A Pennsylvania debt collector conducted fake court hearings in a mock courtroom in its offices and even sent uniformed officers who appeared to be sheriff’s deputies to serve civil subpoenas demanding that consumers appear for “hearings” and “depositions,” the state attorney general’s office contends in a lawsuit.
Intimidated consumers allegedly provided their bank account numbers and even turned over the title to their cars.
The action seeks an order from a real state court freezing the assets of Unicredit America Inc. and prohibiting the company from continuing to collect debts or conduct further proceedings at its Unicredit Debt Resolution Center in Erie, according to a press release from the office of Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett.
The suit, which was filed by the office’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, alleges violations of the state Consumer Protection Law and federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
“This is an unconscionable attempt to use fake court proceedings to deceive, mislead or frighten consumers into making payments or surrendering valuables to Unicredit without following lawful procedures for debt collection,” says Corbett in the release. “Consumers also allegedly received dubious ‘hearing notices’ and letters–often hand-delivered by individuals who appear to be sheriff deputies—which implied they would be taken into custody by the sheriff if they failed to appear at the phony court for ‘hearings’ or ‘depositions’.”
The president of the company declined to comment Friday, reported the Pittsburgh Channel, a local ABC affiliate.
Attorney Larry D’Ambrosio is accused of orchestrating the hearings in the mock courtroom, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported. He could not immediately be reached for comment on the Erie County lawsuit.
Do you want to expose debt collector harassment? Do you want to have your story told on one of the Big Television Networks? If you live in the State of New Jersey, contact us directly by calling 1-800-NOT-FAIR, or by sending an email, clicking here!
Voicemails from bill collectors are a reality when you have been turned over to collections. The dirty secret debt collectors don’t want you to know about is that they very often violate the law (Fair Debt Collection Practices Act – FDCPA) when they leave a voicemail message.
They know they are violating the law but they still do it anyway.
There are three types of illegal voicemails:
Illegal threats or lies.
Third party disclosures.
Failure to leave the mini-miranda.
Debt collectors often call repeatedly when collecting a debt, leaving messages whenever possible and rely on the fact that consumers often don’t know their rights.
Debt Collection Harassment Attorney Craig Thor Kimmel was recently interviewed by the radio talk show, “The Voice”, on WEEU 830AM in Berks County, PA. In this interview Craig explains how CreditLaw.com helps consumers with debt collection harassment and violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act while answering questions from consumers who called into the show. Please use the following link to listen to the entire radio interview:
Even though the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) received nearly 80,000 complaints last year concerning debt collectors and unfair practices, its largely believed that only a small percentage of debt collector violations are actually reported by consumers. And while most debt collectors stay well within the boundaries defined by the Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), there are others who use illegal tactics including threats and intimidation to collect a debt. It’s important that consumers, who may be behind on their bills, know that debt collector harassment comes in various forms from intimidation to use of obscene or profane language-all being illegal.
It’s even more important to provide examples of some common bogus and illegal debt collection practices. Below are four illegal and bogus tactics that some debt collectors use:
1. “You’re Wages Will Be Garnished To Recover This Debt”: Unless a debt collector has legal authority to do so, they can not threaten legal action; third party collection agencies have no legal authority. In addition, the only way your wages can be garnished by a creditor is if a creditor has a won a judgment against you.
2. “You Better Pay Up Today Because We Know Where You Live”: It may be hard to believe but more than 300 FTC complaints last year were made by consumers citing threats of violence. Even implying physical harm to collect a debt is illegal.
3. Discussing Debts With Neighbors, Relatives and Employers: Debt collectors frequently call relatives and even employers to obtain information about debtors. Verifying addresses or even contact information keeps debt collectors safe in the realm of fair debt collection practices, however discussing the debt or even hinting they are calling about a debt is illegal.
4. “We Are Going To Issue a Warrant for Your Arrest If You Don’t Pay This Bill”: Failure to satisfy a debt is a civil matter, not a criminal one. Any debt collector who states you will go to jail for not paying a bill is breaking the rules pursuant to The Fair Debt Collection Practice Act (FDCPA).
There are many more debt collector harassment techniques including the use of intimidation of which consumers should be aware. It’s important that consumers know their rights as described under The Fair Debt Collection Practice Act (FDCPA) and stop debt collectors, who engage in illegal debt collection practices, in their tracks.
REMEMBER: Cell Phone Numbers Go Public this month.
REMINDER: all cell phone numbers are being released to telemarketing companies and you will start to receive sales calls.
…. YOU WILL BE CHARGED FOR THESE CALLS
To prevent this, call the following number from your cell phone: 888-382-1222.
It is the National DO NOT CALL list. It will only take a minute of your time. It blocks your number for five (5) years. You must call from the cell phone number you want to have blocked. You cannot call from a different phone number.
HELP OTHERS BY PASSING THIS ON .. It takes about 20 seconds.
JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s credit-card contracts will no longer require disputes to be settled through arbitration, a practice that lawmakers said was biased against cardholders, to help settle an antitrust lawsuit.
After a class action suit was filed by Philadelphia based law firm, Berger & Montague PC, the company stopped using arbitrators in July. Lenders including Bank of America, Citigroup Inc., Discover Financial Services and Capital One Financial Corp. secretly met or consulted for the purpose of requiring their cardholders to arbitrate all disputes.
It’s the “American Way”, turning opportunity into profit. It is certainly the way of the debt collector in these hard economic times with 15.1 million of the working class unemployed, 1/3 of which have been for six months or more. With people facing foreclosures, credit card delinquencies and utility shutoffs, the last thing they need is debt collectors harassing them day and night.
US News and World Report puts the average household consumer debt at $22,231, not including other debt such as student loans, which adds another $10,208, according to a May 2009 report. This debt has provided fodder for the explosive growth of debt collection agencies, which have grown in number between 4 to 6 times over the past few years to relentlessly pursue those on the lower end of the economic scale.
New York Financier J. Michael Cline had built a complex, billion dollar empire in the debt collection business, handling both sides of arbitration disputes for debt collectors through Minneapolis based NAF (National Arbitration Forum) and Axiant, LLC, a firm he acquired that handles debt collection.
In a July complaint, the Minnesota attorney general’s office alleged NAF deceived consumers and engaged in false advertising. Consumers didn’t realize NAF was financially affiliated with “one of the country’s major debt collection enterprises,” the complaint alleged. Accretive created Axiant in tandem with employees of Mann Bracken, a debt collector that represented credit-card companies in NAF arbitrations, the complaint alleged. At the same time, Accretive funds and NAF Inc. jointly own the back-office entity for NAF, called Forthright.
For more than a decade, most credit-card companies have required customers to use arbitration, rather than the courts, to resolve disputes over unpaid bills. Minneapolis-based NAF has mediated the vast majority of these claims. But both NAF and another arbitrator have stopped hearing arbitrations of consumer-debt cases, and major banks are dropping arbitration requirements.
