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Wrong Party Collections

JKrumbein — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 04:17:25 +0000

Debt collectors sometimes make mistakes. They contact people who don’t owe the money. Not that no one owes the money, but the person they are contacting does not owe the money. They are just simply calling the wrong person.

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act has some things to say about this. First- tell the collector that you are not the person they are looking for. Give them the information so they can see it is true. Make them give you the last 4 digits of the person’s social security number, then give them the last 4 of yours. Why do you wait for them to give you the last 4? That ensures that they do not go about changing the system first. The last thing you need is them to make it look like you, as an “update”. You should be tracking the calls on your call log.

Once they know it is not yours, they should not be calling back. You can double check this, by sending the collector a letter, by certified mail, return receipt requested, in which they are instructed to cease communications with you. This letter is commonly called (incorrectly) a “cease and desist letter.” Right thought, wrong words. A sample letter can be found here. Make sure you track all the calls on your call log.

Once they are notified not to call you again, they are permitted no further contact. If they do contact you, you should immediately contact a lawyer to assist you.

If you have been impacted by anything we mentioned here, you can make an appointment to see us.

NO FEE IN YOUR FDCPA CASE UNLESS WE RECOVER!!

KCLS LIMITS THE GEOGRAPHY IN WHICH WE TAKE CASES.

YOU MUST BE A VIRGINIA RESIDENT.

If you are not a Virginia Resident, click here to find a lawyer near you.

OUR LEGAL FEES:

The rights afforded to you, as a consumer, under the FCRA and the FDCPA means that a corporation or party who has violated your rights may ultimately be made to pay for statutory damages, actual damages, and your legal fees. Therefore, if we agree to represent you in any case, you won’t pay any attorney’s fees unless we are successful and we recover on your behalf. We are here to serve and have assisted many consumers TO enforce their legal rights. Let us try and see if we can help you too. That means you pay no fee in your case unless we recover.

Contact us by e-mail or by telephone or fax or US Mail.
You can call us: 804.303.0204
You can fax us: 804.303.0209
You can contact us by US MAIL:
Krumbein Consumer Legal Services, Inc.
5310 Markel Rd.
Suite 102
Richmond, VA 23230

Order of bill payment

admin — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 09:13:35 +0000

Last time I talked about how to deal with collectors, and I mentioned an order of payment. Here is why the order is important. The order, from last time, is: 1- Food, 2- car and house payment, 3- Utilities, 4- Current bills, and 5- Luxury expenses.

The food always comes first in the order of payment. If there is no food, the reason for a house, a car, utilities, credit card payment, etc is pointless.

The house and car payments come next. It is much easier for a lawyer to fix the problem of unsecured debt (debt where there is no right to repossess a thing), than a secured debt. Your secured creditors are hard to solve, often requiring that you make deals to pay them much more than you ordinarily would. Unsecured creditors will often settle for pennies on the dollar, over long periods of time, because payments to them are so much more tenuous. You can have defenses, or file Bankruptcy, or just not pay, and there is often very little they can do.

The utilities and taxes come next. The utilities will cut you off, and the tax man will come get things, but neither of those things happens quickly.

Then comes the unsecured bills- the medical bills, the credit cards, etc. When they get paid it will be good enough.

Lastly comes the luxury expenses- vacation, jewelry, etc. If you are able to pay all of your other bills, then there may be money left in your budget for luxury goods and services. They are not things that you need, but might want. Instead of a vacation, try a stay-cation. You get the time off, but not the expense of travel. Instead of expensive jewelry, try costume jewelry. You get some of the look, but not the expense.

Consult a lawyer and maybe a financial planner. You need to know your rights, and how to get out of this mess. Above all, don’t play ostrich. Sticking your head in the sand and saying “I can’t see you” will not make the problem go away.

If you have been impacted by anything we mentioned here, please make an appointment to see us.

NO FEE IN YOUR FDCPA CASE UNLESS WE RECOVER!!

KCLS LIMITS THE GEOGRAPHY IN WHICH WE TAKE CASES.

YOU MUST BE A VIRGINIA RESIDENT.

If you are not a Virginia Resident, click here to find a lawyer near you.

OUR LEGAL FEES:

Dealing with Debt Collectors- a HOW TO

admin — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 02:43:58 +0000

Dealing with debt collectors

People often ask how to deal with a debt collector. Here are some simple rules that will help control the situation.

1. Pay your bills if you can. The easiest way to deal with a debt collector is to not need to- that is, pay your bills on time every month. By the way, this also means that your credit score will be as high as it can be in your situation. (there is more to a credit score than payment history, but history is the biggest part).

2. Talk to the lender before you miss payments. If you fall behind on your bills, it is often easier to deal directly with the creditor to help you fix the situation than if the account is turned over for collections, so as soon as you realize you are going to have a problem, contact the lender. Sometimes they will work with you, sometimes they will not.

3. Prioritize your debts. If you have tried dealing with the lender, the next thing to do is prioritize who gets paid first, and who gets paid last. I will talk about why this is the order next week.

a. Food comes first. If you don’t have enough money for food, then no one gets anything. Don’t be ashamed to apply for food stamps (called SNAP) and other government assistance.

b. Your car and home payments come second. This does not include second homes, second cars, etc, but does include the payment on your first and second mortgage on your home. These assets are important, because you need a roof over your head, and a way to get to work.

c. Utilities (lights, water, gas) come third. It is much easier to maintain your ability to have a roof, and a car if there is heat and air conditioning, water, etc.

d. Current bills. Medical bills, credit cards, store cards, etc.

e. Luxury expenses. Vacations, jewelry, etc. If you are paying for these things, you should be paying all of your bills. If you are not paying all of your bills, you should not spend money on luxury expenses.

4. Reduce your expenses. This is much more important for a long term problem than a short term issue. If you are out of work, but going back, conserve your cash, and keep going. If you are at a new, lower paying job, reducing your expenses is much more important. Downsize your house, downgrade the car. You need to look for a less expensive solution.

5. Communicate with the debt collectors. That first call or letter will not be the last if you don’t respond. Request verification of the debt. Start with making sure they are collecting an account that you owe. Dealing with a mistaken identity or ID theft is different from dealing with your own accounts. Verify the amounts they are requesting.

6. Consult a lawyer and maybe a financial planner. You need to know your rights, and how to get out of this mess. Above all, don’t play ostrich. Sticking your head in the sand and saying I can’t see you will not make the problem go away.

If you have been impacted by anything we mentioned here, please make an appointment to see us.

NO FEE IN YOUR FDCPA CASE UNLESS WE RECOVER!!

KCLS LIMITS THE GEOGRAPHY IN WHICH WE TAKE CASES.

YOU MUST BE A VIRGINIA RESIDENT.

If you are not a Virginia Resident, click here to find a lawyer near you.

OUR LEGAL FEES:

The rights afforded to you, as a consumer, under the FCRA and the FDCPA means that a corporation or
party who has violated your rights may ultimately be made to pay for statutory damages, actual damages, and your legal fees. Therefore, if we agree to represent you in any case, you won’t pay any attorney’s fees unless we are successful and we recover on your behalf. We are here to serve and have assisted many consumers TO enforce their legal rights. Let us try and see if we can help you too. That means you pay no fee in your case unless we recover.

You can call us: 804.303.0204
You can fax us: 804.303.0209
You can contact us by US MAIL:
Krumbein Consumer Legal Services, Inc.
5310 Markel Rd.
Suite 102
Richmond, VA 23230

How to Deal with Debt Collectors- What the Collectors Say

JKrumbein — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 02:43:32 +0000

One of my friends is a debt collector, and I asked him what advice he would give to his mother for how to deal with a debt collector. Here is what he said. First, the best way is to never need to deal with them, by paying your bills, but if you are forced into a situation where you must, here is what you should do.

1. Talk with the collectors. Ostrich technique does not work with debt collectors, they tend to get more aggressive, and eventually sue. That first call or letter will not be the last if you don’t respond. Request verification of the debt. Start with making sure they are collecting an account that you owe. Dealing with a mistaken identity or ID theft is different from dealing with your own accounts. Verify the amounts they are requesting.

My comments: I agree, but with a variation. You should communicate in writing. It makes the record so much clearer.

2. There may be tax consequences if you settle a debt, rather than pay the full balance. Debt collectors cannot give tax advice, and if they write down the debt by more than $600, they are required to send a 1099 to the IRS, and you could pay taxes on the money.

My comments: Yes, that is true, but if you are going to compromise a debt, tax consequences should be discussed with the collector before the deal is inked. Some collectors have authority to discuss tax consequences, some do not. Be on the lookout for a 1099 for the entire balance, or the forgiven balance, as this is not correct. You should not pay taxes on the interest, only the principal. Consult a tax professional for the details on that.

3. If you have problems, complain to the Federal Trade Commission customer service hotline.

My comment: And the Attorney General of the US, the Attorney General of your state, and you should find a lawyer who deals in collection abuse, like us.

4. Request a supervisor. If you are trying to pay, but the collector on the phone cannot make the deal you can afford, request a supervisor, who may be able to make a better deal.

My comment: If you cannot make a deal pretty quickly on the phone, you should not be talking to them on the phone. It is pretty rare that a supervisor can make a deal that a line collector cannot, and they often are just another line collector on the phone anyway. Better to send them a letter that says that you request no more phone calls, and that all communications should be in writing. Better still is a letter telling them to communicate with your lawyer.

If you have been impacted by anything we mentioned here, please make an appointment to see us.

NO FEE IN YOUR FDCPA CASE UNLESS WE RECOVER!!

KCLS LIMITS THE GEOGRAPHY IN WHICH WE TAKE CASES.

YOU MUST BE A VIRGINIA RESIDENT.

If you are not a Virginia Resident, click here to find a lawyer near you.

OUR LEGAL FEES:

You can call us: 804.303.0204
You can fax us: 804.303.0209
You can contact us by US MAIL:
Krumbein Consumer Legal Services, Inc.
5310 Markel Rd.
Suite 102
Richmond, VA 23230

Recording collection calls

admin — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 20:44:37 +0000

It is legal to record phone calls, but we advise that you do not, and we suggest that this article is a good starting point on why not.

A summary of Herring and Watts article is that in some states where collectors operate, it is illegal to record without the consent of all parties, and it is not strictly necessary- your testimony is admissible.

Virginia law is that any party to a conversation may record. VA Code §19.2-62.

Federal law is that any party to a conversation may record. 18 U.S.C. §2511.

There are 10 states that require that all parties to a conversation must consent, or the recording is criminal. California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and Washington each require the consent of all parties to record. The balance allow anyone who is a party to the conversation to record.

In ALL states and by Federal law, recording a conversation that you are not a party to (eg: recording your next door neighbor’s conversation) is criminal. There are exceptions in criminal justice, when the government obtains a warrant for a wiretap, but generally, it is illegal.

It is often very difficult to determine what state the collector is located. Further, even if you are located in a 1 party state, and they are located in a 2 party state, the question then becomes what law applies.

As a result, we agree with Herring and Watts, and say that even though it is legal, we advise that you should not record your conversations. In the event that you do record, we advise that you disclose that you are recording, and tell the collector that by staying on the phone that they are consenting to being recorded.

Your notes of a call are perfectly good records of what happened. Here is a link to a form for tracking calls, and making notes of what happened.

Also, you can have other people listen to your side of the conversation, or even participate in the conversation.

If you have been impacted by anything we mentioned here, you can make an appointment to see us.

NO FEE IN YOUR FDCPA CASE UNLESS WE RECOVER!!

KCLS LIMITS THE GEOGRAPHY IN WHICH WE TAKE CASES.

YOU MUST BE A VIRGINIA RESIDENT.

If you are not a Virginia Resident, click here to find a lawyer near you.

OUR LEGAL FEES:

You can call us: 804.303.0204

You can fax us: 804.303.0209

You can contact us by US MAIL:

Krumbein Consumer Legal Services, Inc.

5310 Markel Rd.

Suite 102

Richmond, VA 23230

Virginia Payday Loan Act Overview

admin — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 22:31:36 +0000

The Virginia Payday Lender Act (VPLA), §6.2-1800 et seq., is a statute created to regulate the way payday lenders in the Commonwealth do business, and to protect consumers from unfair practices.

The VPLA governs the conduct of payday lenders. The law defines a “payday loan,” and then regulates the behavior of persons who “engage in the business of making payday loans.” A payday loan, then, is defined as a “small, short-maturity loan on the security of” a check, a bank account, or your income.

Businesses that make payday loans are required by the VPLA to register with the State Corporation Commission. Under the statute, this also includes payday lenders on the internet doing business in Virginia. Payday lenders are also required under the Act to follow rules regarding the loans that they make to consumers.

First, the VLPA set limits on the interest rates that a payday lender can charge. (These interest rates can vary depending on other statutes, though; for example, interest rates for active duty military personnel are different). It also limits the fees that they can build into the agreement. Also, consumers have the RIGHT to start making payments (with a minimum of $5) before the date the loan is due without penalty.

Furthermore, there are additional rules regarding how the payday lenders can treat a consumer when they’re collecting on the loan. Like the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the VPLA prohibits harassment or abuse, false or misleading statements, and unfair collection practices.

If a payday lender violates any of the rules outlined above, the consumer is entitled to bring suit in Virginia state court. The law entitles a consumer to actual damages, statutory damages, attorneys’ fees, and court costs. In addition, any written agreement terms that violate the VPLA are unenforceable against the consumer.

Don’t let payday lenders take advantage of you. You have RIGHTS and you should exercise them. At Krumbein Consumer Legal Services, we want to be your advocate. We will stand up to the lenders on your behalf to make sure that your rights aren’t violated, and that you get compensated when they go too far.

YOU MUST BE A VIRGINIA RESIDENT.

If you are not a Virginia Resident, click here to find a lawyer near you.

OUR LEGAL FEES:

The rights afforded to you, as a consumer, under the VPLA and the VCPA means that a corporation or party who has violated your rights may ultimately be made to pay for statutory damages, actual damages, and your legal fees. Therefore, if we agree to represent you in any case, you won’t pay any attorney’s fees unless we are successful and we recover on your behalf. We are here to serve and have assisted many consumers TO enforce their legal rights. Let us try and see if we can help you too. That means you pay no fee in your case unless we recover.

Krumbein Consumer Legal Services, Inc.
5310 Markel Rd. Suite 102
Richmond, VA 23230
804-303-0204
804-303-0209 (fax)

Jury Awards $1.5 Million in Damages Due to Debt Collector Abuse

admin — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 16:05:17 +0000

Last week a Jury in Dallas, Texas made one of the biggest sanctions ever in a case involving abusive debt collections. The jury awarded Allen Jones’ $50,000 in mental anguish damages and $1.5 Million in punitive damages due to the conduct of debt collectors employed by Advanced Call Center Technologies. This story was first reported by WFAA-TV in Forth Worth. The trial was prosecuted by Dean Malone and Mark Frenkel.

Debt Collectors employed by ACCT admitted to making the calls which included the use of racial slurs, swearing, and mental harassment. All of this was over “Zombie Debt” of $200.00 that Mr. Jones had previously paid but his creditors refused to give him credit.

Even if you may or may not owe a company money they are not entitled to berate your in their attempts to collect a debt. By law debt collectors must treat you with:

Truth
Dignity
Honesty
Respect.

If you are receiving calls from a debt collector and he or she is saying things that

you could not “Repeat to your Grandmother” then your rights under state and federal law are being violated. It is time to act!

Debt Collector harassment is illegal and can be stopped Click Here for Help.

NO FEE IN YOUR FDCPA CASE UNLESS WE RECOVER!!

KCLS LIMITS THE GEOGRAPHY IN WHICH WE TAKE CASES.

YOU MUST BE A VIRGINIA RESIDENT.

If you are not a Virginia Resident, click here to find a lawyer near you.

OUR LEGAL FEES:

The rights afforded to you, as a consumer, under the FCRA and the FDCPA means that a corporation or party who has violated your rights may ultimately be made to pay for statutory damages, actual damages, and your legal fees. Therefore, if we agree to represent you in any case, you won’t pay any attorney’s fees unless we are successful and we recover on your behalf. We are here to serve and have assisted many consumers to enforce their legal rights. Let us try and see if we can help you too. That means you pay no fee in your case unless we recover.

You can call us: 804.673.4358

You can fax us: 804.673.4350

You can contact us by US MAIL:

Krumbein Consumer Legal Services, Inc.

1650 Willow Lawn Drive

Suite 300

Richmond, VA 23230

Who is a Debt Collector Allowed to Contact about your debt?

admin — Mon, 03 May 2010 00:24:36 +0000

KCLS LIMITS THE GEOGRAPHY IN WHICH WE TAKE CASES.

YOU MUST BE A VIRGINIA RESIDENT.

If you are not a Virginia Resident, click here to find a lawyer near you.

How can a debt collector communicate with a third party under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act?

As usual, we start with the text of the statute.

15 USC §1692c(b) Communication with third parties

Except as provided in section 1692b of this title, without the prior consent of the consumer given directly to the debt collector, or the express permission of a court of competent jurisdiction, or as reasonably necessary to effectuate a postjudgment judicial remedy, a debt collector may not communicate, in connection with the collection of any debt, with any person other than the consumer, his attorney, a consumer reporting agency if otherwise permitted by law, the creditor, the attorney of the creditor, or the attorney of the debt collector.

How is this important to you?

This one is actually very simple. A Debt Collector may not communicate with any third party about your debt, except for the purposes of location information.

A Debt Collector is not permitted to contact your family or friends or neighbors to discuss your debts. That would violate at least two provisions of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

A Debt Collector is not permitted to contact your family, friends or neighbors, once they know where you are. Contacts like that violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

A Debt Collector is not permitted to “verify employment” with your employer. This also may violate more than one provision of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

As you can see, this is a remarkably simple provision that provides a fair amount of protections.

In times past, contact like this might have been the tort of invasion of privacy, but Virginia has done away with this tort for most purposes. At least in Virginia, you have no right to privacy, only a right not to have your likeness used for commercial purposes without your consent.

If you have been impacted by anything we mentioned here, you can make an appointment to see us.

NO FEE IN YOUR FDCPA CASE UNLESS WE RECOVER!!

OUR LEGAL FEES:

You can call us: 804.673.4358

You can fax us: 804.673.4350

You can contact us by US MAIL:

Krumbein Consumer Legal Services, Inc.

1650 Willow Lawn Drive

Suite 300

Richmond, VA 23230

How is a Debt Collector allowed to locate you?

admin — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 02:36:14 +0000

KCLS LIMITS THE GEOGRAPHY IN WHICH WE TAKE CASES.

YOU MUST BE A VIRGINIA RESIDENT.

If you are not a Virginia Resident, click here to find a lawyer near you.

How can a debt collector collect contact information under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act?

The law on how a collector may collect information about your location is found in 15 U.S.C. §1692b

A debt collector may only contact a third party if s/he follows the rules.

They have to 1- Identify him/her self, state only that they are verifying location information, and only identify their employer if asked; 2- NOT state that the consumer owes a debt; 3-not call more than once unless there are specific exceptions; 4- not communicate by postcard; 5- not use any information on the outside of the envelope that indicates that they are debt collectors; 6- communicate with anyone after they know the consumer is represented by an attorney.

So what does this mean for you?

There are 2 things that collectors like to do that are violations of this (and other provisions) of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

Block parties and cube-farm parties (also known as office parties).

A block party is where a debt collector calls the neighbors all around a consumer and asks for them to carry some information to you, asking you to call. They call the neighbor on the left, the right, across the street and both diagonals.

An office party or cube-farm party is where they call your co-workers, and ask for them to pass you a message. It is the same thing as a block party, only at work.

Why do they do this? Because it is VERY embarrassing to have your neighbors know that you have a debt collector calling. They are going to ask you why this person is calling. Clearly, this is intrusive, and you don’t have to answer, but the collectors know that you will do almost anything to stop the calls- like pay. So the question becomes- why are they calling? It’s not to locate you. They know where you live or work. They can write to you, or call your home or cell phone, or work phone. It is for the sheer embarrassment factor of all those calls. The embarrassment, and hurt. Not only does this violate the section of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act on communication, it may also be harassment or abuse and an unfair and deceptive act under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

If you have been impacted by anything we mentioned here, you can make an appointment to see us.

NO FEE IN YOUR FDCPA CASE UNLESS WE RECOVER!!

OUR LEGAL FEES:

You can call us: 804.673.4358

You can fax us: 804.673.4350

You can contact us by US MAIL:

Krumbein Consumer Legal Services, Inc.

1650 Willow Lawn Drive

Suite 300

Richmond, VA 23230

Text Messaging and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act

admin — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 03:02:13 +0000

KCLS LIMITS THE GEOGRAPHY IN WHICH WE TAKE CASES.

YOU MUST BE A VIRGINIA RESIDENT.

If you are not a Virginia Resident, click here to find a lawyer near you.

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act is designed to protect consumers from abusive or harassing conduct, false or misleading statements or unfair act by Debt Collectors.

What is “unfair or unconscionable” under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act?

As usual, we start with the statutory definition. Thanks to LII.

15 USC §1692c prohibits a collector from communicating with third parties that you owe a debt.

15 USC §1692d prohibits collectors from using abusive means to collect a debt, including

(5) Causing a telephone to ring or engaging any person in telephone conversation repeatedly or continuously with intent to annoy, abuse, or harass any person at the called number.

(6) Except as provided in section 1692b of this title, the placement of telephone calls without meaningful disclosure of the caller’s identity.

15 U.S.C. §1692e says a debt collector may not use any false, deceptive, or misleading . . . means to collect a debt, including

(11) The failure to disclose in the initial written communication with the consumer and, in addition, if the initial communication with the consumer is oral, in that initial oral communication, that the debt collector is attempting to collect a debt and that any information obtained will be used for that purpose, and the failure to disclose in subsequent communications that the communication is from a debt collector, except that this paragraph shall not apply to a formal pleading made in connection with a legal action.

(14) The use of any business, company, or organization name other than the true name of the debt collector’s business, company, or organization.

15 U.S.C. §1692f says a debt collector may not use unfair or unconscionable means to collect or attempt to collect any debt. Including–

(5) Causing charges to be made to any person for communications by concealment of the true purpose of the communication. Such charges include, but are not limited to, collect telephone calls and telegram fees.

What does this mean for you?

It means that a debt collector CAN collect by text message IF they comply with all of the rules of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. But they are very limited, when they have a limit of 140 characters.

If they only have 140 characters to communicate, and they must 1-disclose their identity, 2-that they are debt collectors, and 3-that they are collecting a debt, all 4-without causing you to be charged a fee, and 5-without disclosing to a 3^rd party that you owe a debt, that’s pretty hard. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act is strict liability, which means that if they violate ANY provision, that they can be sued. It is similar in this fashion to the speed limits in the United States. Neither the police officer or the judge cares WHY you were going 40 when the speed limit was 35, they only care THAT you were going 40. You have to pay the fine. Similarly, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act says that they are not permitted to violate one provision in order to avoid violating another section. (See: Edwards v. Niagra Credit, (11^th Cir)). If the violate any provision, they must pay the fine.

Read next time about damages- both actual and statutory.

If you have been impacted by anything we mentioned here, you can make an appointment to see us.

NO FEE IN YOUR FDCPA CASE UNLESS WE RECOVER!!

OUR LEGAL FEES:

You can call us: 804.673.4358

You can fax us: 804.673.4350

You can contact us by US MAIL:

Krumbein Consumer Legal Services, Inc.

1650 Willow Lawn Drive

Suite 300

Richmond, VA 23230