Court Orders Banned Agency President To Repay $2 Million

More than two years after filing a lawsuit against Commercial Recovery Systems and its president, Timothy Ford, a federal court has ordered Ford to pay a $2 million civil penalty for his role in a debt collection operation that falsely threatened debtors.

Ford has until April 26 to make the payment.

Ford and the company were also permanently banned from the industry as part of the case. A former vice president, David Devary, was banned from the industry as part of a settlement reached last September.

As part of the scam, collectors working for CRS would “sue debtors, garnish their wages, levy their bank accounts, or seize their property unless their debts were paid,” according to the Federal Trade Commission.