The Federal Communications Commission is not a good collection agency, it appears. Maybe it needs some help from agencies in the credit and collection business.
Despite levying more than $200 million in fines against individuals and entities for making illegal robocalls in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, the agency has collected just $6,790, according to a published report.
The Federal Trade Commission is doing better, but only slightly. It has collected $121 million, out of $1.5 billion in fines it has assessed for making calls to individuals whose phone numbers are on the national Do Not Call Registry or who have received telephone solicitations.
One of the FCC’s largest fines was assessed against Adrian Abramovich, who was fined $120 million for making nearly 100 million robocalls. Despite living in what a recently published article described as a “posh” neighborhood in Miami, in a home with a record collection and an 80-inch television, said he was not “rich” and that he was on “payment plans for everything.” Abramovich is waiting for the local U.S. Attorney to file suit seeking to collect on the unpaid fine so he could defend himself and seek a lower fine amount in a settlement.
The FCC said that fines are meant to penalize bad conduct and deter future misconduct, according to the published report. A spokesman for the agency went on to say that unpaid penalties are passed on to the Justice Department, which has the authority to collect fines.
