The CFPB reached an agreement with Works & Lentz, Inc., Works & Lentz of Tulsa, Inc., and Harry A. Lentz, Jr. in which Lentz’s companies and Lentz himself agreed to pay “more than $655,000 to settle complaints” that Lentz and his businesses purported to be attorneys in correspondences with debtors when “no attorney had reviewed the account[s].” Works & Lentz is a firm that “collected medical debt on behalf of hospitals, doctors and other health care providers in Oklahoma.” One blogger noted that these companies “attempt[s] to make collections on 700,000 accounts annually.” Neither Harry Lentz, nor his companies, acknowledged any wrongdoing in their settlement with the CFPB.

• On January 10, 2017, Works & Lentz, Inc., Works & Lentz of Tulsa, Inc., and Harry A. Lentz, Jr. agreed to pay $655,000 to settle complaints brought by the CFPB. [Paul Monies, “Oklahoma debt collections agency to pay $655,000 in settlement with federal consumer watchdog”, The Oklahoman, 01/10/17]

• Works & Lentz, Inc.; Works & Lentz of Tulsa, Inc., and Harry A. Lentz, Jr. agreed to pay “$577,000 in refunds to consumers and a civil penalty of $78,800. Neither the companies nor Lentz admitted wrongdoing in the consent decree with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.” [Paul Monies, “Oklahoma debt collections agency to pay $655,000 in settlement with federal consumer watchdog”, The Oklahoman, 01/10/17]

• “[The CFPB] alleged the debt collection firms sent out letters and called debtors purporting to be attorneys when no attorney had reviewed the account.” [Paul Monies, “Oklahoma debt collections agency to pay $655,000 in settlement with federal consumer watchdog”, The Oklahoman, 01/10/17]

• The companies “primarily collected medical debt on behalf of hospitals, doctors and other health care providers in Oklahoma.” [Paul Monies, “Oklahoma debt collections agency to pay $655,000 in settlement with federal consumer watchdog”, The Oklahoman, 01/10/17]

• Ashlee Kieler, a blogger with Consumerist, noted that the companies “attempt to make collections on 700,000 accounts annually.” [Ashlee Kieler, “Medical Debt Collection Firms Must Refund $577K For Threatening Consumers”, Consumerist, 01/09/17]