Massachusetts Bars Debt Collector, Secures $52 Million in Consumer Debt Relief
Massachusetts has barred an Avon-based debt collector and affiliated companies from operating in the state under a settlement that will provide approximately $52 million in debt relief to more than 6,000 consumers.
Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell announced the consent judgment on September 14. The agreement resolves the state’s case against Judgment Acquisitions Unlimited, Champion Funding, Inc., Champion Funding, LLC, and their owner, Andrew Metcalf.
Under the settlement, the defendants may no longer buy, sell, transfer, assign, or collect debts allegedly owed by Massachusetts consumers. They are also permanently barred from seeking a Massachusetts debt collector license or conducting debt collection activity from within the state, including collection involving consumers who live elsewhere.
State Alleged Cars Were Seized to Pressure Consumers
The settlement follows allegations that the companies used unfair and deceptive methods while collecting consumer debt.
According to the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, one of the practices involved seizing consumers’ vehicles as a way to pressure them into making payments. The state alleged that some of those vehicles were worth so little that they were legally protected from seizure and, in some cases, were the consumer’s only way to get to work.
The Attorney General’s Office emphasized that these cases were different from standard auto repossessions. The vehicles were not being taken because consumers had failed to make payments on loans tied to those vehicles. Instead, the state alleged that the cars were unrelated to the debts the companies were attempting to collect.
Massachusetts first sued the defendants in February 2024, alleging violations of the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act. The Attorney General’s Office later obtained two preliminary injunctions that restricted certain collection practices while the case continued.
Settlement Ends Collection of Massachusetts Accounts
The final agreement prevents the defendants from continuing to collect the Massachusetts consumer debts covered by the settlement. According to the Attorney General’s Office, that restriction results in approximately $52 million in relief for more than 6,000 consumers.
The settlement also includes a $650,000 suspended penalty. The money would become payable to the Commonwealth if the defendants violate the agreement or if information they provided about their inability to pay is found to have been untruthful.
The consent judgment brings the state’s 2024 enforcement case to an end while permanently preventing Metcalf and the companies covered by the agreement from operating a debt collection business in Massachusetts.
