The Federal Trade Commission has permanently banned dozens of companies and individuals from the debt-collection industry after winning federal court cases against them — for phantom debt, threats, impersonation, and other violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Below is the complete list, pulled directly from FTC.gov, explained in plain English, and fully searchable.
This is not a blocklist, a blacklist of "bad reviews," or a consumer complaint tally. Every name below appears because the FTC sued that person or company in federal court — usually alongside state Attorneys General — and won a permanent injunction that bars them from the debt-collection business for life. That is one of the strongest remedies available under U.S. consumer protection law, and it requires the FTC to actually prove violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and/or Section 5 of the FTC Act (unfair or deceptive practices) in front of a federal judge.
Common violations behind these bans: collecting on phantom debt (debt that's fabricated, already paid, or too old to legally enforce), threatening arrest or lawsuits that were never actually planned, impersonating attorneys or law enforcement, and refusing to provide the written debt validation the law requires.
If a name is not on this list, that is not a certification that the collector is legitimate. This list only covers operators the FTC has already caught, sued, and won against — banned operators routinely resurface under brand-new company names the FTC hasn't caught up to yet. Use the lookup tool below alongside the red-flag checklist, not instead of it.
Use the "Is This Collector Legit?" tool — type a name and we'll check it against this exact dataset, plus give you red flags to check and what to do next either way. Nothing you type leaves your browser.