Legislators slam debt collector
They allege firms harass residents, urge action by AG

By Keith Reed, The Boston Globe - 07/17/2007

Three legislators are asking Attorney General Martha Coakley to take action against an Ohio debt collector who is accused of harassing and threatening Massachusetts residents.

Two companies operated by Daniel C. Cadle have been denied licenses by the Massachusetts Division of Banks to do business under a 2004 law requiring firms that buy debts from other companies to obtain a license before attempting to collect from delinquent debtors.

In a phone interview, Cadle said his company has bought more than 50,000 such accounts across the country, including here.

Last month, the state's banks commissioner, Steven L. Antonakes, denied the application of Cadle Co. II , citing an incident in which a Cadle representative allegedly called a Massachusetts man and said the collection agency had photos of the man outside his home, knew his wife's name, could access his bank account, and threatened to sue if he didn't pay up. Cadle's firm lacks "the character, reputation, integrity and general fitness" to legally collect debts in Massachusetts, Antonakes wrote in a letter to Cadle.

Despite that ruling, the legislators pressing Coakley for action -- Democratic state representatives James B. Eldridge of Acton , Joyce A. Spiliotis of Peabody, and Mary E. Grant of Beverly , say Cadle's businesses are illegally trying to collect money here. They wrote to Coakley this week, asking for a meeting to discuss the issue.

"It's my opinion that the only way to stop him is by a criminal lawsuit, and the only one that can do that is the attorney general," Eldridge said.

Melissa Sherman , a Coakley spokeswoman, said the attorney general's office received the legislators' letter Friday and is reviewing it. Kim Haberlin , a spokeswoman for the state's Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation, which oversees the banking division, said the office hasn't received any complaints about Cadle since Antonakes's ruling. If it does, it would consider what action to take, including issuing a cease-and-desist letter or referring the matter to Coakley.

Cadle said he has every right to collect from Massachusetts debtors because his firm purchased most of those debts before the 2004 law, which he asserts was not applied retroactively. He acknowledged his firm called the man referred to in Antonakes's letter, but said his company does not threaten anyone.

"Never happened," he said. "We don't go visit people; we don't go knock on doors. We just make phone calls from Ohio and through law firms in Massachusetts. I don't see how anybody can say how we strong-arm if we never see the people."

Cadle blamed his current problems with Massachusetts legislators on a decade-long feud between him and Boston attorney Jan R. Schlichtmann , who is best known for inspiring the 1999 movie "A Civil Action." Their beef started in 1992, when Cadle bought an old Schlichtmann debt from the now-defunct Boston Trade Bank . Since then, the two have sued each other repeatedly, including at least two cases that are currently pending: a class-action lawsuit against Cadle brought on behalf of three Boston families Schlichtmann represents, and a libel lawsuit filed by Cadle against his nemesis.

"He is having his clients write the Division of Banks and telling them I've violated the law, and he's having his clients write the legislators the same thing so that he can continue his vendetta," Cadle said.

Schlichtmann doesn't deny he has encouraged his clients and others to complain to state officials about Cadle, but said that's not because of his own personal legal problems with him.

"The reason why this company is having problems is because the people that they are abusing are refusing to be abused in silence, and they are demanding that the authorities take action," Schlichtmann said.