Injunction secured against 'debt sale' firm

Birmingham Trading Standards has successfully obtained an interim Enforcement Order against 'debt sale' company Momentum Network Ltd trading as Credit Card Killer.

The Order, granted in Birmingham County Court, prevents Momentum Network Ltd and its owners, Mr and Mrs Basil Rankine, from:

• engaging in the unfair commercial practice of 'debt sale' whereby consumers are offered the opportunity to 'sell' their consumer credit debts without the consent of the original creditor
• making misleading claims that they can, for example, make consumers 'debt free in 2 weeks by buying their debt for £1'
• carrying on ancillary credit business as defined in the Consumer Credit Act 1974.

This is an interim Order obtained under the Enterprise Act 2002 and will remain in place until 21 April 2011 or until a further order is made. Sanctions for breaching such an Order include being held in contempt of court, imprisonment or a fine.

Birmingham Trading Standards obtained the Order following an Illegal Money Lending Team investigation which revealed that the company's activities were causing significant detriment to vulnerable consumers. It has been estimated that customers of Momentum have paid over £1 million in up front fees for a 'service' which the OFT believes to be a scam.

People concerned about bogus 'debt sale' companies can contact Consumer Direct for advice at www.consumerdirect.gov.uk.

oft.gov.uk

Credit Card Killer has made a statement on the following link - statement

DebtWizard comment

I’ve always said that this was too good to be true. When a consumer takes out a loan or credit card then the responsibility for repayment is with the applicant, it is not legally possible to transfer this over without the agreement of the lender.

Anyone or business that says to the contrary is misleading consumers.

Any consumer that has already ‘sold’ their debt to this firm or any other firm operating in a similar vein will still is still liable for their original debts.

 If you do not make the payments as agreed at the time of taking out the loan then you will have your credit file marked down for non payments. The lender may also embark on debt collection activity which could lead to county court judgement and even bankruptcy.