Andrew Cuomo - Round 2

We placed New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo on the insideARM Who’s Hot list back in April. At the time, he was going after debt collection process servers. But he fired a warning shot in the direction of the broader ARM industry, warning us to watch our backs.

Is he ever a man of his word. In the span of a week recently, Cuomo announced the formal launch of an investigation into the debt collection industry by subpoenaing 20 collection agencies in his state while shuttering two others (“NY Attorney General Shuts Down Collection Agencies; Subpoenas 20 Others,” May 28) AND announcing settlements with three separate collection agencies that he had been investigating (“NY Attorney General Settles with Three Collection Agencies for $245,000 Total,” June 3).

All of the stories got huge readership on insideARM and sparked interesting comment threads.

Cuomo has stated that his office will “continue to investigate the myriad deceptive practices that debt collection companies, debt settlement companies and others employ as a means to exploit consumers who are already down on their luck.” So until the economy comes around, ARM companies that operate in New York should expect extra scrutiny.