For the second time this year, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has accused a law firm of using overly aggressive debt collection tactics.

The CFPB filed a complaint in Cleveland federal district court alleging that the firm Weltman, Weinberg & Reis misrepresented in millions of letters and phone calls that lawyers were involved in collecting the debts, even though attorneys at the firm had not typically reviewed the consumers' accounts.

“Debt collectors who misrepresent that a lawyer was involved in reviewing a consumer's account are implying a level of authority and professional judgement that is just not true,” CFPB Director Richard Cordray said in a statement. “Weltman, Weinberg & Reis masked millions of debt collection letters and phone calls with the professional standards associated with attorneys when attorneys were, in fact, not involved. Such illegal behavior will not be allowed in the debt collection market.”

Weltman Weinberg, which bills itself as a “full-service collections firm” with more than 65 lawyers, is based in Cleveland. The firm has offices in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Illinois and Florida.

“We fundamentally disagree with the CFPB's allegations and believe that this lawsuit is the result of our firm's refusal to be strong-armed into a consent order,” Weltman Weinberg managing partner Scott Weltman. “We are a law firm that is legally allowed, under federal and state law, to provide collection and legal services. We are being truthful with consumers and factually accurate when we use our name and our company's letterhead for proper debt collection activity.”

The firm said it has taken every reasonable step to ensure that it collects on consumer debts in compliance with those statutes and to ensure that every statement made to consumers is accurate and not misleading.”

In collection calls and in form letters, the CFPB alleged, Weltman Weinberg repeatedly stressed that it was a law firm. The form letters were on formal law firm letterhead with the phrase “Attorney at Law,” according to the CFPB's complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. In some letters, the firm referred to possible “legal action” against consumers who did not make payments.

Debt collectors told consumers during phone calls that they were calling from a law firm, sometimes referring to Weltman Weinberg as the “largest collection law firm in the United States,” the CFPB's complaint said. Those calls were made even though “Weltman attorneys generally had not reviewed a corresponding consumer's individual account file to reach a professional judgment regarding whether the consumer owed the debt,” the CFPB alleged.

The CFPB's six-year history has been studded with enforcement actions against law firms. In recent years, the CFPB has accused debt relief firms of illegally charging fees before resolving or reducing consumers' debts.

In January, the CFPB ordered the two firms and their president to pay nearly $580,000, along with a $78,800 penalty. Announcing the settlement, Cordray said, “Misrepresenting that a lawyer is involved in a debt collection action gives the collection a false weight.”

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