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Consumer Law

Alabama Consumer Blog

Covers news and events dealing with consumer law in Alabama.
By M. Stan Herring

Post Frequency: 2.8/day

Last Entry: March 29, 2011 at 19:05:21

"Fannie and Freddie Start Returning Fraudulent Mortgages to Banks, But Crime Goes Unpunished"

Posted on March 26, 2010
ThePeoplesVoice.org has posted an article about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's intents to repay $21 billion worth of home mortgages to banks this year. Four commercial banks now dominate the home mortgage market: Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo, and they will receive the bulk of these repurchases...

Homeowner Insurance Can Cover Identity Theft

Posted on March 26, 2010
Waaytv.com has posted an article with some good pointers for avoiding identity theft and good news about identity theft and homeowners insurance. About 9 million Americans are victims of identity theft annually. The big problem is that people usually don't even know they're victims of it until they are contacted about bills or other expenses that the thief is responsible for...

Hidden Costs Of Payday Loans Can Lead To Bankruptcy

Posted on March 25, 2010
The Bankruptcy Law Network has posted an article that discusses the catches that go with payday loans and how it can lead to bankruptcy. Payday loans can be very convenient when you need quick cash because of dealing with things like bankruptcy, but you can borrow a modest amount of money and end up owing several times more than the original amount...

"Prepare to Pay Extra if You Fall Behind on Mortgage Payments While in Chapter 13"

Posted on March 24, 2010
The Bankruptcy Law Network has posted an article about what happens if you fall behind on mortgage payments while undergoing Chapter 13 bankruptcy. If payments become delinquent after filing for Chapter 13 "the lender?s recourse is to file a motion for relief from stay, which is a request that the judge lift bankruptcy protection to allow the lender to initiate foreclosure proceedings...

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Will Bankruptcy Stop A Foreclosure In Alabama?

Posted on March 23, 2010
We often asked this question by Alabama consumers facing foreclosure. The answer is "It depends." I know, that sounds like a lawyer non answer but stick with me. If you file bankruptcy AFTER the foreclosure, then it won't stop the foreclosure. Its already happened...

Capital One And 4 Other Companies Sued

Posted on March 23, 2010
Collections&CreditRisk.com has posted an article about an interesting case. West Virginia Attorney General Darrell McGraw has sued the credit card company Capital One and four other similar companies for "unconscionable conduct in connection with their credit card lending and collection practices...

New Consumer Guide On The Three Stages Of Wrongful Foreclosures In Alabama

Posted on March 22, 2010
We have published a short consumer guide on Avvo that discusses the three stages of an Alabama foreclosure. This is a shorter version of our long article on our website. There is so much confusion out there on when a court does or does not get involved in foreclosures in Alabama and what your options are after foreclosure that we want to continue to spread the message of the three stages of foreclosure...

"New" Free Credit Report Rules

Posted on March 21, 2010
The California Credit Law Blog has posted an article about the FTC's new rules coming into effect on April 1, 2010 that says websites advertising free credit reports must give a disclaimer at the top of the page saying consumers may have a right to a free credit report from annualcreditreport...

Banks Seizing The Wrong House Rare, But Possible

Posted on March 20, 2010
American Banker has posted an article that discusses the continuing problem of banks repossessing the wrong home. This certainly does nothing to help the banking industry's reputation that has been so tarnished by various bonuses and bailouts. Not surprisingly, the banking industry is claiming it's not all their fault...

Analysis Of Fair Debt Collection Practices Act - Section 1692b

Posted on March 20, 2010
In this series on the FDCPA we have discussed Section 1692 (Congressional Findings and Purpose of the FDCPA) and Section 1692a (Definitions of Terms Used in FDCPA) Today, we will discuss Section 1692b which is entitled "Acquisition of Location Information" which explains how and when a collection agency can legally contact a third party (anyone other than you or your spouse)...

Sued After The Statute Of Limitation In Alabama By A Debt Collector?

Posted on March 17, 2010
This is a question that we get quite often - "What happens when I'm sued after the statute of limitations by a debt collector in Alabama?" We wrote an article on this on our website Alabama Consumer but we wanted to give more detail in this blog post...

We Don't Handle All Cases Like "Better Call Saul"

Posted on March 16, 2010
We handle consumer litigation cases - suing debt collectors, mortgage companies for wrongful foreclosures, credit reporting companies for false credit reports and we file personal injury cases. That's enough for us! Maybe if we were smarter we could handle all types of cases like this extra-ordinary lawyer...

Interesting Interview Regarding What Happened In The Sub Prime Mess

Posted on March 15, 2010
Check out this 60 Minutes story and let us know what your opinions and conclusions are on this mess - did the author Michael Lewis get it right? Regardless of who or what caused the economic mess we are in - the fact remains that many Alabama consumers are facing foreclosures...

Psycho Dialing By Debt Collectors - What Is It?

Posted on March 15, 2010
Have you ever wondered why a collector was calling five or six times a day? Sometimes one right after the other so you get 3-4 calls in 20 minutes? As you know, the purpose is to harass you into paying. What you may not know is that the collection industry has a term for this - it is known as "psycho dialing"...

Debt Collection FAQs

Posted on March 13, 2010
The Federal Trade Commission has posted an article that gives a very good overview of what debt collectors can and cannot do when they contact you. The FTC says that the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act covers "personal, family, and household debts, including money you owe on a personal credit card account, an auto loan, a medical bill, and your mortgage...

Consumer Guide On FDCPA - What Are The Four Benefits To The FDCPA For Me?

Posted on March 13, 2010
We are often asked "OK I've been abused by a debt collector but if I sue what can I get out of the suit and how much will it cost me?" We understand this question because people who are dealing with debt collectors typically don't have a lot of money to spend on legal fees...

"Cash For Keys"

Posted on March 13, 2010
Yahoo! News has posted an article about how some homeowners with bad mortgages, and potentially facing foreclosure, are opting for an interesting solution where they sell the deed to their house and are released from a mortgage. Owners of bad loans are increasingly making deals with borrowers to avoid a foreclosure, which tends to reduce returns for investors and place a black mark on the homeowner's credit...

Consumer Guide - When Does A Debt Collector Violate The FDCPA By Calling Third Parties?

Posted on March 12, 2010
Here is a new consumer guide that helps explain the violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) when collectors (as they routinely do) call third parties. We answer these questions in this short guide: What is a third party? What can a collector ask of a third party? What are some examples of illegal things collectors ask third parties? If a collector breaks the law in calling a third party, what can I do? If you like it, please feel free to comment on it or indicate that it is helpful to you...

Analysis Of Fair Debt Collection Practices Act - Section 1692a

Posted on March 12, 2010
Our first post dealt with Section 1692 which lays out why Congress had to pass the FDCPA to stop abusive debt collectors. Now we will turn our attention to a very important part of the FDCPA which is the "definitions" section (1692a). This is where we always start to see if the FDCPA applies...

New Consumer Guide On The Difference Between Non Judicial And Judicial Foreclosure

Posted on March 11, 2010
I have a profile on Avvo (a legal help website) and I recently wrote a consumer guide "What Is The Difference Between A Non Judicial Foreclosure And A Judicial Foreclosure?" This is a short, easy to read guide that explains how states differ in their approach to foreclosure...

New Consumer Guide - Is It Illegal For A Debt Collector To Call My Cell Phone?

Posted on March 10, 2010
I have a profile on Avvo (a legal help website) and I recently wrote a consumer guide to the growing problem of debt collectors calling cell phones with auto dialers or pre-recorded messages. We hope this short guide is of assistance to you in dealing with this type of situation that so many Alabama consumers are finding themselves in now...

Rise In Medical Identity Theft

Posted on March 08, 2010
NPR.org has posted an article that discusses the dangers of medical identity theft and how you can better prevent it. Medical identity theft can not only affect consumers' credit scores, but also puts their personal safety at risk. The identity thief can provide false information, like blood type and medications, that can later affect the actual insurance holder...

Mortgage Modifications Can Affect Credit Scores

Posted on March 08, 2010
The New York Times has posted an article that discusses how mortgage modifications affect homeowners' credit scores. Lenders can use special codes to keep track and let credit bureaus know if homeowners are paying on time. When the loan modification program, which lowers mortgage payments for homeowners who are behind in their payments or in danger of imminent default, was announced in February, lenders used an existing code, called AC, to signal that borrowers were participating in the program...

An Analysis Of The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) Section 1692

Posted on March 07, 2010
We want to give you the text of the FDCPA and our analysis of this important piece of consumer protection litigation which is one of the primary weapons we have to fight back against abusive debt collectors to make them stop abusing us. This will be a series of posts and the format will be our analysis and then we'll put the actual text of the particular section we are discussing below...

Portfolio Recovery Associates - Do They Use Auto Dialers?

Posted on March 06, 2010
We recently sued (as we often do) Portfolio Recovery Associates (PRA). This time it was for repeatedly and illegally calling our client's cell phone while using an auto dialer and/or a pre-recorded message. This is illegal under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA)...

Lenders Distract Homeowners With Modifications To Foreclose Quickly

Posted on March 04, 2010
Foreclosurebuzz.org has posted an article about the imbalance of high foreclosures and low mortgage modifications. Despite numerous government instigated programs to stave off foreclosures, the numbers of permanent mortgage modifications remain very low...

Debt Collectors Will Pay More Than $1 Million to Settle FTC Charges

Posted on March 04, 2010
The Federal Trade Commission has posted an article about a recent debt settlement. Credit Bureau Collection Services, a nationwide debt collecting company, has agreed to pay more than $1 million to the FTC as a settlement for violating "federal law by inaccurately reporting credit information and pressing consumers to pay debts they often did not owe...

More Homeowners Tempted To Walk Away From Mortgages

Posted on March 02, 2010
The Associated Press has posted an article about mortgage walk-aways. Tishman Speyer Properties in New York City was facing the same problem that many homeowners are...they were paying more on mortgage payments than their property was worth. The real estate group paid $5...

Creditors Find Ways Around New Credit Card Rules

Posted on March 02, 2010
Our friend Denise Richardson, of givemebackmycredit.com, has posted an article about new regulations placed on credit card companies. However, creditors aren't willing to back down so easily and are finding creative ways to bypass losses of revenue that the new rules, that came into effect on February 22 of this year, might cause...

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