Rogue Debt Collectors: What’s to be Done?
Attend the tale of Khemall “Kenny” Jokhoo — a rogue debt collector who hasn’t let the loss of his license stop him from some of these fantastic moves:
- Misrepresented himself as a lawyer,
- Harassed debtors over extremely old, uncollectible accounts, made unauthorized withdrawals from debtors’ financial institutions,
- Cashed forged checks and
- Concealed a prior criminal record on at least seven state license applications since 2005
According to this piece at the Star Tribune, “[Jokhoo] ran an unauthorized credit check with the Experian credit bureau as recently as January, and has been seen working from his Burnsville apartment this summer, according to an affidavit filed to obtain search warrants for his apartment and former home in Lonsdale, Minn.”
The whole article is worth skimming for a laundry list of “Don’t Do That” items. But it also adds color to one of the arguments insideARM.com has made regarding debt collection complaints (p.s., you can buy insideARM’s FTC Debt Collection Complaints Compendium – Q1 2012 by visiting our store):
It’s not the legitimate agencies out there making the problems for the industry. It’s guys like Jokhoo, who have no intention of operating ethically or legally. They’re in it for as many quick illegal dollars as they can scarf up — and even when stripped of their licenses and fined, they find ways to continue to screw things up for the rest of you.
Which brings me to a closing question:
How do you solve a problem like Khemall “Kenny” Jokhoo? If you were allowed to come up with rules and regulations that would keep the Jokhoos of the world out of the industry, what would it look like? Hit us up in the comments section below, and we’ll pick the best to highlight in tomorrow’s newsletter.
WE don’t stop the Jokhoos’s of this world! It isn’t our problem, it is a law enforcement and a society problem. Local law personell need to be part of the solution. Consumer complaints have got to be more than just a number to bash our industry with. If local law enforcement would enforce the rules and regulation already on the books and put these people where thay can’t commit the crime the problem would fade. The government can spend all kinds of $$ on drug enforcement but only A.G.’s are willing or able to nail these punks committing consumer abuse? There is no money is prosecuting these pukes, just headlines for reelection purposes so unless local law gets more involved in the game it will never end because there is little or no consequense to move from one location to another, set up shop, buy debt and go back to work.
There may be a legit need for a “blacklist” of sorts for rogue collectors of this sort, who blatantly defy legal rules and probably wind up hopping from company to company…
You know your never gonna stop Rogue Debt Collectors, the best way to deal with them is lock them up one by one, fine them, take that money and form a task force just for rogue collector’s. red flag there social security # so they can never get credit themselv’s, and make them report to the task force once a week for 20 years. and force them to show valid check’s of there income….
in addition, you gotta have propper id to open any kind of account…checking, savings, business etc….make them open an account threw a specfic bank which the task force can monitor….