Desperate Debtors? Doesn’t Have To Be Like This

Score another one for the moral supremecists who’ve successfully made bankruptcy a four-letter word and something to be so ashamed of that suicide by police fire seems preferable. Out of Lawrence, Kansas comes this excruciatingly tragic story: Marsha Mace, a waitress overtaken by financial difficulties who was involved in a standoff with local police that [...]

FTC: Some Bite Behind the Bark

As this release from the FTC makes clear, the federal agency charged with so much oversight over the economic lives of consumers won’t hesitate to proceed against the unscrupulous and unethical among us who make false promises to those of us dealing with crushing debt.
Calling what the defendants in FTC v. Connelly et al. created [...]

Not All Debt Collectors Are Created Equal

In this column for the Washington Post, Michelle Singletary attempts to defend her previous advice to a reader to pay the entirety of an old debt although the purchaser of that account offered to settle for about $10,000 less than the full amount. In defending her advice, she had this to say:

[T]his is more about [...]

Debt Collectors Have the Wrong Number

This frightening article in The Boston Globe (free registration required) demonstrates that debt collection is, indeed, a growing industry - it’s growing excessively arrogant and careless.
Details of the profiled individuals and their unbelievable experiences with debt collectors are all too familiar to consumer lawyers, unfortunately. There is anecdotal evidence to suggest that recent explosive growth [...]

BAPCPA: Blessing or BARF?

Unless you’ve been hiding out with Jimmy Hoffa lately, you’ve probably heard a thing or two about bankruptcy reform in the past year - though you may not understand the details or get exactly why people seem so up in arms over the topic. The answer, in one acronym, is BAPCPA - the Bankruptcy Abuse [...]

About This Blog

This weblog offers information on the practice areas in which I represent clients:
• Credit and Collections Law: What are credit reporting agencies obligated to tell inquirers about your disputed debts? How do you make the harrassing phone calls from an unscrupulous debt collector stop? What can you do to stop a foreclosure on your home? [...]