The American Bar Association recently released the results of a survey of state judges, which pointed to stark differences in legal outcomes between people who are represented by attorneys and those who are not. The judges surveyed said that, against the backdrop of the recession, they are seeing more consumers represent themselves. But 62% of the judges said that consumers are being negatively impacted by this trend. The ABA’s press release noted, “Nearly half of the judges responding believe that there is a middle-class gap with respect to access to justice, stating that the number of people who are not represented and who do not qualify for aid has increased.”
McClatchy Publishes Article About StopCollector’s Sergei Lemberg
McClatchy Newspapers recently published an article highlighting the work that StopCollector’s Sergei Lemberg conducts on behalf of his clients. After telling the story of Lemberg & Associates’ client Shawn Traylor, the story quotes Lemberg as saying that the increase in lawsuits against debt collection agencies is a result of increasingly aggressive debt collector tactics that cross the line into illegal behavior under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act:
“I think debt collectors have become more aggressive by necessity because folks just have less money. And how do you collect more from people who have less money? You have to become more aggressive,” Lemberg reasoned.
United Recovery Systems Harassment
About United Recovery Systems
United Recovery Systems boasts over 1,000 collectors. Headquartered in Houston, they also have offices in Tulsa, OK, Phoenix, AZ, Bryan, TX, Harker Heights, TX, and Monterrey, Mexico. Earlier this month, they opened a new call center in Tempe, AZ, that has 360 call stations. They new call center currently employs about 150 debt collection agents, but United Recovery Systems expects to hire another 100 in the coming year. United Recovery Systems deals in retail, commercial, credit card, and deficiency auto loans. They’ve recently had some high-level staff turnover, hiring a new recruiting director and new chief financial officer. United Recovery Systems is regularly sued for violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
Stop United Recovery Systems Calls
If you want to stop United Recover Systems calls, you’re not alone. One way to stop United Recovery Systems calls is to send them a cease and desist letter. According to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), United Recovery Systems must stop calling and writing to you if you send them a written notification. After United Recovery Systems receives your letter, they may only contact you to notify you that they are no longer attempting to collect the debt or if they decide to see a specified remedy.
In your letter, tell them that you’re making the request in accordance with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, and that you insist that United Recovery Systems stop calling you at home, at work, on your cell phone or any other location. Also tell them that you do not wish to receive any further written or electronic communication. In addition, tell United Recovery Systems not to call or communicate with any third party acquaintances.
Once you write your letter, make sure to keep a copy for your records, and to send the letter to United Recovery Systems via certified mail with a return receipt requested. Keep your mailing receipt, as well as the return receipt that indicates they received your letter.
How to Stop United Recovery Systems Harassment Calls
If you truly want to stop United Recovery Systems harassment calls, your best bet is to contact stopcollector.com. The attorneys who work with stopcollector.com are experts on the Fair Debt Collection Practices act, and can stop United Recovery Systems harassment calls in their tracks. Best of all, stopcollector.com can pursue United Recovery Systems for violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. This means that you can be awarded up to $1,000 or more when United Recovery Systems engages in unethical and illegal practices. Representation won’t cost you a penny, since the FDCPA says that debt collectors who cross the line have to pay consumers’ attorney fees.
United Recovery Systems Contact Information
United Recovery Systems
5800 North Course Drive
Houston, TX 77072
800-568-0399
Buffalo Collections Industry Profiled in AP Story
About 10% of all complaints received by the Better Business Bureau last year involved a company in western New York. One of the largest industries in the area is debt collection. A recent AP story, published in the New York Times, briefly profiled the Buffalo-based collections industry.
Debt collection companies were drawn to Buffalo by its inexpensive office space, affordable work force and government grants.
Almost everyone knows someone whose son or daughter has worked for a collection agency,” said David Polino, president of the Better Business Bureau of Upstate New York. ”This is one of the industries that used to be Bethlehem Steel, the Chevy plant — all the places where you used to get out of high school and find employment 35 or 40 years ago, it’s now call centers.
The debt collection industry has brought many jobs to Buffalo. The article reports that between 5,000 and 6,000 people work at 110 collection agencies in and around Buffalo, the nation’s third-poorest city of its size. However, state and federal authorities have increased scrutiny of abusive debt collection practices in Buffalo.
Debt collectors, some of them convicted felons, have illegally posed as lawyers or unlawfully browbeat people — threatening to have them arrested or stripped of custody of their children — to scare them into making payments.
There are law-abiding collections firms in Buffalo, however, we have heard from many consumers who have been harassed by collectors based in the area. Glad the issue is getting some press attention!
How to Invest in Distressed Assets?
With the foreclosure rate soaring, some folks are trying to pick up real estate on the cheap and some are even forming private equity funds and other investment vehicles for that purpose. My blog buddy Warren Kirshenbaum is a lawyer who helps investors to buy distressed real assets. His blog, found here, keeps readers updated on issues and developments in the fields of distressed asset investing, workouts, restructurings, turnarounds, and syndicated funds in the real estate marketplace.
For those interested in the topic, it’s well worth checking out. Great job, Warren, and keep plugging away!
Dallas State Court Judge Awards $150K Judgment Against Debt Collector
A Texas attorney obtained a $150,000 Judgment on behalf of his client, an individual who had been contacted numerous times by a debt collector. A unanimous jury found that the defendant, First National Collection Bureau, Inc., a debt collector, had knowingly and willfully violated provisions of the Federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act (the ”FTCPA”). The FTCPA generally prohibits calls to cellular phones or using a prerecorded voice and/or an automatic telephone dialing system, without obtaining the prior express consent of the person called.
The Judgment will likely be appealed by First National, but this verdict could represent a potential step forward for consumers who have been harassed by debt collectors.
Creditors Financial Group Harassment
About Creditors Financial Group
Creditors Financial Group is well-known for acting like a dog with a bone, never letting go of a consumer until the person is intimidated, scared, and humiliated. Creditors Financial Group plays loose and fast with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Over the past year, there have been dozens of federal lawsuits filed against Creditors Financial Group. Many consumers complain about Creditors Financial Group calling their parents, sisters, brothers, and other relatives, and telling them that the consumer is under collection – which clearly violates federal law. They’ve even been known to threaten the relatives and try and convince relatives to pay off a debt.
Stop Creditors Financial Group Harassment
If Creditors Financial Group has your number, it’s likely that you’re being harassed. They call, and call, and then call some more. Your first line of defense in order to stop Creditors Financial Group harassment is knowing about the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. One important element to learn is that the law specifies when debt collection agencies like Creditors Financial Group must send you written notification. According to the FDCPA, Creditors Financial Group must notify you in writing within five days of first communicating with you. They must state the amount of the debt, the name of the creditor to whom the debt is owed, and notify you that, unless you dispute the validity of the debt within 30 days, Creditors Financial Group will assume that you agree that you owe the money. The notification must also state that, upon your written request within the 30 days, Creditors Financial Group will furnish the name and address of the original creditor if it’s different from the current creditor.
When Creditors Financial Group doesn’t notify you within that timeframe – or ever – they’re banking on the chance that you’ll run out of time to dispute the collection claim within the required 30 days. If the debt is in dispute, it means a lot more work for Creditors Financial Group, in that they must research the debt and obtain verification. Creditors Financial Group can’t continue to collect until they provide the requested verification.
How to Stop Creditors Financial Group Harassment Calls
It’s time to stop Creditors Financial Group harassment calls. To do that, contact stopcollector.com. With attorneys all over the country standing by to assist consumers just like you, stopcollector.com can stop Creditors Financial Group harassment calls. Moreover, if Creditors Financial Group has violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices act, stopcollector.com will represent you for free. It’s free because the FDCPA mandates that collectors who violate the law have to pay consumers’ attorneys fees. So, whether you need help because Creditors Financial Group won’t validate the debt, or because you want to stop Creditors Financial Group harassment calls, your first step should be to contact stopcollector.com.
Creditors Financial Group Contact Information
Creditors Financial Group
3131 S. Vaughn Way, Suite 110
Aurora, CO 80014
303-369-2345
NY Judge Stands Up For Consumer, Threatens Abusive Debt Collection Law Firm with Sanctions!
The New York Times recently published a great article about a law firm’s unsavory debt collection techniques, the consumer they victimized, and a judge that held the debt collector accountable.
The law firm in question is Pressler & Pressler, which knowingly sued the wrong person in an attempt to collect a debt from him. Initially, it was a case of mistaken identity. Pressler’s collector called Bronx resident, Mark Hoyte, regarding a debt owed by a different Mark Hoyte. Mr. Hoyte denied ever incurring the debt, and said Pressler was calling the wrong guy.
Pressler sued Mr. Hoyte in New York civil court for nonpayment of the debt despite having fairly clear evidence that they were suing the wrong person: Mr. Hoyte’s birthdate and social security number did not match those of the Mark Hoyte that owed the debt. As the NY Times article observed:
A person who blows off a civil court summons — even if wrongly identified — faces a default judgment and frozen bank accounts. But to date, there have been few penalties against collectors for dragging the wrong people into court.
Unfortunately for Pressler, Judge Noach Dear did not let Pressler off the hook so easily. He called out Pressler’s attorney for Pressler’s practice of suing the wrong person without proper due diligence:
“So you just shoot in the dark against names; if there’s 16 Mark Hoytes, you go after without exactly knowing who, what, when and where?” Judge Dear asked.
Mr. Wang replied, “That’s why the plaintiff is making an application to discontinue.”
The judge turned to Mr. Hoyte, who works as a building superintendent, and asked him how much a day of lost pay would cost. Mr. Hoyte said $115.
Judge Dear ordered Pressler to compensate Mr. Hoyte for his lost wages, or to face sanctions. Sanctions will be considered by Judge Dear in January, unless Pressler compensates Mr. Hoyte before their court date. A victory for consumers! Thank you, Judge Dear.
Over $1 Million Settlement for Consumers In Class-Action Fair Debt Lawsuit
The Billings Gazette reported that an estimated 31,000 consumers won a total of over $1 million in settlement of a lawsuit alleging illegal debt collection practices. The federal class-action suit was filed last year in Montana under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (the “FDCPA”), and included allegations of civil racketeering.
Plaintiff, Jeannie Cole, claimed that the defendants used false affidavits to win judgments against consumers. The affidavits in question were signed with the name of a dead woman.
The defendants named in Cole’s complaint included CACV of Colorado, Portfolio Recovery Associates, Johnson, Rodenburg and Lauinger, a debt collection law firm, and the bankrupt Washington Mutual Bank and two of the bank’s employees.
The Cole case was initially filed in state court by Portfolio Recovery Associates, a debt collector, in order to recover a credit card debt allegedly owed by Ms. Cole. Portfolio attempted to prove the debt with an affidavit signed by a Martha Kunkle, purportedly an agent of Washington Mutual. When Ms. Cole’s attorney tried to verify the affidavit, he learned that Martha Kunkle had died in 1995. Her daughter, a Washington Mutual employee, had authorized other employees to sign her deceased mother’s name on thousands of affidavits.
All three of the defendants have reached tentative agreements in settlement of the lawsuit. Thousands of class members could receive $25 to $500 in potential recovery. More details regarding the proposed settlement can be found here.
West Virginia A.G. Sues Internet Lenders
West Virginia Attorney General Darrell McGraw’s Consumer Protection Division has sued 17 internet payday lenders, numerous collection agencies and their principals.
According to the official press release from the WV Attorney General’s office, the lawsuits are part of the Division’s efforts to end the “victimization of West Virginia consumers by Internet payday lenders and their collection agencies.”
The Charleston Gazette published an article covering the lawsuits that goes into greater detail than the press release. The first suit names a series of related ventures and individuals that operated websites that made loans with unlawfully high interest rates under the trade name “FFD Resources.”
Consumers who took out payday loans from the defendants ended up paying as much as ten times the principal in interest.
The companies named in the lawsuit had ignored McGraw’s investigative subpoenas and violated a court order prohibiting collection on their unlawful loans in the state.
The second suit requests that the court order four collection agencies, Capital Collections, LLC, Claims Investigators of America, Crime Monitoring Center and Premier Recovery Group, to comply with the Attorney General’s subpoenas and to stop collecting in West Virginia.
We applaud the WV Attorney General’s commitment to consumer protection. Some of the companies sued are notorious violators of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, and are extremely skilled at dodging the law.
