Chris Carr Attorney General Georgia

Attorney General Chris Carr announced a settlement with a collection agency Tuesday that will wipe out $8.8 million in consumer debt.

Under an assurance of voluntary compliance filed Friday in Fulton County State Court, Greg Williamson of Williamson and McKevie LLC agreed to cease collections on nearly 11,000 accounts his company owns. Williamson will turn those accounts over to the attorney general so that they cannot be sold or collected in the future.

The attorney general agreed to drop charges that the company committed multiple violations of the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and the Georgia Fair Business Practices Act.

“It is plain and simple, any debt collector that employs abusive, deceptive and illegal tactics in Georgia will be held accountable,” Carr said in a news release Tuesday. “I appreciate our Consumer Protection Unit's work on this matter. We will continue working to ensure that no Georgia consumer falls victim to this type of behavior in the future.”

Carr's office had alleged that Williamson and McKevie harassed and deceived consumers by threatening them with arrest, imprisonment and lawsuits if they didn't pay, divulging their private business to other parties and having debt collectors posing as attorneys.

Williamson could not be reached for comment.

Williamson, according to Carr, had also agreed to pay a $20,000 fine and undergo a five-year monitoring period during which violations could result in a bigger penalty.