Feds fine debt collector Allied Interstate for repeat violations

A debt collection agency has been slapped with a near-record fine by the Federal Trade Commission for repeatedly trying to collect from the wrong people, collecting the wrong amounts, using abusive language and other unlawful practices.

Allied Interstate, Inc., a Minnesota-based corporation with offices in the U.S., Canada, India, and the Philippines, will pay $1.75 million to settle FTC charges of repeated violations of both the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act.

Allied's settlement marks the second-largest civil fine levied by the FTC against a debt collector.