N.Y. debt company fined for harassment

AUGUSTA – In an April 13 order, the Maine Office of Consumer Credit Regulation fined Lenahan Law Offices in Buffalo, N.Y., $9,000 and ordered the firm to stop contacting Maine debtors.

William Lund, director of the Consumer Credit Regulation in Maine, found that Lenahan had illegally communicated with third parties, harassed Maine consumers, threatened to seize or garnish wages and falsely implied that debtors had committed crimes. Lenahan buys delinquent debt from credit card companies and other creditors.

The order came after a hearing in which five Maine consumers testified to being harassed by Lenahan’s tactics. Lenahan did not appear at the hearing in its own defense.

“The Maine Legislature enacted the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act specifically to deal with the types of tactics utilized by these collectors,” Lund said in a statement. “Lenahan conducted a misleading, harassing and abusive campaign in its efforts to intimidate Maine consumers to pay their alleged debts.”

The Maine Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, patterned after a similar federal law, prohibits unfair and deceptive practices by debt collectors. The Office of Consumer Credit Regulations licenses and examines collectors and responds to consumer complaints.