Since January 1, 2008, the Federal Trade Commission Red Flag Rules has required businesses to establish policies and procedures for identifying identity theft. These rules require 4 things: 1. That business have reasonable policies and procedures in place to identify the red flags of i.d. theft; 2. the business must have a program designed that […]
I just read the Sixth Circuit’s opinion in Miller v Javitch, Block & Rathbone, 561 F.3d 588 (2009). This case holds good news for debt collection lawyers. In that case, Miller contends that JBR violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act by using false, deceptive, and misleading language in a debt-collection complaint. The state court […]
I just read an interesting article in the National Law Journal of April 6, 2009 about Payday loan companies that are affiliating with Tribal American nations in order to avoid regulation by the United States. Is this legal one may ask? For the past few years, many states have begun to regulate these payday loan […]
I just read a very interesting article in USA Today. It talked about credit card companies like American Express paying some consumers $300 to pay off and close their accounts. I have never seen anything like this before. It appears that these banks are targeting those consumers that are carrying balances and not charging very […]
Its not very often that I get to cross paths with American Heroes such as Captain Stephen P. Dunn. He is an attorney with Howard and Howard and is also active in the United States Armed forces, protecting our country including my family and me. I will always be indebted to Captain Dunn for his […]
I have talked about this issue once before, but a case just popped up showing me that not all of you are listening to my warning. Debt Collectors beware….a consumer does NOT have to posit a dispute to a consumer debt in writing. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”) has no such requirement. As […]
This time of year, I am pleasantly reminded of our office wide directive to treat debtors as our customers. Over the years, I have seen debt collectors use old school techniques of yelling at debtors and threatening them with legal action amongst other things. I have also seen debt collectors treat debtors with respect and […]
In Elmers Crane v AWM Corp, Michigan Court of Appeals Docket No 266666, the Plaintiff provided a services to a corporate general contractor (“GC”). The GC received payment from the owner which included money due to Elmers. Even though the money went to the GC and the GC was a corporation, the individual that managed […]
On Tuesday, October 28, 2008, we had our first meeting of legal marketing group, Legally Blawged. It was attended by about 25 people. Legally Blawged was formed by Pete Cavanaugh, Mike Hamblin and myself. We are three attorneys who met over the internet during this past summer. We all blog and have had wonderful experiences […]
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 […]
