🔒CT banking regulator orders Florida debt buyer to stop collections, repay consumers

Connecticut’s banking commissioner has ordered a Florida-based debt-buying company to immediately stop collecting from state consumers and repay all money it took in, after an investigation found the firm was operating without a license. Banking Commissioner Jorge Perez has issued a temporary cease-and-desist order against Buyers Holdings LLC. The order also requires the company to make full restitution to Connecticut consumers, plus interest dating to January 2016. The enforcement action stems from a state Department of Banking investigation that found Buyers Holdings purchased at least 109 delinquent or defaulted consumer debt accounts and collected $29,533 from Connecticut residents — without holding a consumer collection agency license in the state. The regulator also accused the company of making false and misleading statements during the investigation. When the department’s Consumer Credit Division first contacted Buyers Holdings in April 2025, company representative Michael Dularidze responded that the firm “does not purchase CT accounts” but would pursue licensing “to err on the side of caution.” Months later, after further communication with regulators, Dularidze acknowledged the 109 Connecticut accounts but offered a new explanation: That all Connecticut-resident accounts had been “immediately titled” to Cuzco Capital Investment Management LLC, a sister company that holds a Connecticut collection agency license, and that Buyers Holdings “did not hold these accounts in its name at any time.” During the investigation, however, the department discovered at least 12 collection letters sent to Connecticut residents that identified the debts as owed to and owned by Buyers Holdings, not Cuzco Capital. And when the department requested Cuzco Capital’s Connecticut collection records, the 109 Buyers Holdings accounts were not included, further undermining the company’s defense. The commissioner cited at least 12 violations of state law for unlicensed collection activity and an additional violation for the misleading statements. Under Connecticut law, each violation carries a potential civil penalty of up to $100,000. In addition to the cease-and-desist order, Perez ordered Buyers Holdings to provide the department with a detailed accounting of every Connecticut consumer account it has collected on or attempted to collect since Jan. 1, 2016. Buyers Holdings filed an application for a Connecticut consumer collection agency license in November 2025, but the department said the application remains pending because the company has not addressed outstanding requirements. A hearing, if requested, is tentatively scheduled for April 29.