Law Debt Collection Ltd, Law Debt Collection (NZ) Ltd and Mr John Stuart Campbell

Law Debt Collection Ltd, Law Debt Collection (NZ) Ltd, and their director Mr John Campbell were fined $67,000, $10,000 and $25,000 respectively having pleaded guilty to breaching s 13(i) of the Fair Trading Act. The charges related to making misleading representations when collecting debts. The most common misrepresentations were that they had a right to add collection costs when they did not, and that they had a right to lodge a credit default when they did not. Representations of these types were made multiple times to a number of the complainants. A further charge relates to representing that LDC was entitled to deduct sums collected on behalf of a client to satisfy the claims of another creditor when it was not. The final charge related to Mr Campbell representing that if a complainant failed to honour a court order “an application will be lodged to have [him] put on periodic detention until the account is paid in full”, when there was no such remedy. Law Debt Collection Ltd and Mr Campbell were ordered to pay emotional harm reparation totalling $13,500 to three complainants who have assisted the Commission’s investigation. The Commission also issued warnings to Law Debt Collection Ltd and Law Debt Collection (NZ) Ltd for representing to an alleged debtor that she was personally liable for a debt alleged to be owed by an incorporated society, which may have breached s13(i) of the Fair Trading Act.