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Board accepts staff recommendations on 21 complaints; closes one file after agency pays debt
Summary
The Tennessee Collection Service Board on Jan. 8, 2025, voted to accept staff recommendations on 21 new complaints and to close a 22nd complaint after the licensee paid the disputed debt; the board declined to issue a letter of warning or formal discipline in that case.
During the Jan. 8, 2025, meeting, the Tennessee Collection Service Board reviewed its legal report and voted on 22 complaints presented by board counsel.
Associate General Counsel Joseph Wharton told the board there were 22 total complaints on the legal report; 21 were first-time presentations and one (complaint number 202-404-2501) was a re-presentation from September. The board heard no public comment on the complaints and proceeded to vote on staff recommendations.
A motion to accept items 1 through 21 as read and to follow the recommendations in the legal report passed by voice vote after a motion by Chair Chip Hellman and a second by Tony Zikovich.
Case 22 prompted extended discussion. Wharton said the boards original recommendation had been a consent order with a $500 civil penalty. The respondents attorney, Wharton said, subsequently reported the respondent had reviewed the account file, found the underlying debt and agreed to pay the balance (reported in the record as $742.60) in order to resolve the consumers issue. Wharton told the board staff framed the updated facts and recommended the board consider whether a letter of warning (instead of a consent order) was appropriate given the licensees corrective action.
Members discussed the public-interest tradeoffs of imposing a monetary penalty versus recognizing corrective steps that made the consumer whole. Executive Director Roxanna Gamusio said it is rare to see a licensee make the consumer whole and called the opposing counsels proposal creative. Tony Zikovich moved that the board close the file without issuing a letter of warning, saying the licensee had done everything humanly possible to rectify the situation to the benefit of the consumer.
Greg Zworski seconded the motion. The board voted in favor and the file was closed; the transcript records no formal civil penalty or letter of warning was issued for that matter.
The board then proceeded to its rulemaking hearing later in the day.
