Florida Collector Settles with State AG

Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum today announced that his office has settled a lawsuit it brought against a Jacksonville collection agency and two individuals accused of deceptive business practices. 

The agreement addresses allegations that Robert Allen Hecht and Rougina Hecht, acting individually and on behalf of their collection company, Allen Lewis & Associates, engaged in various inappropriate tactics to collect payments from debtors. The settlement calls for $21,000 in victim restitution and requires the company to institute a compliance program to ensure that violations of fair debt collection standards do not continue to occur. The company must also reimburse the state $30,000 for the costs of investigation and litigation. 

Allen Lewis & Assoc. will also be required to record all outgoing calls if more than six complaints are received within a six-month period. The recorded calls may be used as part of the required compliance program which will include a trained compliance officer. 

The company did not immediately return calls by insideARM.com. According to the company’s web site, it operates one office in Jacksonville and concentrates on music store and rental instrument collections.

"Collection agencies should never employ cruel or forceful tactics to take advantage of those who are trying to resolve a debt," said McCollum in a press release. "Our state has standards in place that protect consumers from predatory or intimidating collection methods and we will continue to enforce those standards for the public good.”