BOSTON (Legal Newsline) — Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey announced July 27 that Lustig, Glaser & Wilson PC and its two principals, Ronald E. Lustig and Kenneth C. Wilson, will pay $1 million in restitution after allegations of widespread consumer abuses that impacted thousands of consumers in the state.
“This firm has clogged our court system with more than 200,000 lawsuits against Massachusetts residents. In case after case, the firm has used faulty or inaccurate information to intimidate people into making payments,” Healey said. “We will not stand by while debt collectors exploit consumers and demand money that doesn’t belong to them. This settlement will make the business of debt collection fairer and more transparent for the people of Massachusetts.”
The defendants allegedly conducted a pattern of suing consumers for debts those consumers did not owe or debts that were of inaccurate amounts. Healey’s office said the defendants also routinely violated state law and abused the court system while conducting their business practices.
“For low-income families, breaking the cycle of poverty is complex enough without getting harassed for unsubstantiated debt,” said Ruthie Liberman, vice president of public policy at EMPath. “It can be a barrier to landing a job or finding an apartment. Our thanks to the attorney general for looking out for them.”