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Maryland consumer files lawsuit against MLK-quoting judgment buying company

Renee Spencer, a Baltimore City resident, has filed suit against The Asset Recovery Group, LLC doing business as The Judgment Group (“The Judgment Group”), one of its employees, and her former landlord, for debt collection violations alleging that The Judgment Group garnished her wages on an alleged debt that had been paid 10 years earlier. The Judgment Group continued to garnish her wages even after Ms. Spencer provided proof from her employer that the alleged debt had been satisfied.

“I had just gone back to work after completing treatment for cancer for the second time,” says plaintiff Renee Spencer. “I felt like I was just getting back on my feet, and then my wages were garnished.  The full amount of the same debt had been paid over ten years ago, but over $6,000 was taken from my paychecks.”

“We have alleged that The Judgment Group, a company that quotes Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in its mission statement, unlawfully garnished Ms. Spencer’s wages, said Chelsea Ortega of Santoni, Vocci & Ortega, LLC, Ms. Spencer’s attorney. “This case illustrates the dangers of zombie debt, which is a debt that is very old or no longer owed but comes back to life years and years later to haunt consumers.  Often the companies collecting these judgments purchase the debt for pennies on the dollar, but can collect up to three times the original judgment amount because they seek post-judgment interest over a lengthy period of time.”

The case is Renee Spencer v. The Asset Recovery Group, LLC, et al., case number 24C17005402, pending in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City.

A copy of the Complaint is available here.