The State of New York and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) secured a court order permanently banning fraudulent debt collectors from the industry.
On Friday, U.S. District Court Judge William M. Skretny ordered Gregory MacKinnon and Vantage Point Services, LLC; Angela Burdorf and Payment Management Solutions, Inc; as well as Joseph Ciffa and Bonified Payment Solutions, Inc to stop their illegal debt collection practices.
These defendants are prohibited from advertising,promoting, selling, or buying any debt or information regarding a consumer related to a debt. They are required to destroy all consumer information in their possession.
In addition, Sketny ordered the defendants to almost $27 million in damages and restitution. MacKinnon and Vantage Point Services will pay $22.5 million. Burdorf and Payment Solutions will pay $4.4 million.
He suspended the monetary judgement against Ciffa and Bonified payment Solutions due to their inability to pay. However, if the FTC and the New York Attorney General’s Office find that they misrepresented their financial judge, the full judgment will be due immediately.
