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Important information

• Government Actions:

  Government Action: BBB reports on known government actions involving business’ marketplace conduct:

  State of Washington v EGP Investments, LLC, JPRD Investments, LLC, The Collection Group LLC, Fair Resolutions, Inc. and Brian Fair
  

  The following describes a pending government action that has been formally brought by a government agency but has not yet been resolved. We are providing a summary of the governments allegations, which have not yet been proven.

  On September 21, 2018, Washington State Attorney General’s office file a lawsuit against EGP Investments, LLC, JPRD Investments, LLC, The Collection Group LLC, Fair Resolutions, Inc. and Brian Fair (collectively, “Defendants”) for buying millions of dollars of old debt and suing to collect on the debt without being licensed as collection agencies with the state.
  
  The companies bought the debt for pennies on the dollar and collected on it for up to nine years before obtaining licenses. To this day, they continue to collect on the debt based on unlawfully obtained judgments. Their collection efforts include garnishing wages, seizing bank account funds and threatening to foreclose on homes.
  
  The lawsuit, filed in King County Superior Court, asserts the companies solicited and arranged to buy portfolios of old debts of Washington consumers without a license, in violation of the state Collection Agency Act. The companies, all owned by Brian Fair, then sued to collect the full face amount of the debts, despite not being licensed as collection agencies as required by law. These violations of the Collection Agency Act also violate the state Consumer Protection Act.

  Fair owned three debt-collecting companies: EGP Investments, formed in 2009, JPRD Investments, formed in 2007 and The Collection Group, formed in 2004. None of these companies obtained a collection agency license until 2013. Before they were licensed, the companies bought thousands of debt accounts and unlawfully sued and obtained judgments on the debts of at least 3,500 consumers. The companies are still collecting on unlawfully obtained debts.
  
  In addition to failing to acquire a license, at least one of Fair’s companies, JPRD, violated the Collection Agency Act by failing to properly notify consumers about the interest that had accrued on their debts.
  
  The lawsuit asks the court to order that Fair and his companies stop collecting on these illegally obtained judgments and update consumers’ credit reports to remedy the harms.
  
  The lawsuit seeks restitution for consumers harmed by Fair’s actions, in addition to civil penalties and reimbursement of legal costs and fees. The state Consumer Protection Act allows for a civil penalty of up to $2,000 per individual violation.
  
  For more information, please contact the Washington Attorney General’s office at https://www.atg.wa.gov or (360) 753-6200.

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