7am News, Sports and Obits

Latest WGIL news
Click to play or
Right click and "Save Target As" to download
Click for Galesburg, Illinois Forecast
Home - Cancellations - Community Events - Contact Us - Mornings - News - Obituaries - Pictures - Programs - Special Events Audio - Sports - Weather
IL Budget Crisis Attracts Overdue Debt Broker
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) -- With Illinois still not paying its bills, a new company in the debt brokering business has seized on an opportunity to make money off the state's financial crisis.

Georgia-based Alpharetta Industries is offering to help Illinois organizations that are owed money. The company will arrange to sell the debts to speculators in exchange for partial payment now. The groups will get at least 70 percent, the buyers will get the full sum when the state finally pays up, and the company will get a commission.

The idea has plenty of critics who say the company is taking advantage of human-service groups. Don Moss of United Cerebral Palsy calls Alpharetta executives "vultures." But several organizations have accepted, saying they need the money.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
06 07 10 by Newsroom
News management powered by Xpression News

Click here for the WGIL News Archive

Click here for national news

The following provision applies to all visitors (which shall include persons and representatives of legal entities, whether such representatives are persons or digital engines of a kind that crawls, indexes, scrapes, copies, stores or transmits digital content). By accessing this Web site or digital service, you specifically acknowledge and agree that: (i) Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium; (ii) No Associated Press materials nor any portion thereof may be stored in a computer except for personal and non-commercial use; (iii) The Associated Press will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions therefrom or in the transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages arising from any of the foregoing; (iv) The Associated Press is an intended third party beneficiary of these terms and conditions and it may exercise all rights and remedies available to it; and (v) The Associated Press reserves the right to audit possible unauthorized commercial use of AP materials or any portion thereof at any time.