forum 1000 bucks. Misrepresentation 1000 bucks. Threatening arrest 1000 bucks. Well that is 5k right there, well up to 5k, but the judge will likely not be pleased at all and max it out on them. Hell with that 5k that goes a long way towards paying off other debts.
Also the felonies too the guys who impersonated the officers will be in serious trouble if the courts decide to pursue that. I think it is up to 6 months in jail per violation, and more if the city itself has stricter laws.
Unicredit = Telatron? Why am I not surprised to see this coming out of my hometown? Sounds about right…. Unethical, probably illegal, and shady as hell.
WTF? How about some criminal prosecutions against some of the individuals as well?
What’s next? Phony debtor jails?
Kidnapping, false imprisonment and so on. Followed by arrest and real imprisonment of the person(s) doing such things.
i am not surprised this is happening in PA.
I’ve never heard of anyone impersonating an entire court room. Are there even any applicable laws for that?
At what point did someone in that company say… “Hey, I’ve got a great idea, let’s impersonate a Police Officer, Set up a fake courtroom, and the whole shebang, and really scare the heck out of people.”
isn’t it illegal to impersonate a judge or govt official or somethign ?