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U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs |
Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations |
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Title: Profiteering in a Non-profit Industry: Abusive Practices in Credit Counseling |
Date: 3/24/04 |
Time (EST): 9:00 AM |
Place: Dirksen Senate Office Building, Rm. 342 |
The Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations intends to hold this hearing to address the problems facing the credit counseling industry. Once community-based and consumer-friendly, the credit counseling industry has undergone significant transformation during the past several years. New and aggressive profit-driven participants have entered the market, causing a rash of consumer complaints about high fees, misleading advertising, and poor service. The proliferation of for-profit, “back-office” servicing companies is threatening to change the industry into a debt collection mill instead of an industry whose focus should be on consumer counseling and education. The Subcommittee’s March 24th hearing will review the most egregious cases of misconduct among credit counseling agencies and their for-profit service providers and examine what solutions may be available to repair the industry. The Subcommittee will hear from victims and ex-employees of the credit counseling industry, representatives of for-profit service providers and credit counseling associations, as well as a panel of government regulators.
To view the Staff Report, follow this link to the PSI Subcommittee Webpage. |
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Member
Statements |
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Witnesses
Testimony
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Panel 1
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Raymond Schuck
, Victim
, Cambridge Credit Counseling, Inc.
, Lima, Ohio |
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John Pohlman
, Former Employee
, Cambridge Credit Counseling Corp.
, East Granby, Connecticut |
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Jolanta Troy
, Victim
, AmeriDebt, Inc.
, Carlies, Pennsylvania |
Panel 2
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Chris Viale
[View
PDF]
, General Manager
, Cambridge Credit Counseling Corp.
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Matthew Case
, Chief Executive Officer
, AmeriDebt, Inc.
, Germantown, Maryland |
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Cuba Craig
, Chief Executive Officer
, American Financial Solutions
, Seattle, Washington |
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James Kroening
, Director
, FamilyMeans Consumer Credit Counseling Service
, Stillwater, Minnesota |
Panel 3
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John Puccio
[View
PDF]
, Chief Executive Officer
, Cambridge Credit Counseling Corp.
, Agawam, Massachusetts |
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Andris Pukke
, President
, Debtworks, Inc.
, Germantown, Maryland |
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Michael Malesardi
[View
PDF]
, Chief Financial Officer
, The Ballenger Group, LLC
, Frederick, Maryland, |
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Bernaldo Dancel
[View
PDF]
, Chief Executive Officer
, Amerix Corporation
, Columbia, Maryland |
Panel 4
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The Honorable
Thomas B. Leary
[View
PDF]
, Commissioner
, Federal Trade Commission
, Washington, D.C. |
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