National Credit Adjusters, LLC is a national “debt clearinghouse” that purchases defaulted payday loans. Grabbing payday loans from all over the nation, National Credit Adjusters attempts to collect them in the respective states. The payday loans associated with Arkansan consumers contain usurious interest rates that are unlawful pursuant to Arkansan law. Arkansas Sues National Credit [...]
fair debt
Asset Acceptance to be judged by a jury. The Take-Away Dopey Asset Acceptance, a debt collector, cannot hide behind procedure to exclude from evidence a voicemail that captured it accusing a consumer of being a “fat motherfucker.” Alleged Facts A consumer filed a lawsuit in the federal court of New Jersey alleging that Asset Acceptance [...]
Sen. Al Franken (D-MN), a Saturday Night Live sketch comedian (think “Daily Affirmation with Stuart Smalley”), writer, actor, and author, recently introduced legislation in the U.S. Senate to tighten and modernize the nation’s Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). The FDCPA attempts to regulate what and how debt collectors can attempt to collect consumers debts. [...]
Hamid v. Stock & Grimes. In this consumer protection matter, a Pennsylvania consumer sued Stock & Grimes, LLP, a debt collection law firm, under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). She sued Stock & Grimes for having first sued her in a state-court debt collection action. She defended against the collection action claiming that [...]
Text Messages. A debt collection industry advocate reported on a non-scientific poll where industry visitors were asked how text messages play a role in debt collection. According to LiquidEdge’s June 2012 Industry Poll (of Newport Coast, California), participants were asked to report their use of text messages as a “part of their overall collection strategy.” [...]
LVNV Funding LLC is a junk debt buyer, aptly named, because its business model is built entirely around gambling. The losers of its gambling, however, are flesh-and-blood consumers, not faceless casinos in Las Vegas, Nevada. Junk debt buyers buy old, defaulted consumer debts for pennies on the dollar and then try to collect the full [...]
When consumers get in over their heads financially, they may become the victims of harassing phone calls from overzealous debt collection agencies. These agencies often practice other unscrupulous tactics that are illegal. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) was passed in 1978 to protect consumers from abusive and harassing behavior by debt collectors. The [...]
The Takeaway: In response to a consumer’s demand for verification of an alleged debt, the debt collector ordinarily must verify the debt by showing the creditor’s grounds for the claim and provide an explanation as to why the debt exists. The Facts: Apothaker & Associates (Apothaker) attempted to collect a junk debt that had been [...]
As Americans struggle in this slow economy, debt collectors are finding creative ways of separating struggling debtors from their dollars. One way is the use of so-called “balance transfer programs.” Many debts are legally unenforceable due to the expiration of the statute of limitations. A legally unenforceable debt is less valuable to a debt collector [...]
The 68 year-old Florida widow, Linda Long, won the right to pursue West Asset Management (West Asset) for damages in a civil suit. A Florida judge assigned to the case found in her favor after weighing facts that West Asset harassed the widow when it tried to collect a debt her deceased husband owed to [...]