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IN THE MATTER OF: PROFESSIONAL COLLECTION LLC |
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CONSENT ORDER |
WHEREAS, the Banking Commissioner (“Commissioner”) is charged with the administration of Part XII of Chapter 669, Sections 36a-800 to 36a-812, inclusive, of the Connecticut General Statutes, “Consumer Collection Agencies”, and the regulations promulgated thereunder, Sections 36a-809-6 to 36a-809-17, inclusive, of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies (“Regulations”);
WHEREAS, ProCo is a Delaware limited liability company with an office at 700 Turner Industrial Way, Suite 160, Aston, Pennsylvania;
WHEREAS, on June 3, 2016, ProCo filed an application to obtain a consumer collection agency license in Connecticut with the Commissioner (“Application”) on the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System and Registry (“NMLS”);
WHEREAS, the Commissioner, through the Consumer Credit Division of the Department of Banking, upon receipt of ProCo’s Application, conducted an investigation pursuant to Section 36a-17 of the Connecticut General Statutes into the activities of ProCo to determine if it had violated, was violating or was about to violate the provisions of the Connecticut General Statutes and Regulations within the jurisdiction of the Commissioner;
WHEREAS, as a result of the investigation, the Commissioner alleges that ProCo has acted within this state as a consumer collection agency without the requisite license, in violation of Section 36a-801(a) of the 2016 Supplement to the General Statutes;
WHEREAS, the Commissioner believes that such allegation would support the initiation of administrative proceedings against ProCo, including, without limitation, proceedings to issue a cease and desist order pursuant to Section 36a-804(b) of the 2016 Supplement to the General Statutes and Section 36a-52(a) of the Connecticut General Statutes, and impose a civil penalty of up to one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) per violation upon ProCo pursuant to Section 36a-804(b) of the 2016 Supplement to the General Statutes and Section 36a-50(a) of the Connecticut General Statutes;
WHEREAS, initiation of such proceedings would constitute a “contested case” within the meaning of Section 4-166(4) of the 2016 Supplement to the General Statutes;
WHEREAS, Section 4-177(c) of the Connecticut General Statutes and Section 36a-1-55(a) of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies provide that a contested case may be resolved by consent order, unless precluded by law;
WHEREAS, the Commissioner and ProCo acknowledge the possible ramifications of formal administrative proceedings, and ProCo voluntarily agrees to consent to the entry of the sanctions imposed below without admitting or denying the allegation set forth herein and solely for the purpose of obviating the need for formal administrative proceeding concerning the allegation set forth herein;
WHEREAS, ProCo specifically assures the Commissioner that the violation alleged herein shall not occur in the future;
WHEREAS, ProCo acknowledges that this Consent Order is a matter of public record and is a reportable event for purposes of the regulatory disclosure questions on NMLS, as applicable;
AND WHEREAS, ProCo, through its execution of this Consent Order, voluntarily agrees to waive its procedural rights, including a right to a notice and an opportunity for a hearing as it pertains to the allegation set forth herein, and voluntarily waives its right to seek judicial review or otherwise challenge or contest the validity of this Consent Order.
CONSENT TO ENTRY OF SANCTIONS
WHEREAS, ProCo, through its execution of this Consent Order, consents to the Commissioner’s entry of a Consent Order imposing the following sanctions:
| 1. | No later than the date this Consent Order is executed by ProCo, it shall remit to the Department of Banking by cashier’s check, certified check or money order made payable to “Treasurer, State of Connecticut”, the sum of Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000) as a civil penalty; |
| 2. | No later than the date this Consent Order is executed by ProCo, it shall remit to the Department of Banking by cashier’s check, certified check or money order made payable to “Treasurer, State of Connecticut”, the sum of One Thousand Dollars ($1,000) as payment for back licensing fees; and |
| 3. | ProCo shall immediately cease and desist from acting as a consumer collection agency in Connecticut without a license, in violation of Section 36a-801(a) of the 2016 Supplement to the General Statutes. |
CONSENT ORDER
NOW THEREFORE, the Commissioner enters the following:
| 1. | The Sanctions set forth above be and are hereby entered; |
| 2. | Upon issuance of this Consent Order by the Commissioner, this matter will be resolved and the Commissioner will not take any future enforcement action against ProCo based upon the allegation contained herein; provided that issuance of this Consent Order is without prejudice to the right of the Commissioner to take enforcement action against ProCo based upon a violation of this Consent Order or the matters underlying its entry, if the Commissioner determines that compliance with the terms herein is not being observed or if any representation made by ProCo and reflected herein is subsequently discovered to be untrue; |
| 3. | Subject to the foregoing, and so long as this Consent Order is promptly disclosed by ProCo and its control persons on NMLS, as applicable, nothing in the issuance of this Consent Order shall adversely affect the ability of ProCo to apply for or obtain licenses or renewal licenses under Part XII of Chapter 669, Sections 36a-800 et seq., of the Connecticut General Statutes, provided that all legal requirements for such license are satisfied; and |
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This Consent Order shall become final when issued.
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Issued at Hartford, Connecticut
this 7th day of November 2016. ______/s/__________
Jorge L. Perez
Banking Commissioner
I, Brian J. Cattie, state on behalf of Professional Collection LLC, that I have read the foregoing Consent Order; that I know and fully understand its contents; that I am authorized to execute this Consent Order on behalf of Professional Collection LLC; that Professional Collection LLC agrees freely and without threat or coercion of any kind to comply with the obligations entered and terms and conditions ordered herein; and that Professional Collection LLC voluntarily agrees to enter into this Consent Order, expressly waiving the procedural rights set forth herein as to the matters described herein.
By: ________/s/___________
Name:
Title:
Professional Collection LLC
State of: Pennsylvania
County of: Delaware
On this the 27th day of October 2016, before me, John J. Nachman, the undersigned officer, personally appeared Brian J. Cattie who acknowledged himself to be the President of Professional Collection LLC, a member managed/manager managed limited liability company, and that he/she as such Officer, being authorized so to do, executed the foregoing instrument for the purposes therein contained, by signing the name of the limited liability company by herself/himself as Brian J. Cattie.
In witness whereof I hereunto set my hand.
__________/s/___________
Notary Public
Date Commission Expires: July 16, 2017