Rockville Debt Collector Closes Due To Lack Of Funds

According to the >Associated Press and the Baltimore Sun, Rockville-based debt collection firm Mann Bracken has closed its 24 nationwide offices. This has left consumers wondering how to make payments.

Last Thursday, a Maryland judge ordered that tens of thousands of suits involving the firm be dismissed. State officials revoked its license.

The result is confusion. Here’s how the Baltimore Sun put it:

Tens of thousands of lawsuits against Maryland debtors over unpaid bills are being tossed out of court because the law firm pursuing the debt-collection cases has abruptly shut down.

The move gives a temporary reprieve to Marylanders in default on a variety of bills, particularly credit card payments, and burdens the already strained District Court system, which now has to sort through the legal morass left behind. It is unclear whether the creditors will refile the lawsuits seeking payment.

The Mann Bracken law firm, based in Rockville, and its clients have been accused in civil lawsuits and by regulators of not complying with debt-collection laws and of using high-pressure tactics and harassing borrowers. The firm collapsed after an affiliate filed for bankruptcy in November.

In an ironic twist, the shutdown was prompted by the bankruptcy of one of Mann Bracken’s affiliates, which left firm without cash to pay creditors. Officials have said they will either disband or seek bankruptcy protection within the next 30 days.

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