The largest newspaper in Buffalo is calling on the state legislature in New York to enact a statewide licensing law, after the Attorney General took action against an allegedly unscrupulous debt collector last month.
The Buffalo News published an editorial calling on the state to revisit debt collection licensing when the legislature reconvenes in January.
“It’s about time that mandatory licensing becomes a reality for debt collection, a needed business in which bad actors give our region a black eye,” the editorial read, noting that Buffalo and Western New York have long been a hub for the accounts receivable management industry, and for some of the unfortunate bad actors who have been caught and prosecuted.
That includes Andrew Fanelli, Northwood Asset Management Group, Pinnacle Asset Recovery Group, and Koalaty Pay, who reached a settlement with the New York Attorney General just before Thanksgiving. Fanelli, who hails from Western New York, was mentioned in the editorial as the catalyst for the paper’s call for a licensing requirement.
“… licensing requirements would not make debt collection fraud disappear, but would add a level of protection that would make it harder for the scammers to take advantage of their prey,” according to the editorial, which noted that a number of cities in the state — including Buffalo — already have their own licensing requirements in place.
The editorial also noted that a licensing requirement might be a good thing now that Regulation F has gone into effect. The piece quoted an attorney with the National Consumer Law Center who said that the “expanded avenues” collectors have to communicate with consumers under Regulation F “could give criminals new ways to go after victims’ money.”
Perhaps not surprisingly, nobody from the industry was mentioned or asked for comment.
