Judge Rules Against Messerli and Kramer, P.A. in FDCPA CasePosted in Blog Entries on November 18, 2011 by Administrator A federal judge rule against Messerli and Kramer, P.A. in a recent Fair Debt Collection Practices Act case. A plaintiff had brought a lawsuit against Messerli and Kramer, P.A. for their unlawful colleciton efforts. Messerli and Kramer, P.A. responded to the lawsuit by filing a motion to dismiss. The judge granted their motion in part and denied it in part.
The judge found that Messerli and Kramer, P.A. violated 15 U.S.C. 1692g of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Messerli and Kramer, P.A. had sent three letters to Plaintiff within a thirty day period. The first letter included a validation notice as required by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. The second letter requested that Plaintiff contact Messerli and Kramer, P.A. in order to resolve the matter. However, the third letter stated that Messerli and Kramer, P.A. had given Plaintiff "an opportunity to resolve this matter." It went on to provide: "you must call our office . . . immediately if you want to resolve this matter voluntarily." The judge found that the third letter suggested that Plaintiff was out of time and no longer had the option to dispute his debt, even though only twenty-two days had passed since the validation notice was sent to Plaintiff. Thus, Messerli and Kramer, P.A. had overshadowed Plaintiff's right to dispute the debt.
The judge also found that Plaintiff had stated a claim against Messerli and Kramer, P.A. because Messerli and Kramer, P.A. proceeded with an administrative default judgment against Plaintiff within twenty-five days of serving him with a Notice of Intent to Garnish/Levy Earnings in violation of Minnesota State law.
If you have been receiving collection letters from Messerli and Kramer, P.A. do not throw away the letters and contact Patrick L. Hayes at 612-821-4817. $21 Million Awarded to Home Owner Againt Sloppy Mortgage CompanyPosted in Blog Entries on April 11, 2011 by Administrator A jury awarded a homeowner $21 million against a mortgage company. U.S. Sergant David Brash had his mortgage payments deducted directly from his army paycheck. One day the mortgage company lost a payment. Then the collection telephone calls began. Brash repeatedly attempted to resolve the issue with his mortgage company. He also recorded the telephone conversations. Brash was repeatedly assured that his mortgage problems were resolved. However, the mortgage started reported the mortgage as late to Trans Union, Equifax and Experian.
No More Debt Collector Phone CallsPosted in Blog Entries on January 12, 2011 by Administrator Fight Back Against Debt Collectors with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
Are you a victim of unlawful debt collection practices?
The FDCPA considers the following as violations of the FDCPA by debt collectors:
Under the FDCPA, you have a right to
If a debt collector has violated the FDCPA, you may submit the details in the form given below and allow us to pursue legal action for you.
And, you have the right to
Don't let debt collectors harass you. Call an attorney today at 612-821-4817. Debt Collector Sued for Calling Consumer's Friends and Family MembersPosted in Blog Entries on January 04, 2011 by Administrator An east Texas man has sued a debt collector who repeatedly called and harassment him, his friends and his family members in an attempt to collect a debt from him.
Jimmy Cotten sued Nelson, Hirsch & Associates, Inc. in the Eastern District of Texas on December 15, 2010 for violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and for violations of the Texas Debt Collection Act. He has also accused Nelson, Hirsch & Associates, Inc. of Invasion of Privacy and Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress.
Cotten is represented by an attorney and has requested actual damages, statutory damages, plus attorneys and costs. Stop Debt Collection Abuse today. Call an attorney and fight back with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
Credit Card Debt | $300 MillionPosted in Blog Entries on January 03, 2011 by Administrator What's in your wallet? A Philadelphia area women received credit card bill for almost $300 million from Capital One. Patrice Perry endured months of creditor harassment from Capital One. Then in August she received a credit card billing statement from Capital One for $286,651,237.
Apparently Perry first received a bill from Capital One last year that said she owed $4,800. She received subsequent bills from Capital One seeking more money and sometimes less money.
Perry will not be paying with $300 million credit card bill. She has decided to sue Capital One instead.
For more information about Perry's story click here. Debt Collectors Create False Courts to Collect DebtsPosted in Blog Entries on December 27, 2010 by Administrator Debt Collectors have sunk to new lows in an effort to collect debts from consumers. A group of debt collectors decided to to use false and frauduant courts in order to try and collect debts from consumers.
Remember it is not illegal to default on or to not pay your debts. Debt collectors cannot threaten to put you in jail. Stop debt collection abuse. Fight back with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. For more information about the debt collectors who were using phony courts to collect debts click here. Criminals Acting as Debt Collectors | Debt Collector HarassmentPosted in Blog Entries on December 14, 2010 by Administrator The following article was printed the Star Tribune on December 12, 2010.
Our own attorney Patrick L. Hayes was quoted.
Criminals land jobs as debt collectorsBy CHRIS SERRES and GLENN HOWATT, Star Tribune staff writers December 12, 2010 Lee Song had already been caught forging checks when she swindled her former employer out of $127,122 by submitting phony payment vouchers.
Yet, less than four years later, the Minnesota Commerce Department cleared Song to work as a debt collector -- a job with access to people's private financial information. Song is one of at least 743 criminal offenders in Minnesota who have been registered as debt collectors since 2005, a Star Tribune investigation has found. When offenders filled out state applications to be debt collectors, 75 percent of them lied about having a criminal past. The Commerce Department, which regulates collectors, routinely approves criminals to work in the collections industry without conducting background checks. "The system in this state for screening collectors is broken," said Patrick Hayes, a consumer attorney in Minneapolis. "These are people who can find out where you bank, where you live, even where your friends and relatives live, and the state doesn't seem to care if they are hardened criminals. Why even register collectors if you register criminals?" Their crimes include identity theft, rape, check forgery, assault, and most frequent, serious drunken driving offenses. Most offenders can legally work as collectors because state law excludes only those convicted of fraud or any felony within five years of their application. Still, some collectors who shouldn't qualify because of their recent crimes are getting jobs. Since 2005, at least 111 registered collectors, including Song, had committed crimes that under state law should have barred them from debt collecting, according to the Star Tribune analysis of registration and court data. About a third of them still are registered as collectors. Song, 32, went on an illegal shopping spree after the state approved her application to work at Receivables Management Solutions, a collections firm in West St. Paul. She ordered $1,561 in jewelry, car repairs and food using credit card numbers stolen from people she telephoned about unpaid debts. When police in April led Song away from the call center, it was the fourth time in nine years she was arrested for a financial crime. Not checking the lies The Commerce Department says it lacks resources to conduct criminal background checks on all applicants and asserts that collections firms must do it or face fines. Yet collections firms often point to state government for registering criminals as collectors, effectively giving them a stamp of approval. "If there are instances of registered collectors operating in Minnesota with a felony conviction on their record, it is because the collection agencies they work for failed to do a thorough background check," said Nicole Garrison-Sprenger, a Commerce Department spokeswoman. The department said it reviews the criminal records only of those who check the box admitting to past crimes, or when the department receives information suggesting someone has a criminal history. Criminals who lie don't get a background check. "It makes absolutely no sense," said state Sen. Sandra Pappas, DFL-St. Paul, who has sponsored legislation to protect consumers with debts. She said she was not aware of the limited screening until the Star Tribune asked her about it. "People can simply lie and say they don't have any convictions and get registered anyway." One in 12 debt collector applicants cleared to work in Minnesota call centers since 2005 had criminal records in the state. And 120 of the 743 offenders were registered more than once. Some collections firms say they check every applicant, but offenses can be missed because of errors in criminal databases. Other firms wrongly assume the Commerce Department routinely conducts criminal background checks, according to the industry trade group ACA International, based in Edina. "In some instances, there is a misunderstanding over who is actually doing the work," said ACA spokesman Mark Schiffman. "I've heard from a few [collection] agencies who thought this was the responsibility of the state." He said hiring people recently convicted of felonies or fraud is "intolerable." Theft, and illegal tactics With so much data at their fingertips, unscrupulous collectors can wreak havoc on people struggling with unpaid bills. Debt collectors often have access to Social Security numbers and use "skip tracing" tools to identify a person's employer, unpaid loan balances, phone numbers, home address and relatives. They also prowl the Internet. Last year, a Texas collector with a criminal past telephoned Tosha Sohns, a Shakopee woman who owed money on a car. The collector said she had seen a photo of Sohns' "beautiful daughter" on MySpace. Then the collector asked, "Wouldn't it be terrible if something happened to her?" according to a lawsuit Sohns filed against the collections firm alleging harassment and invasion of privacy. The collector denied making the threat but admitted the rest. Criminals can be good collectors. For two years before police led her away in handcuffs, Song's nickname "LuLu" frequently appeared on an office white board listing the day's top-grossing collectors.
Then last March, a woman facing collection by Song's employer complained about unauthorized charges on her credit card. The collections firm checked recordings of Song's work telephone. She had ordered food from a St. Paul restaurant using the woman's card number. Soon, other thefts were discovered. "It didn't make a lot of sense because she was one of our top collectors and was making decent money," said Bob Dunham, president of Receivables Management Solutions, who also said that Song's background check was clean. Song had lied on a 2008 state registration application by checking a box saying she had never been convicted of a crime, state records show. Song forged checks she stole from roommates in 2001, but a judge dropped the felony charge. A year later, Song asked a co-worker to cash two stolen checks, pocketing $1,162. In a plea bargain, the felony was reduced to a misdemeanor with probation. In Song's biggest scam, she forged signatures on 32 payment vouchers submitted to her former employer, a medical device company. The company paid her $127,122 before spotting the forgeries. She pleaded guilty in 2005 to felony theft by swindle. It was while she was on probation and repaying the stolen money at a rate of $50 a month that she successfully registered as a debt collector, and began working for Dunham's firm. Song is back in the Hennepin County workhouse, serving a nine-month sentence for violating probation. She did not respond to messages. System fails repeatedly Sherria E. Mustin, 26, of St. Paul, slipped through the collector screening process -- twice. Mustin, like Song, had a criminal past. In 2005, she stole a friend's identity to buy a $1,460 computer online, then left a message on her friend's answering machine, "By the way, thanks for the computer," according to a criminal complaint. While the swindling charges were pending in court, she checked "no" on the debt collector registration form asking if she had ever been charged with a crime. In April 2006, Mustin was convicted of gross misdemeanor theft. Two months later, she was approved to work as a debt collector at the same firm that employed Song, state records show. However, the job did not last long. In August 2007, police arrested Mustin at work and accused her of persuading a co-worker to cash counterfeit traveler's checks, netting $1,029. Mustin admitted to police that she knew the checks were counterfeit, but gave them to a co-worker to cash, hoping to avoid getting caught. She pleaded guilty to a forgery-related felony and was put on three years' probation. But it didn't end Mustin's career as a debt collector. The Commerce Department had renewed her registration, which lists her new employer as NCO Financial Systems Inc., a Pennsylvania-based collections company with operations in Minnesota. NCO would not comment on Mustin's employment and its hiring practices. Mustin could not be reached. Violent offenders also have been registered as collectors, including Joseph L. Berntsen. In November 2005, a woman in Braham, Minn., accused him of dragging her into a bathroom and raping her. Berntsen, 28, later pleaded guilty to fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct. Despite having a felony conviction within five years, Berntsen was registered as a debt collector earlier this year, and went to work for Financial Recovery Services Inc., based in Edina. A company executive said Berntsen passed the firm's background check, but was recently dismissed. An Isanti County judge has sent Berntsen back to jail for methamphetamine use and other probation violations. In a telephone interview from jail last week, Berntsen admitted lying on his application to get the $12-per-hour job. He said he was fired for not meeting collection goals. "The biggest problem that we have is that collectors lie," said Terri Shepherd, executive director of the Minnesota Association of Collectors. "We're taking people at their word." 'Somebody should be watching' The word of collectors often isn't thoroughly checked.That explains how offender Keisha R. Burrus landed at AllianceOne Receivables Management, a debt collections firm in Eagan, where she allegedly made abusive calls to a partially paralyzed stroke victim in Dassel, Minn. Last year, Burrus and three co-workers were accused in a federal lawsuit of threatening the elderly woman over her unpaid medical bills. Burrus allegedly told her to "talk right!" and shouted at a home health care aide who picked up the phone. AllianceOne denied the woman's allegations in court documents but settled the suit without trial. The state had repeatedly cleared Burrus to work in the industry even though she pleaded guilty to felony theft in 2001. She had stolen someone's personal information and illegally charged an expensive diamond ring and bracelet to the unsuspecting victim, a criminal complaint said. The felony charge was reduced to a misdemeanor in a plea agreement. Burrus, 33, of St. Paul, was still a registered collector when, in 2008, she was arrested again. This time, Target caught her pushing $1,634 worth of goods, including vacuum cleaners, out of a store without paying. Burrus pleaded guilty to felony theft and was sentenced to five years' probation. Even so, the state renewed her collector registration less than a year after the theft, and she remained at AllianceOne until earlier this year. AllianceOne did not return calls seeking comment. Burrus could not be reached.
Laws have 'little impact' Minnesota is one of five states that require individual collectors to register with the state. The others are Idaho, Nebraska, Tennessee and Wisconsin.
Lawyers on Both Sides Feel the Sting of Debt CollectionsPosted in Blog Entries on December 06, 2010 by Administrator This was orginally published in the American Bar Association Journal:
Adam Krohn sues debt collectors for unfair practices, but he found himself in a role reversal last year when calling a fellow California lawyer who owed him money on a judgment.
“He told me, ‘Come get it. I want you to know what it’s like to try to collect a debt,’ ” recalls Krohn. So he had a writ of execution served on Scott Carruthers, who Krohn says picked up another $90 in costs for the pleasure of teasing his adversary before paying up on a consumer’s Fair Debt Collection Practices Act claim.
Carruthers did not respond to interview requests.
Their tangle, ongoing with new cases in which Krohn says Carruthers is avoiding service altogether, offers a humorous glimpse into a decidedly unfunny area of the law: debt collection.
With the nation so awash in debt—the Federal Reserve pegs “consumer credit outstanding” at more than $2.4 trillion—getting payment from those who owe money has become a huge business. And a big mess, with plenty of opportunities for lawyers to find work—and get into trouble.
A Federal Trade Commission report released in July said the system for resolving debt disputes needs fixing. No other industry generates as many complaints to the agency. Much of the report, titled Repairing a Broken System: Protecting Consumers in Debt Collection Litigation and Arbitration, jabs a finger at debt collectors, including law firms. A chorus of consumer advocacy groups, too, has been turning out damningly critical studies with more granular specificity.
They point to the perfect storm of sheer numbers, with debt buyers picking up portfolios of receivables for cents on the dollar, computerized automation with little human involvement and courts accepting the word of lawyers bearing scant proof.
And there are the inevitable mistakes where some folks who don’t owe a penny still see their bank accounts frozen or wages garnisheed. They might be victims of identity theft. The debts may be past the statute of limitations or discharged through bankruptcy. Perhaps their name is similar to that of the actual debtor, or the money might have been paid in full.
Still, someone tries to collect on it.
To read this article in full click on the following link: Payback: Lawyers on Both Sides of Collection are Feeling the Sting
Stop Abusive Debt Collection Practices. Call an attorney today. Harassment | Debt Collector | Bank of AmericaPosted in Blog Entries on November 30, 2010 by Administrator Bank of America has been ordered to pay a hefty fine for harassing ex-homeowners.
A bankruptcy judge fined Bank of America $126,000 in damages and $63,000 in punitive damages for contempt of court.
Michael and Dolores Kirkbride filed for bankruptcy and as part of the process, they signed a consent order which allowed Countrywide Loans to foreclose on two properties that they owned. However, three days after the consent order became effective Countrywide Loans violated the consent order by trying to collect the debt from Dolores and Michael.
During a period of two years Countrywide Loans and then later Bank of America called Michael and Dolores more than 400 times trying to get them to pay the debt which was discharged in their bankruptcy. Bank of America also sent more than 20 letters demanding payment for the debt.
Do not ever pay on a debt that was discharged in your bankruptcy. Stop debt collection harassment. Call an attorney today.
Debt Collection Law Firm Tried to Collect on Illegal LoansPosted in Blog Entries on November 29, 2010 by Administrator A Kansas City based debt collection law firm has been ordered to stop trying to collect illegal pay day loans from consumers in Maryland.
According to the story by Jamie the Real Estate Wonk, Smith Haynes & Watson's deb-collection license has been temporarily suspended and if they do not request a hearing within the next 15 days the order may become final.
The pay day loans were made by unlicensed companies that had interest rate cops that exceeded the interest rate cap in Maryland.
Don't let debt collectors harass you. Stop debt collection harassment and fight back with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
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