Allen Lewis & Associates Violation of debt collection loaws Jacksonville Florida

This is a heavy handed collection agency. They recently settled a lawsuit with Florida over deceptive practices. I copied the following from an article in the jacksonville online paper.

Collection agency settles suit over improper tactics

A Jacksonville collection agency agreed Wednesday to pay $21,000 in restitution to consumers victimized by improper debt collection
tactics, the Florida Attorney General's Office said.

Allen Lewis & Associates settled a lawsuit with the state accusing company employees of impersonating police and lawyers,
falsely threatening criminal charges and repeatedly calling debtors at work and home. The company and its owners, Robert Allen
Hecht and Rougina Hecht, violated state deceptive trade practices laws and the federal Fair Debt Collection Act, state Attorney
General Bill McCollum said in a news release.

The company was contracted by payday lenders and musical instrument rental companies to collect defaulted payments.

In addition to the restitution, the settlement requires the company to reimburse the state $30,000 for investigation and litigation
costs and record all outgoing calls if more than six complaints are received in a six-month period, McCollum said.

Paul Pinkham wrote the article. Document any conversations with these folks.