A trio of debt collectors have been ordered to stop collecting debts by the Attorney General of North Dakota because they did not have the proper licenses and were harassing individuals when trying to collect.
The three companies are:
- IKS & Associates, LLC and its owner Karriem Madison, which were doing business under the fictitious business name Bradford Stevens & Associates. Using a message about a failed delivery attempt in order to get individuals to return calls, representatives falseley told the individuals lawsuits had been filed against them and then tried to settle the accounts.
- Portfolio Recovery Management, Inc. and its owner Jason Jakubec, which were doing business under the fictitious business name Karl Frankovitch law firm. When making calls, they claimed to be with a Sheriff’s department trying to serve a summons, and even spoofed their Caller ID to make it look like the Sheriff’s office was calling. They also called family members of the individual in order to force a payment to be made.
- Global Management Acquisition Firm, Inc. and its officer Walter Hargrove were accused of making calls where the representative threatened to call the individual’s employer and have his or her wages garnished even though it could not provide any information about the debt.
“Consumers who receive calls from debt collectors attempting to collect on a debt the consumer is not aware of or does not believe to be valid, should dispute the debt in writing and demand the debt collector provide verification of the debt,” said Parrell Grossman, director of the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection division, in a statement
