Michigan

Debt Collection Attorneys ? Use a Writ of Seizure on Debtors? Safe Deposit Boxes

Posted on January 01, 2011
Happy new year. Its 2011 and we have a lot of good advice to give to our fellow debt collectors this year, so lets get to it! One obscure collection technique that we use from time to time is seizing the contents of a safe deposit box. Here is how it works...

Court case breathes a possible new life into Michigan's Judgment Lien Statute

Posted on November 16, 2010
Many years ago, the Michigan Creditors Bar Association, then headed up by Michael H.R. Buckles, spearheaded a drive to pass a law that allowed creditors to place liens on real estate owned by debtors. I know Mike Buckles to be a first rate lawyer and someone that just gets things done...

The absolute WRONG way to go about collecting a debt

Posted on November 05, 2010
Erie lawyer Larry D'Ambrosio is accused of orchestrating false hearings hearings held in the mock courtroom to deceive and bully debtors into paying debts. He, along with a collection agency called Unicredit America, Inc. allegedly set up a fake court room in their offices, had people dressed as court officers go out and serve subpoenas directing people to show up to the fake court room...

Employers ? be careful about pulling credit reports on prospective employees.

Posted on October 29, 2010
Hiring competent and honest people for your business can be a very tricky thing today. Employees are keenly aware of their rights under federal laws and the questions that you can ask of them. Gone are days of asking a candidate how old he is or whether she has kids at home with her husband...

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Collection Agency for Movie Studios is going to get into trouble

Posted on October 25, 2010
I just read an interesting article on CNET about a Debt Collection Firm called Copyright Enforcement Group ("CEG") that is pursuing people who violate the copyrights of movie studios. The author notes that people are bothered that CEG is seeking money damages from people before they go to court and a judgment is issued...

Senator Franken ain't laughin' about amending the FDCPA

Posted on October 02, 2010
I loved Sentator Al Franken when played Stuart Smalley on SNL. He was funny. But...I am not laughing now. Senator Franken has introduced a Senate Bill 3888 just recently that proposes to amend the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. As a debt collector, I can appreciate the need to amend an older law that was created many years ago...

Scam du jour - refuse to take a case and then get blackmailed

Posted on July 25, 2010
I was approached by email, last week, by "Lance Davidson" who represented himself as a Gulf war vet living in Indonesia. He presented a passport picture and a semi-burned promissory note allegedly signed by a well known and respected businessman here in Michigan who died a few years back...

Who looks silly, now, NPR?

Posted on July 22, 2010
I was recently interviewed by National Public Radio ("NRP" to you nerds who regularly listen to it...o.k. I listen to it, too). The reporter from NPR was doing a story about how social media has affected the debt collection profession. As a debt collector, let me just get this out in the open once and for all, because I really don't care what the bleeding heart liberals of NPR think...

Has the Michigan Court of Appeals given safe harbor to would be debtors?

Posted on June 27, 2010
In a recent opinion in Green v Ziegelman, 282 Mich App 292 (2009), the Michigan Court of Appeals took up the case of whether a creditor can pierce the corporate veil of a corporate creditor pursuant to the Proceedings Supplementary to Judgment Act and enter a judgment against the shareholder of that corporate judgment debtor...

The Supreme Court Rules that the Bona Fide Error Defense does NOT apply to mistakes of law

Posted on April 22, 2010
The Supreme Court ruled today, in a 7-2 ruling in JERMAN v. CARLISLE, McNELLIE, RINI, KRAMER & ULRICH LPA. held that the Bona Fide Error Defense ("BFE") in the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ("FDCPA") does not apply to mistakes of law.

Attorneys - Beware of the scam d'jour - The over seas client asking you to enforce her divorce settlement

Posted on March 29, 2010
In the last few months, I have noticed that I have been getting similar emails from people who claim to be stuck over seas (usually in Japan, they say) and would like me to enforce their divorce settlement. This mornings' read like this: Name: Jennifer Lunyang Email: aaxtos@yahoo...

Debt Collectors (and yeah..you lawyers too) take my message before you leave a message you might regret

Posted on March 28, 2010
In Foti v NCO Financial 424 F. Supp2d 643 (S.D.N.Y. 2006), the United States District Court in New York properly held that all communications from a debt collector must contain a warning that it is a communication from a debt collector. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) , itself, at 15 U...

Collection Attorneys - Do NOT pimp out your letterhead to your collection agency clients

Posted on March 22, 2010
Mr. Yaple, a California collection attorney represents (or may be represented) a California collection agency called TK Financial. Ms. Vlach, an Ohio consumer received a letter from Attorney Yaple in May of 2008 in which he informed her that he had been retained by TK Financial to pursue a debt against her...

My speech today was a success, except for...

Posted on March 19, 2010
Today my good friend and occasional opposing counsel, Charity A. Olson and I gave a speech to the Oakland County Bench/Bar convention. I sue debt collectors under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and Charity defends them. She is as good as it gets when it comes to defense counsel...

Debt buyer must show more than payments made on account to prove its case

Posted on March 18, 2010
The Michigan Court of Appeals recently overturned a District Court decision granting summary disposition to the Plaintiff in Unifund CCR v Riley. In this case, the Plaintiff sued the Defendant on an Account Stated theory rather than Breach of Contact...

I am announcing the formation of Michigan Consumer Credit Lawyers and its new blog

Posted on March 15, 2010
For the past several years, I have blogged about issues affecting debt collectors and their opponents, consumers. Some people have taken issue with the fact that I help both the proverbial Coyote and Road Runner. Too bad. Running a successful law firm such as Nitzkin and Associates has its advantages such as taking the cases that I want to take and representing the people that I want to represent...

Has the Michigan Legislature mistakenly hurt consumers while attempting to protect them?

Posted on March 11, 2010
Payday Loan Companies (?PLCs?) have a place in the financial food chain in our society. While they are akin to bottom feeders due to the high interest rates that they extort from necessitous borrowers, the fact remains that they are willing to take someone?s post dated check and give them cash that a bank or most other lenders, will not...

Its a small thing to plead but failure to plead it can lead to dismissal of your case

Posted on March 09, 2010
Attorneys, when you file a complaint under the Fair Credit Reporting Act ("FCRA"), be sure that you can make the following allegations in good faith: a. Your client posited its consumer dispute with the credit reporting agency (and not just the creditor/furnisher directly)...

Alabama A.G. wrongfully shuts down attorney who restructured debts for consumers to banks' chagrin

Posted on February 26, 2010
The Alabama Attorney General shut down Keith Nalms' law practice known as Allegro Law. Mr. Nalms, according to the lawsuit filed by the Alabama AG: The State?s civil complaint alleges that Allegro promoted a risky practice known as debt settlement, in which consumers stop making monthly payments hoping to encourage creditors to write off the debt, reclassify it as less collectible, and agree to settle for a greatly reduced payment...

Debt Buyers should be very careful in bankruptcy court

Posted on February 10, 2010
My colleague, David Lerner, has been described by our mutual friends as "blisteringly smart." I have cross swords with Mr. Lerner and have a great deal of respect for his abilities as do most attorneys that know him. Mr. Lerner made the cover of Michigan Lawyers Weekly on February 8, 2010 for his commentary on the case of In Re: Wingerter...

Need a Loan Modification? Get your docs together!

Posted on January 29, 2010
If you need a loan modification, you will have to prove that you qualify for one. There is an excellent article in today's USA Today that talks about the requirements that many lenders are asking of borrowers in connection with a loan modification. When we get involved in loan modifications for our clients, we ask for many of these documents in advance...

Oral Argument on the Bona Fide Error Defense

Posted on January 21, 2010
The United States Supreme Court has taken up the issue of whether the Bona Fide Error (?BFE?) defense under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (?FDCPA?) applies to mistakes of law committed by debt collectors. In Jerman v Carlisle, et al, the defendant law firm transmitted a collection letter to Ms...

The FDCPA Bona Error Defense goes before the Supreme Court early next year

Posted on December 15, 2009
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act is a federal statute that governs every debt collector involved in collecting debts related to personal, home or consumer items. In 1995, the United States Supreme Court in Heinz v Jenkins, made clear that the FDCPA applies to attorneys as well...

Collection agency posing as prosecuting attorney gets caught and pays $2.55 million

Posted on December 14, 2009
Some states have a bad check diversion program that is designed to facilitate the payment of bad checks to merchant victims. These programs usually involve a district attorney and sometimes even, a private collection agency. The idea behind these programs is to give the bad check writers a chance to make their bounced checks good without further escalation of the issue to the DA?s office...

Nice try, but I know about scams already

Posted on December 09, 2009
Last week I received a call from an "attorney" calling himself David Cook, from Ontario. He asked if I was interested in collecting a $500,000 case against a local steel company. Of course I am interested! But, I don't like pursuing a debtor without knowing my client or the forwarding attorney involved...

Attorneys beware of Internet con

Posted on December 09, 2009
I receive a funky email at least three times a week stating: a. We, of the Xio Shung (or some other Chinese sounding name) corporation have decided that we need your legal services to represent us in North America..... or b. After a careful review of your credentials, we have decided to retain your legal services...

Consumers beware - you may have skated past the creditor, but you may not be as lucky with the I.R.S.

Posted on December 07, 2009
Many people who get sued for debt usually compromise those claims in some fashion. In fact, many collection lawsuits that are filed are settled before trial. These settlements may include a reduction in principal. If someone gets sued by a debt buyer and is smart enough to stand up to that debt buyer by demand discovery of signed documents, then the consumer may be get off, scott free, from the debt...

Angry judge cancels mortgage debt owed by couple

Posted on December 04, 2009
A Long Island couple who were in foreclosure, recently had their debt canceled by an angry judge. They now own their home free and clear. The New York Post reported that Judge Jeffrey Spinner wiped out the $525,000 debt that the couple owed to OneWest Bank...

They collect more than just credit information about you

Posted on November 30, 2009
I just came across a great article written by Consumer Reports. It talked about information other than credit data that is gathered by other agencies about you. For example, insurance claims that you have made are collected by a company called ChoicePoint...

An ounce of fraud prevention.....

Posted on November 29, 2009
My cousin, Aubrey Tobin, is a lawyer. He recently sent me the following email regarding tips as to how to avoid being a victim of identity theft. I thought it was worth passing on to you. He said: Read this and make a copy for your files in case you need to refer to it someday...

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