THIS IS AN ACTUAL CRAIGSLIST AD

Yes, for those of you who needed more convincing that the debt buying/collection industry is diligently reviewing their files, making sure they are on the top of their game, that their legal filings are legally accurate, and are serious about handling collections cases in the most professional manner....I present to you, an actual CraigsList Ad:


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We are a collection agency/debt buyer. What we are looking for is a part time attorney to work for us as our corporate counsel, on our payroll, about 5 to 6 hours a week. This is a short term employment arrangement, no longer than 90 to 120 days.

Your job will be to sign pleadings, praecipe for entry of appearances, praecipe for writ of execution, and garnishment orders. Our paralegal will prepare all paperwork for your signature. This is very standard stuff for us.

If you are an attorney looking for challenging legal work, this is not for you. WE DO NOT NEED F LEE BAILEY- we are fee shopping. If you passed your boards with a D+, and you can sign your name, you possess all the credentials required for this job. If this opportunity interests you, please feel free to reply to this email with a brief description of who you are, when you got your law license, and what you will be needing from us in the way of compensation.

• Location: Pittsburgh west
• Compensation: to be decided
• This is a part-time job.
• Principals only. Recruiters, please don't contact this job poster.
• Please, no phone calls about this job!
• Please do not contact job poster about other services, products or commercial interests.

STRAIGHT SCOOP ON COLLECTORS CONTACTING YOU AT WORK

Can a debt collector call you at work? Usually, no. Here's the straight scoop on what they can and can't do, as far as calling you at work.

-A collector can NOT call YOU at work...if the debt collector knows its inconvenient.
What this means: You need to tell them its inconvenient. You don't need a long explanation. They can't argue with you. A simple "I cant take calls at work" will do. If they hassle you over it, it's a violation. But they need to know that you cant take calls at work. So tell them.

-Even if they can call YOU at work, A collector can only speak to YOU--NOT speak to your employer (or others at your employment, like receptionists, other employees, etc).
What this means: That if the collector speaks to anyone other than you at work, it's a violation. You don't need to tell them that it's inconvenient. That can also include leaving messages on communal voicemails, or emails to accounts that others may have access to. A collector does not need prior notice from you not to do this for it to be a violation.

Except for one exception - A collector can speak to your employer to get "location information,. This means to get your address and phone number, or employer, if the collector doesn't have such information. However, in doing so, the collector must:

1) State that he is confirming or correcting location information, and only identify who he is calling from if requested
2) Not state that any debt is owed, and
3) Only communicate once unless further contact is needed to get the information.

Of course, you can avoid this issue by just making sure the collection agency has your current address and phone number. If, for example, you've gotten letters from the agency, there should be no reason for them to call your workplace. This is why I suggest that you always provide collection agencies your current address and phone number. That way, they are absolutely prohibited from speaking with anyone at your employment for any reason.

Questions? Get in touch with us! (954) 987-0515 jason@jasonweaverpa.com, http://www.unfaircollections.com/.

PROOF DEBT BUYERS COLLECT ON BAD DEBT (or why you better not assume you owe what they say you do)

There's a common misconception that if a "debt buyer" is collecting a debt, it must really be owed. Say what you will about their tactics, but if a debt's being collected, it's probably owed. Right?

Think again.
Well, first, what's a "debt buyer?" Debt buyers are companies that buy huge portfolios of debt from creditors for pennies on the dollar--kind of a bulk purchase of debt. A debt buyer may buy thousands of overdue debtor accounts from a creditor at once. The debt buyer can then do what it wants with the debt it just bought. It tries to collect, and sometimes, files lawsuits against consumers to collect. Debt buyers often get civil judgments against debtors.

But a civil suit in California has revealed a dirty secret of debt buying (or rather, just confirmed what most of us already knew)--that debt buyers have no idea whether the debt they buy from creditors is legitimate or whether even owed...yet, they collect on it anyway.

The lawsuit that revealed this information was actually a contractual dispute over the purchase of debt between a debt buyer, CACH LLC, and a creditor, Bank of America (BOA), which sold bulk debt to CACH LLC. In the lawsuit it was revealed that in the contract of sale, there was an "as is" clause. In that clause, BOA essentially admitted, in writing, to CACH that some of the consumer debts CACH was buying from BOA (and of course, would eventually be collecting on, and suing consumers for), may have been discharged in bankruptcy, may have been too old to legally collect, may not have had payments applied properly....or may have already been fully paid by the consumer! BOA basically said to CACH about the debt that it was selling, "we can't guarantee the legitimacy of these debts at all," and in fact told CACH that they had no supporting documentation as to the debts at all. And the debt buyer CACH, naturally, said.... "OK."

So CACH then did what any good debt buyer would do knowing that it may be collecting on bad, unowed, miscalculated, unverified or inaccurate debt: It proceeded to collect the debts against consumers in numerous state courts by filing false affidavits (naturally, leaving out the parts about them not having records from BOA and stuff like, oh, not being sure if the debts they had bought from BOA were already paid by the consumers they were now suing).

Of course, BOA and CACH aren't alone in this fiasco; the article cites to many more situations where debt buyers have purchased debts "as is" with no idea if the debts they are buying and collecting on are valid. 

We tend to think that if we used a credit card, we owe whatever the debt buyer is seeking to collect. We take for granted all our previous payments have been properly credited. That our contractual interest rate is being calculated correctly. That if we paid our debt in full, collections would have stopped. The general public thinks that everyone getting sued for a debt, must really owe it. But the revelation of debt buyer "as is" clauses, demonstrating the flippant recordkeeping of the debt buying and collection industry tell us otherwise.  It's a frank wake up call that collectors and debt buyers often have little respect for the law, and little concern for the accuracy of their records, or for your rights as a consumer.

(the full article appears here http://www.americanbanker.com/issues/177_62/bofa-credit-cards-collections-debts-faulty-records-1047992-1.html?zkPrintable=true)

Questions? Give us a call. (954) 987-0515 or email at jason@jasonweaverpa.com.

7 THINGS YOU DIDNT KNOW ABOUT CREDIT AND THE FDCPA

1. When you see "Charged Off" on your credit reoport, it doesn't mean you don't owe the debt. It means that the creditor has sold the debt to a debt buyer. This is different than the creditor giving the debt to a collection agency to collect on. A debt buyer actually owns the debt. A collection agency is collecting for the original creditor (although both are covered under the FDCPA). When you see "Charged Off," you'll probably see the debt reappear with a new entity--the new debt buyer.

2. Speaking of debt buyers, they've bought the debt for pennies. They've bought the debt for pennies on the dollar, so they are often willing to give better deals, and hesitant to sue. When they do sue, they usually don't have the proper paperwork to demonstrate they own the debt.

3. Try not to put personal debts on business credit cards. The FDCPA covers consumer debts--not business debts. Even though $1,000 of consumer purchases on a business credit card is technically consumer debt, it makes an FDCPA case longer, more complex, and more risky.

4. Answer the phone. I know you hate talking to those people. But in many cases, the things that collectors say form the basis of FDCPA cases. And to have a violation, you usually need a communication, which means answering the phone (other than letters, which are a different story).

5. Older debts are weighted less in your credit score. But when you make a payment on an old debt, the activity on that debt increases its "weight," and it gets treated as a new debt. So if you're looking to pay off some debt, start with the newer debt.

6. You don't need to dispute a debt in writing. You can dispute a debt orally. And if you dispute a debt to a debt collector, and it shows up on your credit report, that's an FDCPA violation.

7. Collection agencies want to know who is suing under the FDCPA. There are companies that publish lists of people who sue under the FDCPA and sell them to debt collectors and collection agencies. That means that when you sue under the FDCPA, you may be put on that list. What does that mean? There's no way to know with 100% certainty, but likely it means you're less likely to be harassed by other debt collection companies, and possibly, less likely to get sued. If collectors know that you know your rights and arent afraid to assert them, they'll move on to easier targets.

8. You can assert your FDCPA rights even if you really owe the debt being collected. The FDCPA is about being treated fairly by debt collectors. Collectors who collect all debts--even validly owed debts--need to comply with the law, and all consumers, even those who really owe money, have a right to damages under the FDCPA if collectors harass them, or make misrepresentations to them.

Getting collection letters in the mail? Let me look them over. Email them to jason@jasonweaverpa.com. Free. No obligation. I'll give them a lookover, to make sure that the letters you're getting from creditors are FDCPA compliant.

ABOUT THAT $25BIL BANK SETTLEMENT...

You may have heard that there was a recent settlement between numerous banks and attorneys general of 47 states, as "punishment" for the whole robo-signing/forged documents scandal that's plagued the foreclosure process for the previous few years. We've been getting a lot of questions about it, mostly because of the sizeable settlement amount--$25 billion--which is being hailed as a huge victory for homeowners, a savior of our economy, and a victory of righteousness over the evils of bank shanenigans. Oh...they're also saying it will be used to reduce homeowners' mortgage balances.

 

Before you start hailing victory, there are a number of things you should know about this great "victory."

 

The fist thing to know about the settlement is that foreclosures will increase. That's right. Increase. Many banks had been purposely delaying or slowing foreclosures while this settlement was being negotiated. Now that it's completed, you can expect to see many of these cases pressing forward much faster, or people who haven't been sued, being sued for foreclosure. The settlement did not prevent or bar anybody from foreclosing.

 

Second, the total settlement dollars are underwhelming, despite the seemingly large total amount. If you've already lost your home, the government and the banks wish to extend to you their most sincere apology, in the form of a whopping $2,000. Yes, more than 2 million owners have lost their homes to foreclosure during the last four years; this deal will provide 750,000 with a payment of $2,000 each.

 

What if you're still in your home? Well, if Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac have any interest in your property, you're not included in the settlement at all. That includes the majority of you, but if you're curious, you can go http://www.fanniemae.com/loanlookup/ or https://ww3.freddiemac.com/corporate/ to check if they own your loan. And, your property must be serviced by Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Ally Financial or Citigroup (that means, if you're in a foreclosure, don't look at your foreclosing Plaintiff, look at who sends you letters, bills, or correspondence).

 

Still in the game? Well if so, hang on. In Florida, 7.6 billion has been allocated to those of you with properties that are underwater (that's upside down in value), if you've already fallen behind. If you're current, you won't get a principle reduction but may qualify for a refinance.

 

So...you qualify for a principle reduction after all this....ready for the payoff? Ok. Florida has about 1.9 million homes currently underwater, and the average homeowner is underwater by $65,000, meaning Florida’s negative equity total comes in at more than $123 billion. Except Florida's only getting 7.6 billion. The numbers aren't clear yet, but most estimates are that if you qualify, you'll get about $20,000 in principle reduction. So, you'll still be upside down, probably considerably so, although admittedly for some, it still may be enough to convince them their home is worth keeping.

 

(Incidentally, for those of you thinking of voting Republican anytime in the future, your Republican Attorney General, Pam Biondi, lobbied against inclusion of principal reduction as part of the settlement. Thank goodness, she lost.)

 

Anyway, the bottom line is that I'm sure that this settlement will finally put an end to the bank's days of fuzzy math and fudging numbers and falsifying information, now that they were forced to pay Florida 8.4 billion (http://myfloridalegal.com/pages.nsf/Main/94816CAD8E86B0778525799F00595D98), and California 18 billion (http://oag.ca.gov/news/press_release?id=2625), which together equals the sum total of 26.4 billion. On a settlement that was officially being announced as a total of 25 billion dollars. Oh...and that was for 47 states.... 

 

Wait a minute....