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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

Collection Industry Reports More Lawsuits Against Consumers Due To Economy

Posted on February 09, 2009
As we noted earlier in our thoughts on what the economic problems would mean for consumers facing collection, a collection industry report indicates that more collection lawsuits are being filed. The reasons? As "Inside ARM" indicates: Kaulkin Ginsberg Director Mark Russell gave a couple of reasons for the up-tick in debt collection lawsuits...

Washington Post Article On When Debt Collectors Call At Dinner

Posted on February 07, 2009
We appreciate that the Washington Post ran this article about debt collectors calling but there is one area we want to clarify as it might leave consumers with the wrong impression about debt buyers (debt scavengers/bottom feeders/buyers of distressed debt - whatever you want to call them)...

Does The Debt Go Away If I File A Federal Lawsuit Under The FDCPA

Posted on February 05, 2009
A question we are sometimes asked is "Does it matter if I actually owe the debt that an abusive debt collector is collecting on and if I sue the abusive debt collector does the debt go away?" The short answer to this question is "No". Whether or not you owe the debt does not matter if you are the victim of an abusive debt collector...

Good Video Describing How To Choose An Attorney

Posted on February 03, 2009
I met Gerry Oginski this weekend at a legal conference and enjoyed talking with him. We discussed his wonderful collection of informative videos. Normally, his videos apply more to our personal injury and wrongful death practice but this one applies across the board and certainly applies to you when you are looking at choosing a consumer attorney to sue an abusive debt collector or to sue the credit reporting agencies for violating the Fair Credit Reporting Act...

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Foreclosure - How Are The Banks Treating Consumers?

Posted on February 01, 2009
Our friend Denise Richardson has an interesting post concerning investigations into the runaround that consumers are getting. Click over to her site and watch the videos. Particularly the ABC video where a congresswoman calls banks - if she has this much trouble, don't be surprised if you face similar runaround...

Social Networking Sites - Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter

Posted on January 19, 2009
If you would like to connect with me on these sites, click on the following links and they should take you to my pages. Facebook LinkedIn Twitter I look forward to hearing from you....

Visit Justia To Learn More About Watts Law Group, PC

Posted on January 17, 2009
Justia is a wonderful website that contains a tremendous amount of information about the law. I recently put up a profile on Justia that you might find useful - it has contact information and a map to my office as well other useful information. I hope this is helpful to you.

Alabama Bankruptcy Blog

Posted on January 16, 2009
We recently ran across a good blog by Richard Collins - the Alabama Bankruptcy Blog. Check this out - Richard has some very interesting blog posts on here relating to Alabama bankruptcy law. There is a lot of mis-information about bankruptcy floating around and we noticed Richard has published a book entitled "Bankruptcy Myths" that we plan on requesting...

What The FTC Says About Pay Day Loans

Posted on January 15, 2009
Pay day loans are almost always bad for consumers - in part because if you do business with people who will charge the types of outrageous rates that pay day lenders charge you can expect that they will violate laws when it comes time to collect the debt...

What Do I Do If There Is A Default Judgment Against Me When I Was Never Served?

Posted on January 07, 2009
We discussed yesterday why it is not a good idea to wait on filing your answer until you are served as this exposes you to the danger of a default judgment. But if you already have a default judgment against you from a collection lawsuit filed by a debt buyer (Midland, LVNV, Asset Acceptance, Palisades, etc) then what are your options? One option is to settle with the debt buyer...

What Is Contributory Negligence And How Does It Apply To A Consumer Case In Alabama?

Posted on January 04, 2009
On our personal injury blog - Birmingham Injury Blog - we discussed "Contributory Negligence" in the context of a car wreck or truck wreck lawsuit. We are asked how this applies to consumer litigation claims. Often we bring state law claims under Alabama law when we file suit for Alabama consumers...

Should I Wait Until I Am Served To File An Answer To A Collection Lawsuit?

Posted on January 04, 2009
We are often asked this question by people who have been sued by debt buyers such as Midland, Asset Acceptance, Unifund, LVNV, and a host of other debt buyers. They may have been previously contacted by collection law-firms such as Zarzaur & Schwartz, Nathan & Nathan or others or they may have found out about the lawsuit by getting letters from lawyers offering to help...

Denise Richardson's Give Me Back My Credit Website Is Back Up!

Posted on January 03, 2009
Our friend Denise Richardson who runs the site Give Me Back My Credit was down for a bit due to attacks but is now back up and running better than before. This site is a wonderful resource for identity theft issues, collection agency abuse, and credit reporting errors...

What Will Debt Collectors Do In 2009 Given The Economic Crisis?

Posted on January 01, 2009
The short answer is no one truly knows the future but our best judgment is that we will see a marked increase in the amount of violations of both the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The reason is simple - consumers have less money to spend on everything...

Is It Legal For A Debt Collector To Leave A Voice Mail Message On My Cell Phone?

Posted on December 29, 2008
We recently had a post about voicemail messages to your home phone and everything we said there applies to cell phone messages as well. The reason we have added this post is the rampant use of auto dialers by collectors against Alabama residents who have cell phones...

Is It Legal For A Debt Collector To Leave A Voice Mail Message On My Home Phone?

Posted on December 28, 2008
Debt collectors routinely break federal law when leaving voice mail messages on your home phone. According to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, a debt collector must give you the "mini-miranda" when having any communication with you. This means telling you that this is a debt collector and this is an attempt to collect a debt...

What Do Voicemail and Caller ID Have To Do With Debt Collectors Calling My Neighbors?

Posted on December 27, 2008
There has been a change in the way collectors do business because of voice mails and caller id. Before we had these technological aids, when the phone rang we pretty much answered it. After all, it might be a close friend or a family member who we wanted to talk to...

New Decision On Emotional Distress Damages Under The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act

Posted on December 25, 2008
Gary Nitzkin has an excellent post about a recent decision involving the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and emotional distress damages. This is consistent with decisions in Alabama federal courts. Even though lawyers defending collectors like to pretend that emotional distress damages can never be recovered (they drink deeply from the Kool-Aid) the truth is that one of the main reasons the FDCPA was passed is because of the enormous emotional damage that results from abusive debt collectors...

Can A Debt Collector Call Me About A "Charged Off" Account?

Posted on December 23, 2008
A question we often are asked is whether it is legal or proper for a debt buyer or collection agency to try to collect (call, write, sue, etc) on a credit card account that has been "charged off". The short answer is "Yes" with some exceptions.... An account that has been charged off simply means that from an accounting perspective the account has been removed from Accounts Receivable which is an asset...

Outsourcing Of Legal Jobs

Posted on December 07, 2008
The Wall Street Journal reported late last month about the explosion in US legal jobs being sent overseas to India. It seems the economic troubles are causing some big companies to reduce legal expenses by hiring cheaper Indian lawyers. While this is not directly related to consumers facing debt collection (although many collectors are now from India) or errors on credit reports (although the investigations occur off shore) it does show how the pressures on companies to reduce expenses (or raise revenues) reaches even into the most prestigious law firms...

Good List Of Debt Settlement Tips

Posted on December 05, 2008
Jonathan Stein is a lawyer in California with a couple of really nice blogs and he recently had an article entitled "Debt Settlement Tips" published by Avvo which has information about lawyers in various states (not in Alabama yet). If you are dealing with debt and need some suggestions, take a look at his article...

Denise Richardson's Redesigned Website For Consumers

Posted on December 03, 2008
One of our favorite blogs (and bloggers) is Denise Richardson who has a wealth of helpful information about identity theft and other consumer issues. Her personal story is impressive and the content of her site reveals her dedication to consumers. She has recently redesigned her website and blog - check them out and if you don't subsribe by RSS to her blog we recommend you do so in order to make sure you get to read all of her posts...

Motivation - Never Give Up!

Posted on December 01, 2008
While not what we normally post about on here - this post by David Ward is excellent and should be read by everyone who ever thinks of giving in or giving up. This post gives a short summary of the trials and discouragements that many great historical figures faced - including Lincoln, Churchill, Einstein, Babe Ruth, etc...

Two Ways Creditors And Debt Collectors Violate The Discharge Order After Bankruptcy

Posted on November 29, 2008
Our friend Jay Fleischman earlier this month pointed out two ways creditors and debt collectors violate the discharge order. As you may know, the discharge order prevents anyone from trying to collect debts that have been discharged. Jay points out that collectors and creditors will either directly contact you to collect the debt or leave false information on your credit reports...

Scam Warnings From Better Business Bureaus

Posted on November 05, 2008
Denise Richardson has a good post up about some recent scams that are affecting people, particularly older Americans. Check out her post and remember if something "smells wrong" trust your instincts - it probably is and you should proceed with caution.

Credit Repair Firms Sued By FTC

Posted on November 02, 2008
Credit reports are so important that there is the temptation to want to remove all negative information. We help consumers dispute false negative information but not correct negative information. Unfortunately, there are many credit repair firms that charge money to remove correct negative accounts...

Productivity - Why We Use Box.net

Posted on November 01, 2008
We made a decision to scan all of our documents in which left us with the question of where do we scan the documents to? We experimented with server options but ultimately decided to fully embrace keeping information on the web. Box.net is a simple site that organizes documents the same way you would organize them on your hard drive...

Want A 6 Minute Video Explanation Of The Financial Crisis - Watch It Here

Posted on October 30, 2008
Here is a great 6 minute explanation (with whiteboard) using bottles and glasses to explain the mess that has been created. I found this through a wonderful blog dealing with making presentations - Presentation Zen (great book also!). Check out this video and the Presentation Zen website...

10 Important Steps For Alabama Consumers To Keep Their Credit Reports Clean

Posted on October 28, 2008
In these turbulent economic times, it is more important than ever to keep your credit reports clean and free of errors. Having an error could lead to your credit card limits being reduced. Your credit card rates being increased. Losing a security clearance which could lead to losing your job...

Productivity - Why We Use Gmail

Posted on October 26, 2008
As lawyers representing Alabama consumers most of our cases are in federal court. After filing the case everything happens electronically with all orders and motions, etc. being sent by email. Most of the lawyers on the other side communicate mainly by email...

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