Mann-Bracken was once consumers’ worst nightmare, but now it seems as though the former law firm is reaching from the grave. In late 2009, Mann-Bracken’s collection arm, Axiant, filed for bankruptcy, and the firm closed its doors. According to Gazette.net, fair debt attorneys are reporting that consumers who have paid their Mann-Bracken debts have had their wages garnished – even after Mann-Bracken went under. Other consumers may be contacted by creditors who haven’t received the payments collected by Mann-Bracken, and may be told that they have to pay again. Don’t believe it.
Credit Card Companies May Be Ditching Tainted Arbitration
Credit card companies have long required consumers to participate in arbitration to settle disputes over unpaid bills. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, the nation’s largest mediators, the National Arbitration Forum (NAF) and the American Arbitration Association, have stopped hearing such cases. Moreover, credit card companies are increasingly dropping the requirement for arbitration.
Why? According to the WSJ, NAF allegedly didn’t handle arbitration fairly and impartially. Indeed, the company may have been deciding against consumers so that its sister company, Axiant LLC, could collect the debt. The Minnesota Attorney General alleged in July that the parent company, Accretive, was working both sides of the aisle, as an arbiter and as a collection agency. Accretive was also tied to the Mann Bracken law firm, which is known for representing credit card companies in arbitration. It’s no surprise, then, that an NAF official recently testified to Congress that 94% of debt collection arbitrations found in favor of the credit card companies - and that a former arbitrator who is a Harvard law professor testified that NAF stopped using her after she ruled in favor of a consumer.
