One of the common requests I hear from readers is for legal help with issues surrounding their debt problems when they feel they’ve been hurt or abused by a debt collector. In the past I’ve always referred people to the National Association of Consumer Advocates and the GetOutOfDebt.org legal friends and protectors to find an …
After allegedly misleading consumers into paying unnecessary fees and falsely threatening consumers with lawsuits, defendants in a debt collection operation have agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges. The FTC alleged in its complaint that the defendants – a debt buyer and a debt collection law firm, both based in Mississippi – violated the FTC …
The CFPB has just announced they will be rolling out new proposed rules that will regulate consumer debt collection and consumer reporting markets. Proposed rules would mark the first time these important markets would be subject to federal supervision. “Our proposed rule would mean that those debt collectors and credit reporting agencies that qualify as …
It was announced today that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have signed an agreement to coordinate efforts to protect consumers in an effort to avoid duplication of federal law enforcement and regulatory efforts. The memorandum of the two agencies’ understand can be viewed here. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street …
Defendants in a payday lending case have been ordered to pay more than $294,000 for illegal garnishment of consumers’ paychecks. A federal court has ordered, at the request of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), one of the individuals behind a payday lending scheme and two companies he controlled to pay $294,536 for illegally trying to …
The 1977 federal law to protect consumers from abusive debt collectors, better known as the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) has molded a profitable business opportunity for some lawyers. Some lawyers are using the law as a tool for lawsuits which results in some cases avoiding litigation in favor for quick settlements. Colorado has …
A tipster (send in your tips here) forwarded to me an article about Thomas Lyons, Esq. in Minnesota who was disbarred in 2010 for filing suits under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). While there is a need for consumers to have recourse in bringing legal suits …
Dee “Dear Steve, Nationwide credit is collecting a debt I owe to American Express. We negotiated a settlement amount and when I found out that I wasn’t going to have the amount we had agreed upon I sent them a fax asking to adjust the payment schedule. Initially a man called and said fine, then …
Martin Sher of AmSher Receivables Management in Birmingham, Alabama has recently made a huge step in the debt collection industry with “The Collector’s Pledge”. Sher, with over 30 years experience in the credit and collection industry was named as the president of ACA International (the Association of Credit and Collection Professionals) for 2010-2011. Sher co-owns …
It isn’t a big shock to find out that the credit craze and panic is exploding around the world. The credit craze and panic works like this: Stage One: Craze – apply and get approved for credit and go crazy racking up the balance. Stage Two: Panic – after you’ve expended your credit resources you …