The Obama Administration and the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) are aiming to curtail predatory lending practices by expanding the protections offered to active service members and their families. These actions are intended to broaden the Military Lending Act (MLA), crushing loopholes in current statutes by allowing it to cover all forms of payday, refund…
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The Pew Charitable Trusts revealed on October 2nd that today’s online payday loans are overrun with abusive and deceitful practices. In their latest entry to the Payday Lending in America series, Pew observed that online and Internet loans are more costly when compared to the loans offered by storefronts. Additionally, most online borrowers admit to…
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On September 17th, 2014, a federal judge certified a class action alleging that Safeguard Properties LLC broke the law when it hung “please call” notes on the doorknob of a homeowner in an attempt to obtain a return call. Door hangers were left on the front door of Lucille Simpson five times between October 2012…
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New York State just took a major step in protecting consumer rights in credit card collection cases. The state recently updated its requirements for debt collectors when filing credit card collection cases against debtors, aiming to put a stop to default judgments and unfair claims. A default judgment is legally binding, decided when the debtor…
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Imagine having paid-off a debt only to receive a legal notice years down the line insisting you owe more money. That’s what happened to Eduardo Austin of Atlanta, GA, who paid off a $2,400 credit card bill only to discover that Frederick J. Hanna & Associates – a law firm based out of Marietta, Georgia…
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“Convenience fees” never seem to be all that convenient, do they? Although convenience fees are common to countless businesses and service providers, these charges become an entirely different monster when a company illegally pushes them on its customers. RTB Enterprises, Inc. (d/b/a Allied Data Corporation) – along with the company’s president and sole shareholder, Raymond…
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Michael O’Reilly, a commissioner at the Federal Communications Commission, caught the attention of consumer advocates, businesses, debt collectors, legal professionals, and others when he wrote in a March 25 blog that the Telephone Consumer Protection Act needs clarification. TCPA lawsuits have increased more than 30 percent in the last year, he said, while several dozen…
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The Federal Trade Commission Thursday announced a settlement in a long-running case against two debt collection agency owners and their network of companies that threatened lawsuit and arrest over debts consumers often did not owe. The two principal owners of Rincon Debt Management, Jason R. Begley and Wayne W. Lunsford, will surrender more than $3.3…
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As debt collectors become more invasive in contacting consumers, spoofing has been utilized with greater frequency. Spoofing is a calling scheme that allows a telephone caller to fool the caller ID system of the recipient. Unfortunately, the law has yet to catch up with the problem as is so often the case, allowing ‘spoofing’ to…
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