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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

Credit Card Companies Find A Way Around The Credit Card Accountability Act

Posted on September 19, 2010
The Wall Street Journal has posted an article about the unexpected dangers of "professional" credit cards, which are typically used by small businesses or corporations. It's a little known fact that professional cards aren't covered under the Credit Card Accountability and Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009...

Article On Should You Pay Off A Debt That Is Not Yours To Get It Off Your Credit Report? No....

Posted on September 18, 2010
It is not unusual for consumers to find a debt that does not belong to them on their credit reports. When you call the company -- a debt collector or a creditor -- the response is often "Ok, maybe this is not your debt but if you will just pay it off then we'll get it off your credit reports...

Treasury Admits Mortgage Modification Programs Are Really Designed To Help Banks

Posted on September 17, 2010
Truth-out.org has posted an article how the difficulties of the government instigated mortgage assistance programs were designed to help banks "earn their way back to health." Only a small percentage of homeowners are eligible to receive any assistance, and out of those, very few get any "meaningful assistance...

Article On What You Can Do When Your Mortgage Company Lies And Then Forecloses

Posted on September 16, 2010
Fraud is rampant in the mortgage industry -- so often companies are lying about modifications and the net result is Alabama consumers are losing their homes in foreclosures when they never should have suffered a foreclosure. We have a new article on this subject which explains one option you have when you have been the victim of fraud by your mortgage servicing company...

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Article On What You Can Do When Your Mortgage Company Lies And Then Forecloses

Posted on September 14, 2010
Fraud is rampant in the mortgage industry -- so often companies are lying about modifications and the net result is Alabama consumers are losing their homes in foreclosures when they never should have suffered a foreclosure. We have a new article on this subject which explains one option you have when you have been the victim of fraud by your mortgage servicing company...

"Debt Tagging" Is A Growing Problem

Posted on September 14, 2010
The Washington Post has posted an article about the growing problem of debt tagging. Debt tagging is when debt collectors relentlessly contact a consumer about a debt, the problem is that the person being contacted doesn't owe the debt. Sometimes this is because debt collectors confuse two people with the same name and contact the one who doesn't owe the money...

Bankruptcy's Relationship To All Your Debts

Posted on September 13, 2010
The Bankruptcy Law Network has posted an article which gives some good information that you should know prior to filing bankruptcy. When you file any chapter of bankruptcy, you are required to list all debts you may have as well as your assets. Failing to list everything can have very serious consequences, such as being guilty of perjury...

Article Explaining The Five Benefits Of Suing Under The FCRA When You Have False Credit Reporting

Posted on September 12, 2010
In this article we explain five of the major benefits to suing under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA): 1. Forcing the credit reporting agencies to do the right thing and fix your credit reports; 2. Recover actual damages to compensate you for your losses; 3...

Debt Collectors Find Legal Loophole That Can Lead To Imprisonment

Posted on September 10, 2010
The Bankruptcy Law Network has posted an interesting article about a loophole that debt collectors in Minnesota have found to throw debtors in jail...a modern day debtor's prison. Debtor's prisons were officially banned in the US in 1833, meaning the only debt that will land you in jail is if you fail to pay taxes or child support...

Article On "How Can You Help Me After A Foreclosure When Everyone Says It Is Too Late?"

Posted on September 10, 2010
If you or your friends or family have suffered through an improper and wrongful foreclosure, and you are wondering if maybe it is too late to do anything about it, take a few moments and read this article. It is not necessarily too late and you may have more options than you realize.

Article On Why Your Mortgage Company Lied To You About Postponing The Foreclosure Sale

Posted on September 08, 2010
Mortgage companies and the lawyers they keep busy complain in court that they have "No reason to ever lie about the foreclosure sale date" and our numerous lawsuits against them for doing this are crazy. First of all, I'm not sure how a lawsuit can be crazy...

New Article On How To Dispute Errors - What Should Your Dispute Letters Say?

Posted on September 06, 2010
We are often asked "What do I actually say in my dispute letters to the credit reporting agencies when I have errors on my credit reports? We realized that we have not given specific enough suggestions on this and so we wrote an article that we hope will be helpful to you if you are like so many Alabama consumers who are facing false information on your credit reports...

Lawsuit Against "Debt Collectors Gone Wild"

Posted on September 06, 2010
D Magazine.com has posted an article about a recent lawsuit against a debt collection company that revealed some startling (and not to mention illegal) practices that were going on behind the scenes. Allen Jones filed a suit in 2008 against the Pennsylvania-based debt collection company Advanced Call Center Technologies, specifically including Alonso Rodriguez and Carlos Olivia- two of the company's former employees, after receiving harassing phone calls over an $81 debt that he claimed to have already paid...

College Graduates With Good Credit History Have An Advantage

Posted on September 04, 2010
USA Today has posted an article that discusses how you can help your college-age child to build a healthy credit score. Thanks to a new law that was put into effect last year, credit card companies are barred from issuing cards to people under 21 unless they can prove they are able to make the monthly payment...

Billionaire Victim Of $1.4 Million ID Theft

Posted on September 02, 2010
The Los Angeles Times has posted an article about a recent case of identity theft that involved Mr. Donald Bren, a wealthy and well known real estate mogul in Orange County, California. He has been ranked as the 45th richest man in the world, the 16th richest American and is estimated to be worth $12 billion...

Mortgage Relief Programs Falling Short Of Demands

Posted on September 01, 2010
The New York Times has posted an article about how the Obama administration's mortgage relief program, which was originally supposed to prevent about 3 million foreclosures, now looks like it will only stave off around 500,000 foreclosures. The dropout rate for one of these programs, Making Home Affordable Program- designed to "modestly reward lenders for modifying mortgages", is very high...

Ex-Debt Collector Confessions Part 5

Posted on August 29, 2010
CNNMoney.com has posted an interesting article ,that we have turned into a series of posts, where 10 former debt collectors were interviewed to share their experiences in the collections industry...and why they chose to leave it. Mike Huddleston worked as a debt collector at a bank for 11 years where he was responsible for collecting on, and sometimes repossessing, car and boat loans...

Ex-Debt Collector Confessions Part 4

Posted on August 27, 2010
CNNMoney.com has posted an interesting article ,that we have turned into a series of posts, where 10 former debt collectors were interviewed to share their experiences in the collections industry...and why they chose to leave it. Bruce McClary spent 3 years as a debt collector and says the agency where he worked didn't tolerate collectors using bad language or other harassment tactics with debtors...

Homeowners With Non-Delinquent Mortgage Payments Surprised By Foreclosure

Posted on August 23, 2010
Our friend Denise Richardson of givemebackmycredit.com has posted an article about how some homeowners are paying their mortgages, taxes, and insurance on time and wind up getting a foreclosure notice. One mortgage company, American Home Mortgage Servicing and other companies engaging in this are forcing the question to be raised: How is this allowed to happen and why isn't anyone doing something to stop it? Here's an example of someone affected by this method of wrongful foreclosure: Charles Smith says he is irate and at his wits end...

Credit Card Companies' Tactics For Getting Around Rules Designed To Help Consumers

Posted on August 22, 2010
The Wall Street Journal has posted an article that discusses how some credit card companies are attempting to bypass The Credit Card Accountability and Responsibility Disclosure Act of 2009 (also called the Card Act). The Card Act forced credit card companies to to give customers more notice about changes in interest rates and restricts "certain controversial billing practices such as inactivity fees...

Ex-Debt Collector Confessions Part 3

Posted on August 20, 2010
CNNMoney.com has posted an interesting article ,that we have turned into a series of posts, where 10 former debt collectors were interviewed to share their experiences in the collections industry...and why they chose to leave it. Michelle Dunn worked as a debt collector for 18 years and shows us a different take on it...

College Students Have Increased Risk Of Identity Theft

Posted on August 16, 2010
Our friend Denise Richardson of givembackmycredit.com has posted an interesting article on how college students are especially at risk for becoming victims of identity theft. Since July 2009 there have been more than 70 successful data breaches in 30 states; in 88% of these breaches an individual's or student's Social Security Number was shown...

Ex-Debt Collector Confessions Part 2

Posted on August 14, 2010
CNNMoney.com has posted an interesting article where 10 former debt collectors were interviewed to share their experiences in the collections industry...and why they chose to leave it. Bob Cook was a debt collector for 16 years and says he quit due to the high stress; he says he would even sometimes become physically sick at the thought of going into work...

New FTC Rule Will Aid In Debt Settlement

Posted on August 12, 2010
USA Today.com has posted an article about how a new rule from the Federal Trade Commission can aid consumers who are looking into debt settlement options. This new rule will make it much more difficult for debt-settlement companies to make questionable claims about their success rate...

Ex-Debt Collectors' Confessions Part 1

Posted on August 09, 2010
CNNMoney.com has posted an interesting article where 10 former debt collectors were interviewed to share their experiences in the collections industry...and why they chose to leave it. We will turn this into a sequence of 5 blog posts and highlight 2 former collectors in each post...

New Identity Theft Scheme Targets Children

Posted on August 06, 2010
Associated Press has posted an article about a new form of identity theft that targets children's social security numbers. Hundreds of businesses are using computer searching to locate dormant social security numbers, which belong to children who don't use them...

Article On Why The FDCPA Is Designed To Protect Debt Collectors

Posted on August 05, 2010
When we think about who the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) is designed to protect we don't normally think of . . . debt collectors. In a new article we explain how the FDCPA is designed to protect honorable . . . law abiding debt collectors from those debt collectors that are abusive and dishonorable...

New Restrictions For Debt Collection Companies

Posted on August 04, 2010
The New York Times has posted an article about an announcement made by the Fair Trade Commission that will help consumers rid themselves of "crippling" amounts of debt. The new restrictions are in response to complaints from consumers that lenders charge huge fees but fail to reduce the consumer's debt obligations...

June 2010 Consumer Power Issues Are Online

Posted on August 02, 2010
Every Thursday we send out our popular newsletter Consumer Power but it occurred to us that we should put our older issues online. We are in the process of doing this - if you would like to read our June 2010 issues you can read them here We talk about debt collectors, credit reporting, and foreclosure issues in our newsletters...

Victim Of Identity Theft Is Branded As A Sex Offender

Posted on August 02, 2010
Our friend Denise Richardson of givemebackmycredit.com has posted an article about one man's struggle with identity theft. Dan Wheeler's wallet was stolen from his truck about fifteen years ago and has been dealing with identity theft issues ever since...

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