COLUMBUS, Ohio (Legal Newsline) - Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine has sued New York debt collector Nationwide Recovery Group, LLC., for allegedly violating Ohio Consumer Protection laws, according to a Thursday announcement from the Ohio Attorney General’s office.
Nationwide, which is based out of Buffalo and owned by Michael McCarthy, allegedly violated Ohio’s Fait Debt Collection Practices Act and the Consumer Sales Pract
ices Act, according to the attorney general. The lawsuit alleges they violated these laws by pretending to be, or impersonating, officials from various government agencies.
“By law, debt collectors cannot threaten or mislead consumers,” DeWine said. “In this case, the business not only threatened consumers with legal action and arrest, it also pretended to be legitimate Ohio government agencies and spoofed caller IDs to further mislead consumers. Ohioans deserve better than that, and we are taking action to hold this debt collector accountable.”
Greene County Clerk of Courts Terri Mazur alerted DeWine when a resident reported the company allegedly called their house, including falsifying it phone number, and said it was demanding a debt be paid immediately.