In a move that could provide millions of dollars in relief to debtors in the state, an Avon businessman has agreed to surrender his debt collection license and forgive debts allegedly owed by thousands of Massachusetts residents, according to court documents filed this week.
The proposed settlement between businessman Andrew Metcalf and the state Office of the Attorney General was filed this week in Suffolk County Superior Court. It’s pending approval by a judge.
If approved, the agreement would bring an end to a case filed by the state in 2024 against Metcalf and his debt-related companies for allegedly engaging in “unfair and deceptive acts” in violation of the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act. Among alleged transgressions, Metcalf was accused of unlawfully seizing people’s cars as a way to collect old debts.
Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell told GBH News in a written statement that consumers should not be subject to “aggressive and unlawful debt collection practices” like those allegedly practiced by Metcalf and his companies, Champion Funding Inc., Champion Funding LLC and Judgment Acquisitions Unlimited.
“Because of this settlement, thousands of families in the Commonwealth will be provided with debt relief and these predatory companies will never be allowed to operate in Massachusetts again,” she said.
Metcalf’s portfolio includes some 6,500 debts allegedly owed by Massachusetts consumers with a “stated total balance” of some $53 million, according to court documents. The actual value is likely much less, because debt-buyers like Metcalf purchase charged off debts for pennies on the dollar, in hopes of collecting some percentage of it back through letters, notices and court.
But consumer advocates say the debt relief is real — because people who could have been pursued for debts will have them wiped clean.
Matt Brooks, managing attorney for the Consumer Rights Unit at Greater Boston Legal Services, said the settlement is a “significant victory for consumers in Massachusetts.”
“The basic premise of the settlement is that there was a lot of really serious, unlawful debt collection activity going on here,’’ he said. “The settlement provides for court decisions to be vacated or rolled back, for liens to be released from people’s homes, for people’s cars to be returned if they’ve been seized.’’
Metcalf could not be reached for comment. His alleged transgressions have been held up as an example by consumer law advocates of problems in the state’s civil and small claims court, which are swamped with an increasing number of consumer debt cases.
The attorney general’s case was one of at least 20 legal complaints filed in state and federal courts against Metcalf and his companies since 2019, according to a 2024 investigation by the GBH News Center for Investigative Reporting. The majority of cases involved claims that Metcalf and his companies ordered the unlawfully seizure of automobiles, including allegations that the wrong cars were taken from the wrong people.
As part of the agreement, Metcalf was ordered to pay $650,000 to the state, but the amount was suspended based on his “financial condition.” Court documents state that if information was found to be “not truthful,’’ the payment would be due immediately.
Also this month, in a separate case alleging unfair debt collection practices, Metcalf agreed to void debt-related court judgments and dismiss pending cases connected to a class action lawsuit filed by people he sued in the state. Lawyers in the case said the relief would forgive some $3 million in debt allegedly owed by more than 1,300 people, according to documents filed in court.
Alexa Rosenbloom, director of the Consumer Protection Clinic, part of Harvard Law School, who represented the plaintiffs along with the National Consumer Law Center, said the outcome of both cases is good for consumers. However, she said the problems with debt collection in state courts is still pervasive.
“Metcalf is going out of business, which, given what I heard from Massachusetts consumers and clients, I think will be a good thing,’’ she said. “Unfortunately, there is not just one bad apple in the orchard. There’s plenty more.”
Not everybody was happy with the settlement agreements. Jamaica Plain Attorney Robert Josephs, who represented a woman whose car was seized, said the state should have pushed harder to make Metcalf pay money. He also said the legal decision would allow Metcalf to simply move his business to another state.
“He’s just going to move to another state and do this in another state, and most likely that other state won’t have any Division of Banks that really cares,’’ he said.
