A Minnesota debt buyer accused of charging people as much as 22 percent in bogus interest on old bank overdrafts and fees is the latest target in the state’s crackdown on illegal debt collections.
State Attorney General Lori Swanson on Wednesday sued Bradstreet & Associates LLC, claiming the Plymouth-based collections agency added illegal interest on old debts that Wells Fargo & Co. and U.S. Bancorp had written off and sold. Much of the customer overdraft debt is bank fees, Swanson’s office said.
Bradstreet and its predecessor bought $18 million of charged-off balances from the two banks since 2009, then routinely filed lawsuits against consumers across the state, according to the complaint. Swanson said 16,000 Minnesotans were affected by the collectors’ practices.
In the case of a young Willmar woman, five years of illegal interest caused a debt of $1,886.20 to balloon to $4,108.72.
Source: StarTribune
