Bank Of America Sold Debts Despite Faulty Records

Bank of America has sold collection agencies rights to sue over credit card debts that it has privately noted were potentially inaccurate or already repaid.In several 2009 and 2010 transactions, the bank sold credit card receivables to an outfit called CACH LLC, in Denver. Co. Each month, CACH bought debts with a face value of up to $65 million for 1.8 cents on the dollar. Some of the debts were legacy accounts acquired from MBNA, which Bank of America purchased in 2006.The pricing reflected the accounts' questionable quality, but what is notable is that the bank could get anything at all for them. B of A was not making "any representations, warranties, promises, covenants, agreements, or guaranties of any kind or character whatsoever" about the accuracy or completeness of the debts' records, according to a 2010 credit card sales agreement submitted to a California state court in a civil suit involving debt that B of A had sold to CACH.In the "as is" documents Bank of America has drawn up for such sales, it warned that it would initially provide no records to support the amounts it said are owed and might be unable to produce them. It also stated that some of the claims it sold already might have been extinguished in bankruptcy court. B of A has additionally cautioned that it might be selling loans whose balances are "approximate" or that consumers have already paid back in full. Maryland resident Karen Stevens was the victim of one such sale, which resulted in a three-year legal battle.Bank of America declined requests to comment for this story, other than to say through spokeswoman Betty Riess that it works with credit card customers to try to resolve delinquent debt issues. CACH did not respond to several phone and e-mail messages seeking comment on the terms of its purchases.Some industry observers said that the language in Bank of America's sales documents should be regarded as standard legalese intended to protect it against a disgruntled buyer's legal claims.

Collections & Credit Risk is interested in hearing from debt collectors and debt buyers. Is the language  regarded at standard legalese? Should it be? Contact Darren Waggoner at (312) 777-1379.And even though Bank of America refused to stand behind the accuracy of the records it sold, debt buyers are the ones who make the call to sue."The buyer has the primary responsibility to test the … quality of what they're buying," says Samuel Golden, a former OCC ombudsman who is a managing director at consulting firm Alvarez & Marsal in Houston.Collectors' responsibilities aside, other banks' sales agreements suggest Bank of America's standards are emblematic of wider industry practice that raises risk management concerns. For less than $1.2 million a month — a rounding error on B of A's income statement — the company sold CACH accounts that raise regulatory and reputational questions about the accuracy of its records and its disclosures to courts.Records declared unreliable yet sold to CACH were used to file thousands of lawsuits against consumers, according to a review of hundreds of cases in the state courts where collection suits are typically filed. The overwhelming majority of cases end in default judgments, which are awarded to creditors when borrowers don't show up to contest the claims made against them.In cases where debtors do challenge collections demands in court, the original bank-creditor must testify about the documentation supporting the claims. In several such instances, people identified as Bank of America employees have submitted affidavits attesting to the validity of debts sold by the bank to collections firms.Even though Bank of America previously disavowed "the accuracy of the sums shown as the current balance," the sworn statements vouch for the borrowers' debts down to the penny and declare that the bank's "computerized and hard copy records" back the claims. There are other possible discrepancies, as well: the affidavits state that B of A "has no further interest in this account for any purpose," while the sales contracts reference a "revenue sharing plan."The prospect that B of A was selling unreliable credit card debts did not deter CACH from buying them. A subsidiary of SquareTwo Financial, CACH does not collect debts itself. Instead, it acquires rights to the delinquent debts then works with law firms around the country that do the actual collections work, providing them with debt files, court witnesses and other services.Regulatory InterestWashington regulators are beginning to look at what responsibility banks have for wrongful collections activity. But questions about jurisdiction and whether banks will get roped in remain open."Not enough information [is] flowing through to debt collectors," says Tom Pahl, an assistant director in the Federal Trade Commission's division of financial practices. Despite its concern, the FTC lacks the authority to regulate financial institutions"We can't reach the banks to say 'Thou shalt file the following pieces of information with the loans,'" Pahl says. "We're trying to do most of this through either law enforcement, which is case-by-case, or by jawboning the industry."The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has jurisdiction over credit cards and last month announced plans to take a close look at the collection industry. The bureau's interest has been heightened by revelations of abuses by mortgage servicers, including robosigning of affidavits, according to spokeswomen Jennifer Holland.The CFPB is "very concerned that the same shortcuts and violations may be occurring with other kinds of debt collection," she says.

Jeff Horwitz, with American Banker, a Collections & Credit Risk sister publication, reported this story.