AUGUSTA (AP) – A bill signed into law by Gov. John Baldacci that will tighten up Maine’s debt collecting regulations is among several consumer protection bills to go before the Legislature this year.

Baldacci signed a measure that will require out-of-state attorneys who are not licensed to practice in Maine, and whose principal activities include collecting from Maine consumers, to obtain Maine debt collectors licenses from the state.

The sponsor of the bill, Sen. Nancy Sullivan, D-Biddeford, said it is a response to a wave of cases across the state. Out-of-state collection agencies affiliated with lawyers have subjected some Mainers to harassment and sometimes abuse, she said.

The state Office of Consumer Credit Regulation said it receives about 350 formal complaints against debt collectors each year. That accounts for more than a third of all formal complaints received, it said.

The new law, signed by the governor on Feb. 22, is intended to increase accountability for debt collectors, some of whom have rented the names of law firms in the state in order to do their job.

In one case that was reported to state regulators, an out-of-state lawyer’s collection office made allegedly harassing telephone calls last year.

In a taped recording of the call, the collector tells the husband, “If your wife opened this credit card account on her own or on your behalf, then you are still held liable unless you prosecute her.”

Later in the tape, the collector says: “What we’ll do is we’ll file for a lawsuit and you’ll be notified to appear in court as well as your wife and we’ll just go from there.” The account was provided by Will Lund, director of the consumer credit office, which is part of the Department of Professional and Financial Regulation.

“This was on a credit card account that did not belong to either the husband or the wife; the collector was merely calling Maine consumers with names similar to the actual debtor,” said Lund, whose office sued the collector.

Other consumer protection bills were up for legislative hearings on Wednesday.

A pair of bills before the Judiciary Committee, prompted by record-high gasoline prices since the Gulf Coast hurricanes, are intended to prevent profiteering in times of natural disasters or other disruptive events.

Rep. Janet Mills’ bill seeks to limit price rises for goods considered necessities to 15 percent higher than they were before an abnormal situation arose. The Farmington Democrat’s bill defines an abnormal situation as a natural disaster, weather event, power failure, strike, civil disorder, war, terror or a national or local emergency.

A separate bill, sponsored by Rep. George Hogan Sr., D-Old Orchard Beach, seeks to increase fines for profiteering on fuel from $1,000 to $2,500 and calls for revocation of the violator’s license.

Another bill before Judiciary would prohibit businesses, organizations and government entities from requesting people’s Social Security numbers. Exceptions would be allowed for employers. The bill is intended to prevent identity theft.

Copy the Story Link