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Michigan

Michigan Collection Law Blog

From Nitzkin & Associates

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Last Entry: January 01, 2011 at 10:52:51

Why purchasing debt is a bad bet at trial

Posted on August 20, 2008
A recent speaker at the Michigan Institute of Continuing Legal Education had talked about suing on purchased debt. He said that a debt buyer does not have to produce a witness from the originating creditor in order to prove his case at trial. While that may be true, its equally true that most debt buyers do not get enough information to successfully sue on their debts...

Ideas to defend against foreclosure

Posted on August 13, 2008
I am personally sickened by the number of foreclosures that we are experiencing in Michigan. While mortgage foreclosure is at epidemic levels throughout our state, I have decided to do something about it. I may only be one man and my impact may be minimal, but I refuse to do nothing in the face of this housing carnage...

In G-d, we trust and thank G-d for trusts to keep the creditors away from our assets.

Posted on August 06, 2008
My good friend and colleague, Howard Young works for the dark side. He is an asset protection planning attorney. Recently, he spoke at the Institute of Continuing Legal Education Seminar on Debt Collection. He said that he represents wealthy individuals and that if he does his job right, we will collect nothing from his clients...

American Express sues Mastercard

Posted on August 02, 2008
American Express settled its lawsuit against Visa for $1.8 billion. AE accused Visa conspiring to stifle banks from issuing AE credit cards. Mastercard has agreed to make 12 quarterly payments of $150 million each at AE. Here is AE's chance to savor this moment and say "Priceless...

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When collectors exert too much pressure....

Posted on July 30, 2008
I was shocked and saddened to read about a story of an individual who received so many dunning notices and collection calls from a New Jersey Rent-a-Center, that he walked into the store and set himself on fire. As a debt collector, this is the sort of thing that gives me great pause...

Suing your attorney? You have have to show that the debt was collectible.

Posted on July 27, 2008
On June 18, 2008, the Ohio Supreme Court held that a in order to prevail against an attorney in a malpractice action, the Plaintiff must show that the he would have won the underlying case and that the defendant in the underlying case was collectible...

Live from New York...it Gary

Posted on June 28, 2008
My wife and I are on vacation in New York. She would kill me if she knew that I was doing any sort of work including posting anything to my blog. She is still sleeping, so now I can send this note to you. Today, there is a very interesting article in the USA Today...

When good people give bad advise...be careful

Posted on June 25, 2008
I just saw a fairly recent post from a "The Credit InfoCenter Blog." It was arrogantly entitled "Now I'm Giving Advice to Consumer Attorneys." To me, this post highlighted why a consumer ought not to seek legal advice from someone who is not an attorney...

There may be a private cause of action against a Furnisher for failing to flag a debt as disputed by the Consumer.

Posted on June 11, 2008
Red Orbit report on the case of Saunders v. Branch Banking and Trust Co. of Virginia, No. 07-1108 (decided May 14, 2008) (Judges Michael, MOTZ, & Keeley (sitting by designation), as follows: FACTS: On August 31, 2003, Rex Saunders purchased an automobile from Richmond Mitsubishi, and the dealer assigned his loan for the car to Branch Banking & Trust Company of Virginia (BB&T)...

President Bush signs law clarifying FACTA

Posted on June 04, 2008
The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act ("FACTA") was enacted in 2003 as an amendment to the Fair Credit Reporting Act ("FCRA"). According to Stuart King's Risk Management Blog, he noted that just yesterday, President Bush signed HS 4008 which states: Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, no person that accepts credit cards or debit cards for the transaction of business shall print more than the last 5 digits of the card number or the expiration date upon any receipt provided to the cardholder at the point of the sale or transaction...

Credit Repair Companies - Do they really have the goods to help?

Posted on May 21, 2008
There is a great article in today's Wall Street Journal that talks about credit repair companies. While the industry is rife with charlatans, I have come across some credit repair companies that are quite legitimate. For example, I have recently met the owners of Credit 1 in Pontiac, Michigan...

Attorneys for Debt Buyers beware...they are on to us!

Posted on May 04, 2008
I love defending people against debt buyers because the Plaintiffs case is as strong as a house of cards in a hurricane. Debt buyers buy judgments, credit card charge offs and other sordid garbage debt for pennies on the dollar. Hell, there are even debt buyers that buy debt that has already been through a collection agency or two...

When is a collection notice not a collection notice?

Posted on April 27, 2008
In March of 2007, the U S Court of Appeals for the 6th circuit decided Mabbitt v Midwestern Audit Services. This was a very interesting case. Ms. Mabbitt and her sister shared a home on Leota Blvd. Consumers Energy provided gas to that space. The bill was in Ms...

Your wages can get garnished for a student loan...without a judgment

Posted on April 25, 2008
I was very surprised to learn from opposing counsel today that my client's wages for her allegedly delinquent student loan can be garnished...all without a judgment. Yep. Thats right. At first, I thought my opposing counsel was from Mars. After all, we have some legal safeguards in this country such as due process under the 5th and 14th Amendments of the Constitution...

Payday Loans are risky business for both borrower and lender

Posted on April 13, 2008
In the good ol' days, when someone bounced a check on you in Michigan, you could sue for 3 times the amount of the check plus $250 in costs. See MCL 600.2952. While most of us in Michigan still enjoy this law, Payday Loan companies do not. These companies have sprung up around our state like dandelions in June...

Zombie debt....it just won't die...

Posted on February 28, 2008
I confess...I loooove Zombie movies. George Romero is one of my all time favorite directors. He produced Night of the Living Dead, Day of the Living Dead and other classic brain eating films. Its great to see it on the silver screen. Its horrible when a debt that was discharged in bankruptcy or had been previously paid, re-appears on your credit report...

Beware of this collector trick - credit card co signer vs. authorized user

Posted on January 22, 2008
If you owe money on a credit card that has been turned over to a collection agency, chances are excellent that the collection agency is not only pursuing you but any authorized user. Be careful about this and know the difference between an authorized user and a co-signer...

Collection agencies...going from bad to worse

Posted on January 02, 2008
I usually don't blog about current litigation for a number of reasons. Suffice it to say that this case that I am blogging about below is interesting enough to share with you. Moreover, I want you to know that collection agencies doing stupid, if not sleazy stuff, is almost common place...

"Effectively conveyed notices" and other fairy tales

Posted on January 01, 2008
Wow. The U.S. Court of Appeals either cut a break to the Defendant in Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp v Lamar or it is signaling a new direction in the enforcement of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, against the consumer ("FDCPA"). In this case, Federal Home Loan foreclosed on the debtor's mortgage through its counsel, Lerner, Sampson and Rothfuss (LS& R)...

Classic Mythical defenses to debt collection

Posted on December 29, 2007
My fellow blogger and debt collection attorney, Michael Herrin, recently wrote a blog entry about bogus defenses to debt collection. His blog entry can be found here. He has come across the following defenses from debtors who believe that these defenses are good...

Beware of Julio and his book How to Legally Beat Debt Collectors.

Posted on November 13, 2007
Every so often an article relating to some self proclaimed expert in debt collection cross my desk. This morning it was Julio Martinez-Clark, who has written a book entitled How to Legally Beat Debt Collectors. He is putting out some very bad, if not dangerous information to the public...

The 7th Circuit gives major clarification to collectors under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

Posted on October 29, 2007
Many commentators believe that the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act creates more questions than it solved when it was passed into law. Kudos to the Seventh Circuit for taking a number of these issues in the case of Evory v RJM Acquistions Funding, LLC decided on October 23, 2007...

Be careful of bad blog advise about Fair Debt Collection Practices Act violations

Posted on October 28, 2007
I follow a number of blogs. There is a great deal of good information on the web that keeps me current about the state of the law. Unfortunately, there are also a number of quacks that spew baseless information with such authority that one might be lulled into believing its true...

Pulling credit bureaus just got even more dangerous

Posted on October 25, 2007
In order to pull someone's credit report, the debt collector has to have a federally permissible purpose according to the Fair Credit Reporting Act. OK...we all know that. We cannot go spelunking for our ex-girlfriends and such for amusement. As a general rule, it used to be that a collector could pull a credit report on any debtor...

Beware...a summons and complaint may be an initial communication under the FDCPA.

Posted on October 23, 2007
The United States District Court here in the 6th Circuit recently decided Jerman v Carlisle, 502 F Supp 2nd 686 (2007). While this is not an appellate decision, it may very well be a harbinger of the 6th circuit court of appeals' sentiment may lay with respect to the issue of whether a summons and complaint is an initial communication under the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act...

How to collect a time barred debt without violating Fair Debt Collection Practices Act

Posted on October 22, 2007
Here is an interesting conundrum. Defendant Portfolio Recovery Associates ("PRA") purchased a time barred debt from Brewer and sent Brewer a "notice" that the debt has been transferred. PRA sent Brewer a letter that states: "Portfolio Recovery Associates purchased the account referenced above [Capital One Bank, balance $ 2,444...

Got credit card debt???.....here is how to manage it YOUR WAY...

Posted on October 15, 2007
Here is a post that is going to win me absolutely no friends with the credit card industry or even my colleagues. But what the hell...here it goes. Are you delinquent with your credit card debt? Is the credit card company dunning you? You should know that it is highly unlikely that they will compromise this debt...

Defense Attorneys - be careful when filing those affirmative defenses

Posted on October 14, 2007
My colleague, Mary Jane Elliot has been sued by Frank Glover for violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. I know Mary Jane. She is a very bright, and very astute individual. I don't know the facts of this case, but merely want to talk about a recent development in this case that has made money for the Plaintiff's counsel at her expense...

Collection agencies - when is manipulating your Caller ID signal a violation of FDCPA?

Posted on October 14, 2007
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ("FDCPA") prohibits the use of false or deceptive means in the connection with the collection of a debt. So...when Mr. Glover was dunned for a consumer debt and the collection agency that called him had its caller i...

Asset Protection Blog....Its great and I hate it

Posted on September 29, 2007
My friend and colleague, Howard Young, is a partner at a very prestigious firm here in Michigan called Weisman, Young, Schloss & Ruemenapp, P.C. They are business lawyers with a twist. You see, Howard just started a blog that makes me kind of nervous; it deals with Asset Protection Planning...

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