by Paul MankinCEO of Debt Collection Agency Sentenced to 100 Months in Prison
Four Star Resolution, LLC’s owner and CEO was sentenced to 100 months in prison in April of 2017 for coercing thousands of consumers into paying more than $31 million to settle alleged debts. Travell Thomas directed associates at his debt collection agency to:
- Inflate the balances of debts owed
- Falsely imply that the collection agency was affiliated with local government and law enforcement agencies, including the “county” and the district attorney’s office
- Tell consumers that they had committed criminal acts, such as “wire fraud” or “check fraud,” and if they did not pay the debt immediately, warrants or other process would be issued, at which point they would be arrested or taken to court
- Falsely claim that consumers would have their driver’s licenses suspended if they did not pay
- Tell consumers that Four Star was a law firm or mediation firm and that Four Star’s employees were working with lawyers, a law firm, mediators, or arbitrators
- Falsely imply that a civil lawsuit would be filed, or was pending
These collection practices are all prohibited by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), a federal Act passed to help protect consumers against unfair, deceptive, and abusive practices of debt collectors.
According to U.S. attorney, Joon H. Kim, “Thomas was the mastermind behind the largest criminal debt collection scheme ever charged.” Of the $31 million Four Star Resolution, LLC took in from its scheme, approximately $1.5 million was paid in cash to Thomas and his co-owner and co-defendant, Maurice Sessum, approximately $1.4 million was withdrawn from banks and ATMs, and hundreds of thousands of dollars were used to pay for Thomas’s gambling expenses, season tickets for professional sports games, his wedding reception, and other personal expenses.
Twelve others associated with Four Star Resolution, LLC were charged and pled guilty to defrauding consumers in connection with the debt collection scheme. The company, which opened in 2009 and operated in Buffalo, New York was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $31 million and was permanently enjoined from participating in any debt collection activities, advertising, marketing, promoting, offering for sale, and selling or buying any consumer or commercial debt or any information regarding a consumer relating to a debt.
If a debt collector is harassing or abusing you in an attempt to collect on a debt, contact our office at 1-800-219-3577, for a free, no obligation consultation.
by Paul MankinPortfolio Recovery is Harassing Me!
Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC is a company that purchases debt from credit card companies for pennies on the dollar. Oftentimes, companies, such as Portfolio Recovery, LLC, who purchase old debt, receive very little information from the original creditor and are therefore unable to prove that the consumer actually owes the debt. This can help make it fairly easy for you to stop collection attempts and or force the company to remove any negative information they may have placed on credit report. You just have to know how to make it happen.
How Do I Stop Portfolio Recovery from Harassing Me?
If Portfolio Recovery is calling you, ask them to mail you debt validation information so you can verify if you owe the debt. If you do not owe the debt, or do not want to be contacted about the debt anymore, write a letter to Portfolio Recovery telling them to stop contacting you. Be sure to keep a copy of the letter for yourself and mail a copy to the Federal Trade Commission at 6th and Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. 20850. After the company receives your letter it should only contact you more time in order to let you know they will stop contacting you and tell you what other action they intend to take.
What To Do if Portfolio Recovery Sues You
If Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC has filed a law suit against you, you will want to make sure that you appear in Court, where it will have to prove that you do in fact owe the debt. If you do not appear, you may get a default judgment entered against you without Portfolio Recovery even having to prove that you actually owe the debt. It may then be able to garnish your wages until the debt is paid in full. If the debt collector can prove that you owe the debt, you may then be able to negotiate a repayment plan and have it approved by the court. You should consider consulting a consumer attorney if any debt collector sues you. They can help determine if you actually owe the debt, negotiate settlement terms, or even get the case dismissed without you ever having to go to court.
If you are being harassed or sued by Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC, please contact our office at 1-800-219-3577, for a free, no obligation consultation.
by Paul MankinHow Do Debt Collectors Find You?
How Do Debt Collectors Find You?
If you are looking for ways to hide from a debt collector, you may be disappointed in the end, as it is very difficult to hide from someone who has been hired to locate you, even if you have changed your phone number and moved several times. So how do debt collectors find you? Some of the answers may surprise you.
Calling Your Family and Friends
If a debt collector has any reference or old telephone numbers for you, where they can reach a friend or family member or former employer, they may call and ask for your current contact information. Under the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) a debt collector who is unable to locate you may contact a third party to inquire about your current contact information. The debt collector must give their name and state that they are confirming or correcting information about your location. However, unless specifically asked, the debt collector may not name the collection firm or agency or reveal that you owe any debt. So your family or friends may tell them where you are without even realizing they are speaking with a debt collector.
Looking at Your Social Media Profiles
Does your Facebook profile say what city and state you live in or who your current employer is? Is this information public? Debt collectors who already have a judgment against you and now want to garnish your wages only need to locate your current employer to be able to do so. And those who need to find your address in order to begin or resume collection attempts or file a lawsuit against you may just need to call your employer and ask for your contact information. If they are unable to get it this way, simply knowing what city and state you live in can help them find you by searching public records maintained by court systems, the Department of Motor Vehicles, your county tax assessor, or your state’s Department of Workforce Development.
Checking Court Records
The federal court system maintains an online searchable database of all lawsuits and bankruptcies that have been filed in the last few years. This database can be easily searched by anyone with a free account and enough personal information, such as a name, birth date, and social security number, to find your address if you have a federal case in the system. You can check out the Pacer search features yourself right now.
Many states now maintain online databases that can be searched without even creating an account. If you have a recent traffic ticket, criminal charges, divorce, or any case in front of a city or county court, a debt collector might be able to locate you free of charge with a few clicks of the mouse. To see if your state offers this service and locate the website, call your local county court and ask if there is an online court case search or search for your state’s court system website and look for a link.
Looking at County Property Tax Records
Many county tax assessors now maintain online databases of property and property tax information. Databases are searchable by county, state, and name and will not only give a debt collector the address of any property you own, but will provide the address where tax statements are mailed, if different from the property address, and sometimes provide a photograph of the property and a Google Maps picture and/or link to the property on Google World. If you own a home, you can be found by a good debt collection agency.
Reviewing your Voter Registration Record
If you know in what county and state a person is registered to vote, you may be able to check their voter registration status online to obtain their current address. It just depends on what online records that state maintains and how easily accessible they are. Some states require that you enter the name, driver’s license or state identification number, date of birth, and last four of the social security number, while others simply require a name and birth date.
Asking the Department of Motor Vehicle
Debt collectors in some states are afforded access to the state Department of Motor Vehicle’s records where they can obtain your current or most recent address, date of birth, if they do not already have it, and possibly your social security number. So if you have a driver’s license or state issued identification, you might not be hard for a debt collector to find.
Pulling Your Credit Report
If you owe money to a creditor who you originally authorized to pull your credit report and provided them with the information necessary to do so, any debt collector that the creditor then hires to collect on the debt will likely have access to that information and, depending on your state of residence, may be able to pull your credit report to find your current address or employer without further authorization from you. Creditors who you may have authorized to pull your credit report include:
- Credit card companies
- Banks, mortgage companies, or other lenders who loaned you money
- Payday or cash advance companies
- Insurance companies
- Landlords or real estate rental agencies
Debt collectors may also be able to pay a small fee to have you placed on a credit bureau locate list. If you apply for credit after being placed on the list, the debt collector will be notified and will then know it is time to check your credit report for a new address and/or employer.
Checking the Records of the State Department of Workforce Development
In some states, a debt collector who has obtained a judgment against you in court may be able to ask for the court for an order requiring the state Department of Workforce Development to search its records and provide the collector with the name of your current employer, if it has such information. Once your employer can be located, a debt collector who has already obtained a judgment against you can begin the process to garnish your wages. If the collector has not yet obtained a judgment and is looking for your current contact information so it can begin or resume collection efforts or file a lawsuit against you, it may call your employer and ask for the information, ask to speak with you to get it from you, or file a lawsuit and have you served at work.
Using a Skip Tracer
A skip tracer is a professional whose job it is to find people. Skip tracers are generally private investigators who specialize in locating people who have proven difficult to find. Skip tracers use conventional methods, such as calling friends, family, and old phone numbers and checking social media sites and court records, as well as more technical means, in order to locate people for bail bondsmen, bounty hunters, attorneys, and debt collectors. Because skip tracers find people for a living, they may have more time than a creditor or debt collector to search for you on sites such as EBay or Amazon, and oftentimes have subscriptions to online skip tracing resources, such as LexisNexis’ Risk Solutions or one of the three national credit reporting agency’s skip tracing tools, that other’s cannot afford when not skip tracing for a living.
If you are being harassed by a debt collector please contact our office for a free, no obligation consultation at 1-800-219-3577.
by Paul MankinDoes A landlord or property manager need to provide an adverse action notice if you are denied a residential rental?
In a word: yes. Under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA), anyone regularly involved in reviewing consumer credit or credit-related information for the purpose of deciding whether to approve an application must provide a certain type of notice anytime an adverse action is taken—i.e., when an application is denied or when one is approved with different terms than those for which the applicant applied. This rule applies to landlords of both business and residential rentals when an applicant is denied tenancy or when an application is approved with conditions, such as an additional deposit, or additional lease terms due to a finding that the applicant is “higher risk” than normal.
A tenancy application denial or modified approval is typical based on either a specific reason, such as the applicant’s lack of regular or sufficient employment, or on the general results from a consumer reporting agency, which may be a creditor reporting agency—e.g., TransUnion, Experian, or Equifax—or another type of consumer reporting agency.
When the denial or term modification is based on a specific reason, the specific reason must be disclosed to the applicant in an adverse action notice. A notice of this type should include: the landlord’s name and contact information, the applicant’s name and contact information, a statement of denial or conditional approval, and the specific reason for the adverse action. The notice must also include the source of any report or other information that informed the landlord’s decision along with the timeframe in which the applicant may request a copy of that information.
The reason provided must be specific enough to inform the applicant of the nature of the landlord’s concern. Specific reasons for adverse actions on rental applications commonly include: temporary or irregular employment, unable to verify employment or income, length of residence, no credit file, delinquent past or present credit or rental obligations, bankruptcy, criminal record, eviction filing or judgment, garnish, foreclose, or other related judgment.
When a tenancy application denial or conditional approval is based on a consumer report, certain information about the reporting agency and each report must be disclosed to the applicant in an adverse action notice. A notice of this type should include: the landlord’s name and contact information, the applicant’s name and contact information, a statement of denial or conditional approval, and the fact that the application is being denied or conditionally approved based on the information gathered from a consumer reporting agency.
While the notice need not include specific reason(s) for the adverse action, it must communicate to the applicant enough information as to enable the applicant to understand the type of information reported about them and where it came from so the applicant can follow up on any confusing or potentially erroneous reports on their own. The notice should at least include the name of any reporting agency that provided a report, the reporting agency’s address and contact information, and the release of liability from the reporting agency in regards to the landlord’s decision. The notice should also make clear that the applicant has 60 days to request a copy of the report from the reporting agency.
Some landlords use applicant screening agencies rather than running credit checks and screening applications themselves. When a screening agency in involved, a landlord is not required to give an applicant a copy of the tenancy background check, but they must let the applicant know from which screening agency the background check can be obtained, as well as the fact that the copy must be requested within 60 days. Since the landlord does not run the consumer reports itself, it doesn’t need to name the reporting bureau(s). Rather, the consumer must obtain that information from the screening agency.
by Paul MankinWhat To Do If You Are A Victim Of Identity Theft?
Over 15 million Americans fall victim to identity theft every year costing over $16 billion in stolen funds. Recovering from identity theft can at first seem like a daunting task, but it does not have to be if you follow the recommendations of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), national credit reporting agencies, and other government agencies in charge of consumer protection.
Reporting Identity Theft
As soon as you realize that you are a victim of identity theft, you should report it to the FTC. You can do this by phone at 1-877-438-4338 or online by visiting https://www.identitytheft.gov/. Reporting the theft online will give you access to sample letters, checklists, and a personal recovery plan. Once you have reported the theft to the FTC, you will receive an identity theft report which you will help you with some of the steps below, but you can begin the process of ensuring that your credit is protected and the thief can no longer use your identity or accounts they have already opened using it while waiting for the report. To do this, follow the steps below.
Step 1. Call all of the companies where you know that fraud has occurred. For example, if you saw any new accounts on your credit report that you did not open, contact each of the companies’ fraud departments to report the account as fraudulent. Ask the companies to close or freeze the accounts, and then follow any instructions provided. If fraudulent activity occurred on an account that does belong to you, ask that the account be frozen, a new card issued, or a new account be opened to prevent future fraudulent activity. You should also change your usernames and passwords to these accounts. Ask each company to remove the information from your credit report and send you a confirmation letter stating that the account is not yours and has been removed from your credit report. Save the confirmation letter in case the information reappears on your report later.
Step 2. Place a fraud alert on your credit reports. This is a free service and the alert will be good for one year. You only have to do this with one of the three credit reporting agencies. By law, that agency must then notify the other two. The three credit reporting agencies and their contact information are:
Equifax
P.O. Box 740256
Atlanta, GA 30374-0256
800-685-1111
Transunion
P.O. Box 2000
Chester, PA 19016
888-909-8872
Experian
P.O. Box 4500
Allen, TX 75013
888-397-3742
A fraud alert on your credit report means that companies must verify your identity before opening any new accounts, so it may be a little inconvenient for you to obtain new credit for a while, but it will it make it more difficult for anyone else to open any new accounts in your name.
Step 3. Obtain new, free, credit reports. If you have not already obtained your free reports in the last 12 months, visit the government website Annual Credit Report to order yours online. If you have already obtained your free reports in the last 12 months, you can follow the instructions on the confirmation letter that you will receive from each credit reporting agency after you have placed the fraud alert. This may take a little longer, but you will not have to pay to get the reports.
Step 4. Review your credit reports for any other fraudulent accounts and report them to the FTC and to the companies where the fraud occurred.
Step 5. Write a letter to each of the three credit reporting agencies, or use their online system, to remove all fraudulent accounts and information from your credit reports. Include a copy of your identity theft report from the FTC.
Additional Steps You May Need to Take if Your Identity Was Stolen
Depending on your situation, you may need or want to take some additional steps, besides the ones above, to ensure that your identity does not continue to be used by the thief, that all accounts are closed, and that your credit is protected.
Replace Lost or Stolen Identification or Social Security Card
If your social security card was stolen visit the social security administration (SSA) online at https://faq.ssa.gov/en-US/Topic/article/KA-02017 for help replacing your card. Likewise, if your driver’s license or state issued identification card was stolen, visit your local Bureau of Motor Vehicles office to get a replacement card issued.
File a Police Report
You may choose to report the identity theft to your local police department, especially if you believe that someone local stole your identification, bank account information, or social security card, you know who stole your identity, or one of the companies to whom you reported the fraud requires a police report.
Report Tax Fraud
If the identity theft involved the filing of a fraudulent federal income tax return, you should report that to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Information on what to report and how can be found at https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/taxpayer-guide-to-identity-theft. You may also need to report the theft to your state tax department if state income taxes were involved.
Get Back Your Government Benefits
If you were receiving government benefits that suddenly stopped after your identity was stolen, the thief may have changed your account information in order to collect the benefits themselves. You will need to contact the agency providing the benefits in order to determine what happened and get the issue resolved.
Stop Creditors or Debt Collectors from Attempting to Collect Debt Is Not Yours
If a creditor or debt collector attempts to collect on an account that resulted from the identity theft, write them a letter letting them know that you were the victim of identity theft and the account/charge is not yours. Be sure to include a copy of your identity theft report from the FTC with your letter.
Find and Close Checking Accounts Opened in Your Name
If you believe that someone has opened a checking account using your identity, you can request a free copy of your ChexSystems report by visiting the ChexSystems Free Annual Report webpage. Once you receive the report you should check for any accounts that do not belong to you and contact the financial institution where they are located for help closing them and getting them removed from your report.
Locate Utility and Phone Services Started Using Your Identity
An identity thief may have opened new utility accounts in your name that are still current and not appearing on your credit report. This may not cause you any problems, until the services go unpaid and become a part of your credit history. In order to locate any such accounts, contact the National Consumer Telecom and Utilities Exchange at 1-866-349-5185 to request your report. Once you receive a copy of the report, review it for any accounts that do not belong to you and contact those companies directly. Let them know you are the victim of identity theft and the account is not yours and ask what you need to do in order to have the account closed.
If you are a victim of identity theft and are unable to correct any of the results of such theft, feel free to contact our office at 1-800-219-3577, for a free, no obligation consultation.
by Paul MankinCan A Creditor Take My Tax Refund Check?
Has a creditor threatened to take your tax refund check or have you heard stories that they will if you do not pay the bill? Can a creditor take a tax refund check? The short answer is maybe. It depends on what you mean by ‘take my check’, who the creditor is, what point in the collection process the creditor has gotten to, and if the court will allow them to take it in any given year.
What “Take My Tax Refund Check” Means
While some states may not allow certain creditors to intercept your tax refund check, preventing it from ever coming to you, all states will allow creditors who have obtained a judgment against you to ask the court for an order allowing them to levy your bank account, and then take the money from your refund from your account, or for one requiring you to sign and turn over your refund check to the creditor. So while a creditor may not be able to get your check directly from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), it is a really a distinction without a difference.
When Can a Creditor Take My Tax Refund?
Unless and until a creditor has filed a lawsuit against you, obtained a judgment, and asked the court for permission to take your tax check or levy your bank account your tax refund check is safe. If the creditor has sued you and obtained a judgment which you have not paid in full, it may then attempt to take your tax refund by obtaining a court order allowing the check to be intercepted, requiring you to sign and turn over the check, or allowing the creditor to levy your bank account and take your refund once it is deposited. In order to do any of this, the creditor must file a motion with the court to intercept, or take, your tax check or levy your bank account. The creditor is required by court rules to provide you with a copy of anything that it files, so if it does ask the court for permission to take your tax refund, you should receive a copy of the request that it filed. Once you get notice that the creditor is trying to take your refund, you will need to file a written objection with the court in order to attempt to prevent it from ordering the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to send your check to the creditor, ordering you to turn it over to the creditor without cashing it, or allowing the creditor to levy your bank account and take the money once it is deposited. For this, you may want to hire an attorney, as it can be difficult to stop a court from ordering that you use your tax refund to pay a judgment that has gone unpaid for very long.
If a creditor has threatened to take your tax refund or has asked the court for permission to do so, please contact our office at 1-800-219-3577, for a free, no obligation consultation.
by Paul MankinHow Many Times Can A Car Dealership Pull My Credit?
An application for credit or a loan, including auto loans, permits a potential lender to run a “hard” credit inquiry for the purpose of assessing a consumer’s credit risk. Since a hard credit inquiry appears on the consumer’s credit report and affects the consumer’s credit score, it is important to understand what happens to their credit report when a consumer applies for auto financing.
When a consumer seeks financing through an auto dealership, the financing may be done by the dealership itself or by a third-party lender. If the dealership is, itself, the lender, a credit application permits the dealership to pull a consumer’s credit one time. In this instance, the consumer should see a single inquiry from the dealership on their credit report.
If, however, the dealership does not provide financing itself but, rather, acts as a middleman to arrange financing through a third-party institution (i.e., a bank), a consumer’s single credit application essentially gives the dealership permission to “rate shop.” It is in a dealership’s interest to offer the best possible lending terms to incentivize a customer to purchase a comparably priced vehicle from them and not from the neighboring dealer, so rate shopping is quite common.
In order to offer the best possible financing terms, a dealership will collect rate quotes from multiple lenders in hope of offering the customer the best deal available. Each rate quote, however, requires the lender to run its own hard credit inquiry. Thus, a single auto loan application made to a single auto dealership can realistically trigger 10 to 20 (and possibly even more) hard credit inquiries on a consumer’s credit report.
Fortunately, the system does not punish consumers for trying to save a little money on their car loans. Credit score reporters, such as FICO and VantageScore, use algorithms designed to detect when credit activity resembles rate shopping. Under the rate shopping umbrella, all hard inquiries will be treated as a single inquiry for the purpose of calculating the consumer’s credit score, even inquiries that are initiated by multiple applications to multiple dealerships. As long the inquiries are made during a set timeframe—e.g., 45 days for FICO—the consumer’s credit score should only feel the affect of a single inquiry (e.g., up to 5 points for FICO).
An auto dealership may also perform a “soft” credit inquiry early in the shopping process to get an idea of whether a shopper will be able to secure financing and, if so, for how much. While a soft inquiry can be helpful for the dealership in navigating price negotiations with a particular consumer, a lender cannot rely on a soft pull and will require a second, hard credit check before approving an auto’s financing. Since a soft inquiry does not affect a consumer’s credit score, it will not show up on a consumer credit report as a second inquiry even if the consumer is not considered to be “rate shopping.”
by Paul MankinWhat are the Laws About Creditor Harassment After Chapter 7?
One of the main reasons consumers file Chapter 7 bankruptcy is to stop creditor harassment, but it doesn’t always work the way it is supposed to, and sometimes when it does, it may not the way you thought it would work. So what exactly are the laws about creditor harassment after chapter 7 and what can you do if a creditor is ignoring them?
Laws Prohibiting Creditor Harassment After Chapter 7
The first law that prevents creditor harassment after chapter 7 bankruptcy is 11 U.S.C. § 362, which is a federal law that automatically stays, or stops, the debt collection process after a chapter 7 bankruptcy petition is filed. This stay goes into effect automatically the moment that a petition is filed, and prohibits most creditors and debt collectors listed on the bankruptcy petition from attempting to collect on the debt in any way. This includes sending collection letters or new bills, calling, continuing to garnish the debtor’s wages, filing a new lawsuit, or continuing the proceedings in a lawsuit that has already been filed. It may take creditors a while to get a notice of the bankruptcy filing, however, so some creditor harassment after chapter 7 can be expected to continue for a short time subsequent to the initiation of the case. Creditors should receive notice from the court and stop collection attempts within a few days of the chapter 7 bankruptcy petition being filed. Once a creditor receives notice of the chapter 7 filing, it is in violation of the federal stay if it continues to attempt to collect the debt in any way, without first getting permission from the bankruptcy court.
During the pendency of a chapter 7 bankruptcy, creditors who have secured claims (those who own a debt where property has been used as collateral), such as a mortgage, vehicle loan or rent to own agreement, may file a motion with the bankruptcy court asking for permission to foreclosure on or repossess the property securing the debt. The chapter 7 petition includes a schedule where debtors list all of their secured debt and indicate whether they intend to keep the property securing the debt and continuing paying on it or if they wish to surrender the property and have the debt discharged. If you choose to surrender the property, the creditor will ask for permission to proceed with foreclosure or repossession efforts. If the court grants the creditor’s motion, that creditor is then exempt from the automatic stay insomuch as it may take any legal action necessary to take possession of the property securing the debt. Creditors granted this exemption may not call or write in an attempt to collect on the debt. They may only take the actions necessary to take possession of the property.
Once all schedules, notices, and information have been provided to the bankruptcy court, and the petition is approved, the court will issue a discharge order and close the bankruptcy case. After the discharge order is issued, a permanent injunction, under 11 U.S.C. § 524, goes into effect for all debts listed on the petition. Creditors and debt collectors are then forever barred from attempting to collect on the debt that was discharged and are also prohibited from reporting late or missed payments to the credit reporting bureaus. This does not mean that you do not still owe the debt or that the creditor is prohibited from taking payments on it. Therefore, creditor harassment after chapter 7 discharge may continue, by unscrupulous creditors and debt collectors who hope that you do not know the law, or do not know how to enforce it, and you will simply pay in order to stop the harassment.
Exemptions to Laws Prohibiting Creditor Harassment After Chapter 7
Specific actions of certain people or entities are exempt from the automatic stay that federal law provides to debtors in a chapter 7 bankruptcy. Creditor harassment after chapter 7 may continue, without there being any violation of bankruptcy law, in these instances. A few of the more common of these exempt actions include:
- Wage garnishments, tax refund interceptions, and other collection attempts, of domestic obligations, such as child support and alimony
- Attempts to collect taxes owed to a government entity, such as the Internal Revenue Service or a State’s Department of Revenue
- Continuation of eviction proceedings where a judgment for possession of the property was obtained before the date of filing of the bankruptcy petition
- Actions to repossess property that is the subject of a lease which expired prior to the date of filing of the bankruptcy petition
Creditor harassment after chapter 7 discharge may continue without violation of the permanent injunction if the creditor owns a debt that is considered non-dischargeable under 11 U.S. Code § 523. The most common non-dischargeable debt includes debt:
- Owed to a government entity, such as income taxes, traffic tickets, or other fines
- For the payment of current and past due domestic support obligations
- Incurred for educational expenses (student loans) made, insured, or guaranteed by a
governmental unit
- Payable to a home owner’s association
What You Can Do About Creditor Harassment After Chapter 7
If a creditor is harassing you shortly after you filed your chapter 7 petition with the Court, it may be that they have not yet received notice that you have filed for bankruptcy protection. In order to stop the harassment, let the creditor know that you have filed a chapter 7, give them your case number, and get the correct address for bankruptcy notices from them. Then check your petition to ensure that the creditor is listed and the address is correct. If they are not listed on your petition, you will need to amend it to include them, or the debt will not be discharged. If the address is simply incorrect, call the court and let them know and then follow any instructions they give you. If a correctly listed creditor continues to harass you after being given enough time to get notice, you may need to contact an attorney to help you file a claim against them in the bankruptcy court.
If a creditor is calling you to collect on a debt that has been discharged, ask for the correct name and address to mail bankruptcy notices to, then check your petition to ensure that the debt is listed with the correct information. If the debt is listed on the petition, mail the creditor a copy of your discharge order. If the debt is not listed, you may need to reopen the case and amend the petition to include it, as unlisted debt is not discharged.
If you are experiencing creditor harassment after chapter 7, contact our office at 1-800-219-3577, for a free, no obligation consultation.
by Paul MankinWhat is a Consumer Attorney?
A consumer attorney, also known as a consumer protection attorney, is an attorney who specializes in consumer protection law. These attorneys help consumers use the law to protect themselves from businesses who use unfair or deceptive practices when dealing with the public and selling goods or services. This can include product liability or personal injury cases, assisting with debt collection or credit report issues, and helping consumers who have been the victim or a scam or other fraudulent activity of a company.
Consumer Protection Laws
There are federal and state consumer protection laws to cover most any type of transaction between a consumer and a company. Most do not cover person to person transactions, but on occasion, they may. Many consumer protection laws govern financial institutions such as credit card companies, banks, mortgage companies, and other lenders. Consumer law also regulates manufacturers by imposing product safety standards, prohibits false advertising by corporations, provides standards to protect consumer’s personal information, and helps protect consumers from deceptive or abusive debt collection and telemarketing practices.
Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) is a federal act commonly used by a consumer attorney to help clients stop debt collector harassment, remove false information from credit reports, and even get the debt collector to pay them. The Act prohibits debt collectors from using unfair, deceptive, and abusive practices while attempting to collect on a debt and gives consumers a claim against them for employing such practices. Some of the actions specifically prohibited by the law include:
- Calling consumers before 8:00 a.m. or after 9:00 p.m.
- Causing a consumers phone to ring continuously
- Threatening a consumer with jail for not paying a bill
- Reporting false credit information
- Threatening to take any action it is not legally allowed to take
- Falsely representing they are a law enforcement officer or attorney
Many states have similar laws that also apply to creditors, such as California’s Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (RFDCPA), which mirrors the federal act in the prohibited collection practices, but also applies to original creditors.
Telephone Consumer Protection Act
Another federal law that a consumer attorney may use to help protect consumers is the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). This Act was passed in 1991 and requires that auto dialed calls and pre-recorded calls made to consumers only be done so after the consumer specifically consents to receiving the calls. It was originally enacted to protect consumers from unsolicited telemarketing calls, but has since been applied to debt collectors who use auto dialers and pre-recorded messages to harass consumers into paying a bill. The Act prohibits telemarketers and debt collectors from using auto dialers, pre-recorded messages, and text messages when contacting consumers on their cell phones unless the consumer previously gave consent to be contacted in this manner and has not revoked the consent. The TCPA also prohibits telemarketers from calling residential lines with pre-recorded messages unless they have done business with the consumer within the last 18 months, and from calling any number that is registered with the national do not call registry.
A consumer attorney can help you recover from $500 to $1,500 from telemarketers and debt collectors who violate the act. And can put an end to the harassing phone calls.
Electronic Funds Transfer Act
The Electronic Funds Transfer Act (EFTA) is another federal law that a consumer attorney can use to help protect you from unfair practices when using electronic fund transfers (EFTs). EFTs include the use of:
- ATMs
- debit cards
- direct deposits
- point of sale transactions
- transfers initiated by phone
- pre-authorized withdrawals from checking or savings accounts
The EFTA allows consumers to limit their financial responsibility for unauthorized EFTs as long as they report the transaction to their bank or financial institution within 60 days of the issuance of the first statement that contains the transaction. So, for example, if someone uses your debit card on the 5th of October and your next statement is issued on October 30th, you have 60 days from October 30th to notify your bank of the fraudulent transaction. Once you have notified your bank of the unauthorized EFT, it has 10 days to conduct an investigation and another three days to report the results of the investigation to you. Most banks will return the funds to you, temporarily, while they conduct the investigation, in order to be sure that they do not miss any deadlines and that you have use of the funds until an investigation can be completed. The Act also provides for a limitation of consumer responsibility for lost or stolen cards reported in a timely manner, requires that banks limit the amount of money that can be withdrawn from your account on a given day, provides a way for consumers to stop automatic bill pays from their account, provides overdraft protection, and allows for compensation for violations of the Act.
Lemon Laws
Lemon laws are state laws governing the sale of vehicles that are still under a manufacturer’s warranty. Most used cars are not still under this warranty, and so lemon laws do not usually apply to the sale of used vehicles. These sales are generally governed by state warranty law, but depending on your state, may be governed by leman laws, if you have a written warranty. Lemon laws vary from state to state, but most cover manufacturers’ defects which cannot be repaired after reasonable attempts and that substantially impair the use, safety, or value of the motor vehicle, and they require the manufacture to replace or repurchase a covered vehicle.
If you have a vehicle that you believe is a lemon, you should consult a consumer attorney in your state to help you determine if it is covered by state lemon laws and help you enforce the law if it is.
Warranties
Both federal and state laws govern warranties, which are promises from a manufacturer or seller that the product you purchase will live up to a certain standard. There are two kinds of warranties, express and implied. Federal law requires all products come with an implied warranty. The extent of the implied warranty is then governed by state law. Depending on your state law, implied warranties may say that the product:
- Is fit for the ordinary purposes for which such goods are used, or will do what it is supposed to do
- Would pass without objection in the trade
- Is adequately packaged, labeled, and contained
- Conforms to the promises made on the label
All implied warranties require that the product will do what it is supposed to do.
Express warranties cover things that the implied warranty does not. Express warranties are promises or statements, made voluntarily by the seller or manufacturer, about a product or service their commitment to remedy defects and/or malfunctions that you may experience that are in addition to the implied warranty. Express warranties that are in writing are governed by federal law. State law governs oral express warranties.
There may be other state or federal consumer protection laws that apply to your situation and you should contact a consumer attorney if a company has caused you harm with its use of unfair, deceptive, or predatory practices. If you think you may need a consumer attorney in California, feel free to contact our office at 1-800-219-3577, for a free, no obligation consultation.
by Paul MankinIdentity Theft – Hackers, Scammers, and Old-Fashioned Thieves
There are many forms of identity theft and the term refers to any crime where someone obtains and uses another’s personal information in order to commit fraud or deception, usually for personal financial gain. Along with technology has entire new ways to steal a person’s identity, and whole new ways that we must employ in order to protect ourselves from falling victim to an identity thief.
Protecting Yourself from Identity Theft
Leaving your social security card at home and shredding or burning any personal information you throw in the trash, such as old checks and credit cards, bank account statements, paystubs, or anything that contains your social security number is still a good idea, but are no longer the only things that we must do to protect ourselves from identity theft. Computers, cell phones, and other electronic devices have made protection from identity theft something that we must now think about in our daily lives. Database hacks, shoulder surfing, spamming, scamming, and phishing are now popular ways for thieves to steal our personal information and take our money, stick us with their bills, damage our credit, and sometimes create a real mess for us to clean up.
Hackers
Everyone knows not to follow links that are sent to them by someone they do not know, to keep spyware software on their computers, and not to visit websites that cause spyware alerts, but it isn’t just your computer now that can be hacked to obtain your personal information. Healthcare providers, government agencies, and even your grocery may now have your information in web accessible databases where it can be hacked and your identity then stolen. So how do you keep your information secure when someone else is who has it? You may not be able to. But you can do some things to help protect yourself from identity theft in these situations.
- Regularly monitor your credit score. You can do this for free at Credit Karma or Mint. These sites also offer other services such as credit alerts, budgeting tools, and information about what affects your credit score and how you can improve it.
- Check your credit report at least once every 12 months. Get your free credit report every 12 months from the government website Annual Credit Report. Check your reports to make sure that all personal information on them is correct and then investigate any accounts or inquiries listed that you do not recognize.
- Open and read all of your mail, even if it looks like junk mail. Usually when a company or government database is hacked or a security breach has occurred and your information is contained in that database, you will get a letter letting you know about the security breach so that you can take the necessary steps to ensure that your information is not used to steal your identity. Sometimes, the letter will also come with an offer for free credit monitoring services for a period of time, which you should sign up for to easily stay on top of your credit and anything appearing on it that should not be.
Scammers
Scammers are getting more and more creative as each new scam is made public and they must find another way to get your money or your identity. Common scams, some of which utilize phishing or spamming, include telling the victim they have inherited or won money in an attempt to get their bank account information, sending checks that are fake, forged, or drawn on closed accounts and asking the receiver to deposit it, then immediately wire part of the money to someone, in the hopes they will get the wired money before the victim and/or his or her bank realizes the check is no good, and sending fake emails to people asking them to follow a link and enter their bank or credit card information in order to verify their identity. These emails appear to be real and contain the bank or credit card company’s logo, but the links take you to a site that belongs to the scammer so that they can steal your information once you enter it into the form and click submit. A few things you can do to protect yourself from these kinds of scams include:
- Verifying website addresses before entering personal information
- Remembering that no one will ever give you money to do something before you have done it
- Only giving personal information to those you contacted and who you know
- Providing personal information only on secure website connections (look for a little lock symbol to the left of the website address in your address bar)
- Calling financial institutions or other companies to verify that an email you received is actually from them
Shoulder Surfers
With the increased use of smart phones to do everything from checking bank account balances to paying at the drive thru, came a new way to steal personal information – shoulder surfing. This is when someone watches you use your phone over your shoulder, in order to steal any personal information you may enter into a website or app. To protect yourself from shoulder surfers, follow the same rules you would at an ATM; be aware of who is nearby, watch for anyone who may be standing behind you, and cover your keypad when entering account numbers, passwords, and PINs.
Fake Debt Collectors & Government Agents
Another way that scammers are stealing personal information from consumers is by impersonating debt collectors and government agents in an attempt to get credit card information. These scammers call and say that you owe money and ask you to give them your credit card information so that they can take a payment over the phone. Some may even claim to be a government agent, law enforcement officer, or work for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). They may threaten criminal charges, arrest warrants, or jail or claim that they will levy your bank account, take your personal property, or foreclose on your home if you do not pay. If you are contacted by someone claiming you owe money:
- DO NOT give them your credit card or check information, you will not be arrested for not paying a caller immediately
- Refuse to give out any personal information, such as your social security number or date of birth
- Verify only your name and address
- Ask the caller to mail you verification of the debt
Once you have requested debt verification, hang up and if they call again, do not speak with them. If the call is from a legitimate debt collector, they are required to mail you verification of the debt within five days of the initial call. The verification should include the name of the original creditor, the amount owed, and any proof that you owe the debt, such as contract or court ordered judgment.
Not So Old-Fashioned Thieves
Social media has become a hotbed of information that the patient and tech savvy identity thief can use to steal your identity or that of your loved ones. You most likely already share some personal information on social media that can be a good start for a patient thief. This includes:
- Your birthday (even if you do not intentionally share it, you may receive public birthday wishes from friend and family)
- Your mother’s maiden name, if she is your friend on the social media site and is currently using it
- Your home address when you create events that you are hosting or post items for sale
- Information you may use in passwords such as your pets names, anniversaries, and favorite foods or vacation spots
This doesn’t mean you have to stop sharing on social media sites, but you should check your privacy settings, be aware of what exactly you are sharing when you post, and never accept friend requests from people that you do not know.
If you are a victim of identity theft and are unable to correct any of the results of such theft, feel free to contact our office at 1-800-219-3577, for a free, no obligation consultation.