Boyajian Law Offices - JBC & Associates - JBC Legal Group Ripoff The truth is out there - An ongoing expose' Rutherford New Jersey

PART I
When Cleburne News employee Stacey Camp received a letter from Boyajian Law Offices saying
she owed a past due amount for Verizon phone service she was about ready to pay the $215.49 to
keep her credit clean.

However, Camp couldn't exactly remember such a bill and when she called Boyajian in Rutherford, N.J. she was told it was from 14 years ago.She asked for a more detailed accounting but never got one - she isn't alone.

An Internet search turns up plenty of complaints (see www.badbusinessbureau.com) and their
consumer Rip-off Reports from Michigan, Ohio, California, Florida, New York, Virginia, New
Jersey and others from Alabama including Enterprise and Troy.

One victim from Troy, in his Rip-off Report said Boyajian was previously known as JBC &
Associates or JBC Legal Group but after having been pursued by state and federal regulators in
several states they reorganized as Boyajian Law Offices headed by Jack Boyajian.

The victim says Boyajian is not licensed and has been denied a law license in New Jersey.Many victims say Boyajian is making up false claims (a majority dealing with Verizon phone service) and placing bad information on their credit reports.

According to some victims Boyajian is also asking for Social Security numbers, copies of
individual tax and military records and other private information.

A quick check with the Better Business Bureau reveals that Boyajian has an unsatisfactory
record with them due to unanswered complaints and the BBB of New Jersey has not been provided with basic information about the company.

I'd throw the thing (collection letter) away, said a BBB spokeswoman in Birmingham.

In a Nov. 2003 press release West Virginia Attorney General Darrell McGraw announced the
filing of a petition asking the Kanawha Circuit Court to order JBC & Associates, a New Jersey
collection agency, and itsowner, Jack Boyajian, to produce records about its West Virginia
collection activities as required by a subpoena issued by McGraw's office on August 11, 2003.

McGraw's office opened an investigation of JBC after several consumers complained that the law
firm/collection agency was attempting to coerce payments of alleged bad checks by threatening
arrest and criminal prosecution, harassing consumers repeatedly by telephone, refusing to identify
itself, and refusing to provide copies of canceled checks or other verification of debts when
disputed by consumers.

The AG's office also found that JBC was not licensed and bonded to collect debt in West Virginia.
In Minnesota the story was the same.

In a June 16, 2004 press release, the Office of Minnesota Attorney General Mike Hatch announced
the filing of lawsuits against JBC & Associates for engaging in business practices which violate
Minnesota debt collection and consumer protection laws.
JBC was alleged to have used unlawful tactics to collect debts that were not valild or to collect
money from the wrong consumer.
Minnesota Solicitor General Lori Swanson noted that JBC coerced consumers into paying
unsubstantiated debts and amounts that were not even owed by them in the first place.
The lawsuit charged the company with failure to provide proper notices, false representation about
the status or character of debt, attempts to collect on disputed debts without providing verification,
unlawful threats to sue and false and misleading representation about civil penalties.
JBC was particularly cited for unlawfully attempting to collect debts for its clients with threats of
legal action that cannot be taken, failure to verifiy debts and making unwarranted threats to
consumers.

At the time, the Minnesota AG reported JBC to be a California professional corporation with
headquarters at 2 Broad Street, 6th Floor, Bloomfield, NJ.

The State of Connecticut has also taken action against the JBC Legal Group and on July 27, 2004
entered into a settlement based on an investigation by the state's Consumer Credit Division.

They found that JBC acted as a consumer collection agency within Connecticut without a license.
JBC agreed to cease operations there and were fined $18,000.

In denying Jack Boyajian and JBC a license to operate in their state, investigators in Connecticut
found that the Office of the Attorney General of the State of New Jersey received 126 complaints
in 2003 concerning collection practices, failure to provide documents, billing disputes and
harassment.

They reported 14 lawsuits have been filed - 13 in federal district courts in several states and one in
state court alleging violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and one certified class
action lawsuit.

JBC Legal Group does have a website which gives the Bloomfield, NJ address as well as their
California address of 9465 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, CA.

In their collection letter to Camp they use a 201 Route 17 North, Rutherford, NJ address and a
letter heading imprint Boyajian Law Offices - A California Professional Corporation with 21
national offices.

According to the website Jack Boyajian is a graduate of the Wharton School of Finance and
Rutgers School of Law. Mr. Boyajian is a licensed real estate broker in the State of New Jersey
and has a deep respect for community and family.
A check at Whois.Net reveals the website registrant is JBC PC in Bloomfield, NJ.

Their California office phone number has been disconnected but calls to their JBC Legal Group
number confirmed JBC and Boyajian are all one and the same.

Jeff Lamb with the New Jersey Attorney General's Office of Consumer Affairs told The Cleburne
News that they have received 307 complaints since April 2001 from New Jersey residents alone
citing harassment and refund problems.
The Cleburne News contacted the Alabama Attorney General's office and spokeswoman Joy
Patterson said, Our office has a record of eight complaints that were received fairly recently, so
there is not yet information on how they may be resolved. The general nature of the complaints are
that people believe they do not owe the money, generally that either they have paid the bills or are
unfamiliar with the debt.

Asked about the statute of limitations on debts in Alabama, Patterson said, it is not possible to
answer that because any limits vary greatly depending on matters such the particular kind of debt
and contracts involved.

However, according to: collectionagencylifetips.com, the statutes of limitations for debt collection
in Alabama is three years for an open account, six years for a written contract, 20 years for a
domestic judgment.

A business license is not required for out-of-state collection agencies to operate in Alabama.

PART II
Following an expose last week of a bill collection agency called Boyajian Law Offices, The
Cleburne News received numerous phone calls and emails from local residents who have received
communication from this group.

Some residents reported they have already sent money to Boyajian while others praised the efforts
of The Cleburne News in alerting consumers.
The Alabama State Attorney General's office urges those consumers and others who may received
a letter, phone call or email from Boyajian to contact the AG's Office of Consumer Protection at
1-800-392-5658.

The Cleburne News also reported the local cases and our findings to the Montgomery based
consumer action group Alabama Watch.
Elizabeth Woodard of Micaville was one of the unlucky who sent Boyajian $337 before she read
our report.

Woodard said she talked with someone in Boyajian's office who had everything on me and
threatened to call the police or sheriff and have her put in jail if she didn't immediately send the
money.
We didn't know what to do, said Woodard, who wired $337 and was then informed by
Boyajian's office they never received it and demanded she send more.
Another Heflin resident, who did not send money, said Boyijian had her Social Security number
and knew how much money she draws and when she receives it.

Many of the bills locals are receiving use Verizon as the firm the debt is supposedly owed.

PART III
A source, claiming to be a former employee of the New Jersey based Boyajian Law Office, has
told The Cleburne News that the owner, Jack Boyajian, likes collecting debts in the South
because, he thinks the people there are stupid and easily fooled into paying.
For several weeks The Cleburne News has been publishing an ongoing expose of this law office
and their collection practices - most of which are under investigation by numerous states attorney
generals.
The articles have drawn response from many Cleburne County residents who have been either
victims of these collection efforts or who report they have received phone calls or demand
letters.
In addition The Cleburne News office has received phone calls and emails from as far away as
Seattle, Washington and including numerous states, Texas, Massachusetts, Florida, Tennessee,
Colorado and North Carolina.
Our exposes have resulted in the most phone calls and emails than we have ever received on any
story or article we have printed.
In addition to forwarding our findings to the Alabama Attorney General's office and the consumer
watchdog group Alabama Watch, we have also been asked for assistance from the Tennessee
Bureau of Investigation who are looking into an incident in that state.
TBI Investigator Mike Findley contacted The Cleburne News this week and said he his looking
into an incident in Loudon in which a resident of public housing received a bill asking for $132
which was never owed.
Findley said such use of the mail might result in charges of mail fraud if enough evidence can be
gathered.
He said that right now this one case is the only one he has seen in Tennessee.
Meanwhile The Cleburne News received a call from a Massachusetts resident who said both he
and his fiance received a bill, on the same day, from Boyajian Law Offices claiming they owed
electric bills totaling $744 and $144 respectively.
The bills were over 10 years old and were completely fictitious.
Anthony D. Bower of the State of Washington called to report he went to get a mortgage loan and
was turned down because he had two hits against him for bad checks - placed on his credit
report by Boyajian in the sum of $430.
My credit was top notch until this happened, Bower said.
He said he called Boyajian and was told that Anthony W. Bower owed them money but they had
no information on an Anthony D.
Bower said he asked that they clean his credit report up since they apparently made the mistake but
was told they could not do that.
Our source told us, via email, that state and federal authorities are conducting investigations of
Boyajian. A news crew was recently positioned outside the Rutherford, N.J. location. Boyajian
threatened to fire anyone who spoke with the media, the source said.
The source also told us that Boyajian frequently changes the name of the company to evade
litigation and prosecution. (he has used JBC & Associates). Most of what he collects is not even
owed. The rule there is basically to tell people anything to get them to pay, even if they owe
nothing. . . You should also know that he is continuing to work in states where he is prohibited
from doing so. I know that CT and WV have taken action against him, but it seems to be to no
avail.
A check of the JBC Legal Group website www.jbcfirm.com finds this, The class action lawsuit
brought against JBC Legal Group, P.C. and its Principal, Jack Boyajian for residents of West
Virginia has been dismissed by the Attorney General's Office.'
But a statement from the West Virginia Attorney General's Office of Consumer Protection says,
nothing could be further from the truth' and warns consumers to be aware of JBC's false claims.
Meanwhile a Consumer Specialist with the Alabama State Attorney General's office has notified
The Cleburne News employee who filed a complaint against Boyajian that a determination will be
made as to the appropriate action to be taken.
The Cleburne News asked the source we are in contact with how and where Boyajian gets his
names and addresses.
The source responded, Jack gets his checks from a few sources, mainly NCO (another agency).
NCO gives him checks that they cannot collect. These checks are purchased by an outfit called
Marlin Integrated Capital owned by Warren Dedrick. Marlin places the checks with NCO for
collection and they are then passed onto Boyajian after some period of time. They begin with a
legitimate debt and then search for an updated address. This is less than an exact science and it is
common to find a different person who merely has the same name. Jack's policy is basically that
whoever he makes contact with is the guilty party. That may explain people who were too young
to incur the debt. The truth is that it is owed by someone else who merely has the same name.
An email from a Colorado resident indicates her problems with JBC Legal Group. They have
been attempting to collect a debt paid in 2001. I have been unable to get the phone calls to my
mother's residence to stop. I don't see how a company that has received so many complaints can
continue to do business like this.
North Carolina resident Jodi Bennett-Bradshaw did what we are advising callers. She contacted
her state's attorney general and filed a complaint.
The Cleburne News has attempted to contact JBC Legal Group and Boyajian Law Offices via
email but they have not responded to our questions.
We wanted to know why they persist in apparent unlawful collection of so-called debts, place
untrue statments on their websites and attempt to collect false debts or debts from people who
never had accounts and why they don't tell the truth to people when they attempt to make
collections over the telephone - all violations of federal Fair Debt Collection Practices.
As of press time Wednesday The Cleburne News was continuing to get calls in response to our
ongoing investigation.

We recommend anyone having problems should file a complaint with the Federal Trade
Commission at: https://rn.ftc.gov/pls/dod/wsolcq$.startup?Z_ORG_CODE=PU01 or contact their
state attorney general's office.

PART IV
The Cleburne News has learned that a New Jersey based bill collector, sending fake collection letters to residents nationwide and claiming to be a law office is not even licensed in his own state.
A spokeswoman with the Client Protection Fund in New Jersey told The Cleburne News Tuesday that Jack Boyajian, operating as Boyajian Law Offices is not licensed to practice law in New Jersey.
However his collection letters state Boyajian Law Offices, PC, Attorneys at Law, 201 Route 17 North, 5th Floor, Rutherford, N.J. 07070-2574
Numerous Cleburne County residents, including a Cleburne News employee (2 letters) has received fake collection letters from this firm demanding payment for nonexistant bills or bills already paid.
Our articles have resulted in many calls from throughout the nation indicating Boyajian is a very busy operation.
Calls and emails to Boyajian's offices have not been returned but when a Cleburne News employee received her second collection letter she was able to call and talk to a customer service representative.
In a brief discussion with someone calling himself Ted Orwell I challenged them to fax documents to our Heflin office which would support their claims but Orwell was unable to do so.
When asked why he was trying to collect a fradulent bill using Verizon as the company owed he could not answer.
Robert Elek, Media Relations Manager for Verizon Communications had already confirmed that their operations in Alabama and Cleburne County did not even cover the time frame Boyajian claimed the bills were made.
Elek indicated concern that anyone would be using the name Verizon in a fradulent manner and said he is turning the matter over to their security people.
Not only has this group been mailing out fake collection letters, using Verizon and other utility companies, but they have also used the name of at least one attorney without his permission.
Meanwhile The Cleburne News continues to get emails and phone calls from throughout the nation concerning our on-going expose'.
A Florida attorney has told The Cleburne News that the attorney general in that state is looking into complaints on Boyajian following our reports.
Melissa Mayo, formerly of Dothan and now residing in Fayetteville, NC said she received a collection letter, in her maiden name, for $428.67. Since her husand, of 10 years, is in the military Mayo said she is turning the matter over to the JAG.
A New York resident called to report her 68-year-old mother got a collection letter even though the daughter has a paid-in full final statement stamped in 1999.
She said she called Boyajian and was cursed out by the customer service representative after she informed them that she is a paralegal and her boyfriend is an attorney. The caller said the rep used the F word repeatedly to her.
Mary Daniel of Columbus, Georgia said Boyajian got her checking account and routing numbers and has been pulling $50 a month from her bank but she's never received a statement from them.
A Florida resident said he is filing bankruptcy, partially because Boyajian and his other operations JBC Legal Group and JBC Law Offices messed his credit record up so badly.
I'm in the middle of filing bankruptcy partly because of a part of it, he said.
He said he also received threats from Boyajian's callers.
Amy Richards of Danville, IL has received numerous collection letters totaling over $800 and after numerous calls to Boyajian the firm was unable to provide any proof, as required by federal law, of the bills owed.
Richards said in an email that she also learned Boyajian is not licensed to do business in her state.
One caller reported she had made the mistake of going ahead and paying Boyajian some money with a credit card - now charges (from the state of N.J.) are showing up on her bills and she wonders if a Boyajian employee is guilty.
Our investigation has uncovered several incidents in which Boyajian demanded credit card numbers, bank account information, Social Security numbers and even military records.
In addition to Boyajian's apparent connectons with NCO and Marlin Integrated Capital, he also bought accounts from InoVision which is also a Marlin company.
We asked InoVision, via email, how it was that they were selling old Verizon accounts when these accounts apparently did not exist in the first place.
Marlin Integrated Capital Holding Corporation President Joel Lewis couldn't give an answer and instead wrote, your inquiry has been referred to our General Counsel, Russell R. Johnson III Esq, who will respond to you in the near future.
As of press time we had not heard from Johnson.
An Internet search of Federal Trade Commission records turned up nothing on Boyajian, JBC, Marlin or Inovision but NCO turned out to have quite a record!
In 2004 NCO, one of the nation's largest debt-collection firms was asked to pay a whooping $1.5 million to settle federal Trade Commission charges that it violated the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act by reporting inaccurate information about consumer accounts to credit bureaus.
Meanwhile nationally known consumer advocate Bud Hibbs (www.budhibbs.com) contacted The Cleburne News and received permission to copy to his website our expose' on Boyajian.
Commenting on Boyajian, Hibbs said on his site, Rarely do we have to deal with slime as bad as this bottom-feeder, vulture who has a long history of violating all the collection laws in America. He is not licensed or bonded anywhere to collect debts. The accounts he is collecting on appear to be time barred by statute' meaning they are beyond the limits allowed by law, to collect. Jack the Rat' has had problems in his past with the infamous JBC & Associates and JBC Legal Group. He employs criminals who are hell-bent on stealing as much money as possible from unsuspecting consumers. The good news is that Jack the Rat' is incapable of suing anyone. He is barely holding on to his CA law license . . . Do not fall for the lies and threats of his (drug-induced?) debt collectors, who are desperate to make a paycheck at your expense. Like most con artists, they can only shoot off their mouths and have nothing to back it up, certainly not anything that resembles litigation.
A check with The State Bar of California does list Jack Hagop Boyajian as an active member who may practice law in California. He was admitted in July, 1999 and shows a Bloomfield, N.J. address.
When this writer informed Boyajian employee Orwell that we were filing complaints with the Alabama and New Jersey attorney generals along with the Federal Trade Commission, Orwell said he would erase the file in question.
However, that remains to be seen.
I would advise anyone having problems with Boyajian, NCO, JBC, Marlin or InoVision to immediately contact their state's attorney general, file a complaint with the New Jersey Attorney General, file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission and take any collection notice received through the mail to your nearest U.S. Post Office and ask them to forward it on to a Postal Inspector.
If you have already paid these folks money, then get online and file a complaint with the Postal Inspectors.
You may also want to contact your local newspaper and television station as well.

Wayne
Heflin, Alabama
U.S.A.