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.