A settlement between the state and a payday loan debt collector and payday loan servicer has resulted in nearly $12 million in loan forgiveness to thousands of New York consumers, the Department of Financial Services announced Monday.
The department entered into a consent order with Total Account Recovery (TAR), the debt collector, and E-Finance Call Center Support, the servicer. As part of the settlement, Total Account Recovery and E-Finance will stop activity in New York and Total Account Recovery will discharge roughly $11.8 million in payday loan debts from New York consumers. Total Account Recovery also must discharge all debt connected with New York payday loans that it currently holds, vacate any judgment on New Yorkers’ payday loan account and remove any pending garnishments, liens, levies or restraining notices related to any judgments on New Yorkers’ payday loan accounts. E-Finance also must disclose any pending New York account and stop any communication with customers in the state related to those accounts.
