McGraw takes aim at debt collection companies

CHARLESTON - Outgoing state Attorney General Darrell McGraw announced subpoena enforcement action filings on Dec. 20 against three companies for allegedly unlawful debt collection activities.

The actions were filed against Dominion Management Services Inc., doing business as CashPoint of Alexandria, and company president Michael H. Lester; ACAC Inc., doing business as Approved Cash Advance of Cleveland, Tennessee, and Manuel Marrero, its president; and Envision Payment Solutions Inc. of Duluth Georgia, Gregory J. Mellott, its president, and Julie A. Burrus, the company's vice president.

McGraw received complaints or other information about the companies that indicated they were engaging in unlawful debt collection practices. The information led to the the issuance of the subpoenas. If the subpoenas are not complied with, McGraw may ask a court to issue an order enforcing.

"The use of investigative subpoenas may be the most important tool we have to uncover violations of the law and to determine whether to bring enforcement actions when necessary to protect consumers," McGraw said. "If the law is being violated, we typically seek a company’s voluntary promise to comply without resort to litigation. Regretfully, when companies fail to comply with our subpoenas, we cannot complete the investigation that the Legislature expects us to conduct, which leads to subpoena enforcement proceedings such as these."

McGraw was given the authorization to offer investigative subpoenas by the state legislature as a means of obtaining documents and other information when his office has reason to believe that a person or company is in violation of state consumer protection laws or to make sure that they are not.

McGraw, a Democrat, lost his bid for a sixth term in November. Republican Patrick Morrisey will take over in January.