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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

FTC's Proposed Rules to Protect Consumers

Posted on August 15, 2009
The Federal Trade Commission has posted an article on their website that discusses how the organization is looking for public feedback about their "rules" that are supposed to protect consumers from deceptive and abusive debt relief services done through telemarketing...

Relaunch Of Sued By A Debt Buyer Website

Posted on August 04, 2009
Several months ago we launched a website - Sued By A Debt Buyer - but we were not happy with the look of it so we have redesigned the look and feel of it and added some videos. Feel free to take a look at it and let us know if this is helpful to you or if we can help you in any way...

Video - Testimonial Of Alabama Consumer Regarding Debt Buyer Lawsuit By LVNV

Posted on July 25, 2009
Tim Barnes is a client in Alabama who was sued by LVNV, a famous debt buyer, and he came to see us as he had no idea what the lawsuit was about or why he was being sued. We were able to explain to him many of the items contained in our free report "Five Secrets Debt Buyer Don't Want You To Know About When They Sue"...

Debt Collectors And Credit Reporting Agencies - Even Closer Now....

Posted on July 15, 2009
We have often sued debt collectors and credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian, Innovis, and Trans Union) for working hand in hand to illegally force consumers to pay money they don't owe. It may be because the consumer never owed the debt or that the consumer discharged the debt in bankruptcy - but by "parking" an account on the consumer's credit report, money can be taken from the consumer in order to restore the consumer's credit report...

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Explosive New Lawsuit Against The National Arbitration Forum (NAF) By State Of Minnesota

Posted on July 14, 2009
We have known of the widespread perception that the NAF is beholden to debt buyers and credit card companies and now the behind the scenes revelations in a new lawsuit are shocking. It is much worse that we thought. We will post the pdf of the complaint filed by the Attorney General of Minnesota Lori Swanson but for now here are some exerpts: 1...

New Website On Illegal Debt Collection Voicemails

Posted on July 11, 2009
We have created a new website - www.illegalvoicemails.com that discusses the growing problem of illegal voicemails from collectors. We will be adding more information to the site including videos but if you have any voicemails from debt collectors, save those messages and head over to the new site which will help you fight back against illegal collection voicemails...

Fascinating Article About Collectors Abusing Collectors From Louisville Christian Examiner

Posted on June 23, 2009
This story by Karen McCracken is odd on several levels. First a collection agency puts WWJD on all of its letters - What Would Jesus Do. Second, here is the position of the collection agency: Harry Mihet, lead attorney stated: ?They treat their customers with respect, with integrity and the way they would want to be treated...

Debt Collection Video From South Carolina Consumer Protection

Posted on June 22, 2009
Here is a nice video summarizing many consumer rights when dealing with collections. While this is from South Carolina, most apply to Alabama consumers (except the discussion of garnishment and right to cure). If you are dealing with abusive debt collectors, please feel free to contact us through our website, our blog, or by phone at 205-879-2447...

Video - Debt Buyer Lawsuits - Right To Appeal From Small Claims Or District Court

Posted on June 21, 2009
Almost without exception Alabama consumers who have been sued by debt buyers want to know if they have the right to appeal if they lose their case or if the debt buyer has the right to appeal if it can't prove its case and loses. The answer is any party can appeal...

New Free Report - 7 Mistakes In Testifying In Debt Buyer Collection Lawsuits

Posted on June 20, 2009
The requests for our "Five Secrets Debt Buyers Don't Want You To Know About" has been wonderful and we appreciate the chance to help Alabama consumers who have been sued. But we realized that the whole idea of testifying at your Alabama collection lawsuit can be intimidating and so we have prepared a 25 page free special report that lays out the seven mistakes we often see consumers make while testifying...

Video - Final Step For Dealing With Illegal Third Party Contacts - Contact A Consumer Attorney

Posted on June 19, 2009
The final step in dealing with abusive debt collectors who contact third parties in violation of the law is to contact us or other experienced consumer attorneys to determine if it is appropriate to file suit to make these collectors stop. We will discuss more about filing Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) cases in future posts and videos but for now we will discuss contacting a consumer attorney: If you are dealing with this type of abusive collection agency, request our free report on making these abusive types of collectors pay for breaking the rules...

Video - Get A Statement From Third Parties Who Collectors

Posted on June 17, 2009
We have previously discussed who is a "third party," why collectors call third parties and some examples of illegal third party contacts by abusive collection agencies. Now we want to remind you to get a statement from the third party who was illegally contacted by the debt collector...

Video - Examples Of Illegal Third Party Contacts By Debt Collectors

Posted on June 15, 2009
The problem of abusive collectors calling neighbors, co-workers, friends, or family members is not declining but instead is growing. This is the best way to force a consumer to call the collector back - embarass and shame them by calling third parties illegally...

If In Litigation - Be Careful Of What You Have On Facebook

Posted on June 13, 2009
While this article by Belinda Luscombe in Time is on Facebook and divorce, the principal holds true for any type of litigation that you are in - understand that what you put on Facebook (or Myspace, etc) can be used against you. Lawyers love to find inconsistencies - the idea is "If you lied about this thing over here, then you lied about this over here...

Alabama FDCPA Lawsuit - Part Three - Defendant Is Served

Posted on June 08, 2009
After you file your federal court FDCPA lawsuit, the court will send a copy of the lawsuit to the defendant. Once the defendant receives a copy of the suit through the court, the defendant has 20 days to answer or respond to the lawsuit. There are a number of ways to serve a federal court lawsuit but the easiest is to find the "registered agent" of the defendant and have the court serve the agent by certified mail...

What Do These Difficult Economic Times Mean For Consumers?

Posted on June 07, 2009
We understand that the economy is in a serious slump. The government is buying shares in banks. Companies are going bankrupt. Billions of dollars of value are being wiped out in stock market declines. What does this mean for the average Alabama consumer with respect to debt collectors and credit reports? It is now harder than ever to pay debt collectors...

Video - What Happens On The Day Of Trial In District Court Or Small Claims Court In Jefferson County, Alabama

Posted on June 06, 2009
In this video I discuss what happens on the day of trial in a debt buyer lawsuit in Jefferson County, Alabama (Birmingham), in District or Small Claims court: This video does not discuss the actual trial but instead the "calling of the docket" and what happens before the trial...

Video - Debt Buyers Must Answer This Question - "Where's The Title!"

Posted on June 05, 2009
In this video we discuss the fatal flaw of almost every debt buyer lawsuit that we have seen - the debt buyer can't or won't prove it owns the debt. We wrote about this two years ago and, if anything, the problem has increased with debt buyers hardly making an attempt to prove ownership...

Testimonial - Video Of Consumer Sued By A Debt Buyer

Posted on June 04, 2009
In this video you can see and hear one of our clients talk about his experience in being sued by a debt buyer in Jefferson County, Alabama (Birmingham). This video was made right after his trial which he won in the District Court of Jefferson County...

How to Reduce the Risk of Banks Using Exempt Funds for Debt Payment

Posted on June 04, 2009
The Wall Street Journal has posted an article that discusses moves you can make to reduce the risk of your bank using exempt funds from being confiscated to pay for debt. In an earlier article we learned that benefits such as Social Security, veteran checks, disability and pensions are not allowed to be garnished by the bank if they receive an order to freeze your account...

"Closing the Benefits Loophole"

Posted on June 03, 2009
The Wall Street Journal has posted an article about a group of legislators who are pushing for the Treasury Department to close a banking "loophole." This loophole allows for creditors to automatically garnish funds, such as Social Security or disability payments, from debtors' bank accounts...

Why Do Pay Day Lenders Feel They Can Abuse Alabama Consumers?

Posted on June 03, 2009
I recently wrote about some of the abuses of Pay Day or Title Loan companies when they collect debts and a natural question is "WHY" do they do this? Or why do they think they can get away with it? First, most of these lenders are not considered debt collectors so they are not controlled by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA)...

Alabama Collection Lawsuits Filed The Week Of May 11, 2009

Posted on May 31, 2009
Here is an update on some of the debt buyer lawsuits filed in the state of Alabama during the week of May 11, 2009. Arrow Financial Services 26 Asset Acceptance 113 Atlantic Credit & Finance 92 Cach, LLC 4 Cavarly Portfolio Services, LLC 21 Harvest Credit Management, LLC 2 Hilco Receivables LLC 1 LHR Inc 2 Lionheart Funding LLC 61 LVNV Funding 15 MCM Holdings LLC 4 Merchants Adjustment Services, Inc...

Pay Day And Title Loans - Common Types Of Collection Harassment

Posted on May 30, 2009
We are seeing more and more clients who are suffering from some of the most outrageous forms of collection abuse. And the abuse is not coming from debt collectors or debt buyers. It is coming from pay day lenders and title loan companies. I will follow up with more information and with some videos but I wanted to give you an idea of some of the abuses consumers in Alabama are facing from these companies...

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

Posted on May 29, 2009
This is a question that Alabama consumers often ask us as debt collectors more often than ever before are calling our cell phones. We have previously blogged about this practice of collectors calling cell phones (and we have an article on cell phone calls on our website)...

Alabama Collection Lawsuits Filed The Week Of May 4, 2009

Posted on May 29, 2009
Here is an update on some of the debt buyer lawsuits filed in the state of Alabama during the week of May 4, 2009. Arrow Financial Services 30 Asset Acceptance 62 Atlantic Credit & Finance 46 Cach, LLC 3 Cavalry Portfolio Services, LLC 45 Cresent Recovery LLC 1 Delta Capital Resources, LLC 2 Harvest Credit Management, LLC 1 Hilco Receivables LLC 3 Lionheart Funding LLC 107 LVNV Funding 31 MCM Holdings LLC 2 Merchants Adjustment Services, Inc...

Pros and Cons of Bankruptcy

Posted on May 28, 2009
The Alabama Consumer Lawyer Blog has posted an article that discusses the pros and cons of filing for bankruptcy and the differences in Chapter 13 and Chapter 7. John W. Sharbrough, the author, suggests that for people who have a house they want to keep filing Chapter 13 bankruptcy is more effective...

Alabama Collection Lawsuits Filed The Week Of April 27, 2009

Posted on May 27, 2009
Here is an update on some of the debt buyer lawsuits filed in the state of Alabama during the week of April 27, 2009. Allgate Financial, LLC 1 Arrow Financial Services 12 Asset Acceptance 11 Atlantic Credit & Finance 2 Cavarly Portfolio Services, LLC 1 Delta Capital Resources, LLC 1 Hilco Receivables LLC 2 LHR Inc 2 Lionheart Funding LLC 23 LVNV Funding 1 MCM Holdings LLC 1 Merchants Adjustment Services, Inc...

Creditor Harassment

Posted on May 26, 2009
The Houston Chronicle has posted an article that very clearly outlines what constitutes debt collector harassment. Under the Fair Debt Collection Protection Act, debt collectors are not allowed to: Tell a neighbor, co-worker or non-spouse that you owe money...

Video - How Long Do I Have To Answer The Alabama Collection Suit Filed Against Me?

Posted on May 26, 2009
In our last video blog post we discussed that the biggest danger facing Alabama consumers who have been sued is not answering the collection lawsuit filed by a debt buyer. Since we have hopefully convinced you to answer - the question is "How long or how much time do I have to answer?" In circuit court in Alabama you have 30 days from when you were served...

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