Have you discovered that someone else’s information has been posted on your consumer credit report? It is frighteningly common for the consumer credit reporting agencies (Experian, Equifax, and Trans Union) to mix someone else’s negative credit accounts with another person. It should go without saying that your consumer credit report should be 100% accurate with respect to only your own credit accounts. One common exception to this occurs with married couples who may be jointly liable for each other’s lines of credit, or may be listed as authorized users on each other’s individual accounts. However, when a consumer credit reporting agency is mixing the information for two people with the same name—whether related or not—then the law has been violated. In fact, this is one of the primary reasons that the U.S. Legislature enacted the Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act in the first place. The FCRA enforces this principle when it requires the consumer credit reporting agencies to follow reasonable procedures to ensure maximum possible accuracy of the information “concerning the individual about whom the report relates.” See 15 U.S.C. 1681e(b). This Section requires the agencies to have in place reasonable procedures to ensure that these violations do not occur, and they must follow those procedures. Courts have ruled that it may very likely be unreasonable for the credit reporting agencies to only match names without using any other identifying factors such as date of birth, social security number, address, or the like. Typically, whether an agencies procedures are reasonable, however, is a question for the jury to decide under the circumstances. It is also unreasonable for a credit reporting agency to maintain two files under one social security number, since it is mandatory that each SSN belong to only one person.

Please click HERE to read a complaint that has recently been filed by Semnar & Hartman, LLP against Experian that alleges this very violation—alleging that Experian merged the derogatory accounts belonging to the young consumer’s estranged father into the consumer’s file, which caused him to be outrightly denied the opportunity to apply for an auto loan that he desperately needed.

If you or a loved one have been contacted by this debt collector, please contact us immediately for a free and confidential consultation to review your rights.

The post SOMEONE ELSE’S INFORMATION ON YOUR CONSUMER CREDIT REPORT? appeared first on Temecula Consumer Attorneys.

Semnar & Hartman, LLP have recently filed a lawsuit against a debt collector out of the McCarron, Nevada called First National Collection Bureau, Inc. for threatening an improper lawsuit against a consumer whose debt had been discharged in Chapter 7 Bankruptcy in 2006. The FDCPA prohibits a debt collector from misrepresenting the legal status of a debt and also prohibits a debt collector from threatening to take an action that cannot be legally taken. Because the credit card debt had been discharged in Bankruptcy in 2006, the debt had been completely extinguished and any legal ability for the client to be sued on the debt has also been expired by the statute of limitations due to the age of the default on the debt. When First National sent its collection letter repeatedly claiming to be offering to settle the debt and the settlement offer would be revoked if it were not accepted on their terms, then First National implicitly threatened to the client that she could be sued on the debt. Moreover, due to the Bankruptcy discharge, the debt no longer exists anyway. Consequently, a lawsuit has been recently filed against First National to remedy this abusive conduct. A copy of this lawsuit can be read by clicking HERE.

If you or a loved one have been contacted by this debt collector, please contact us immediately for a free and confidential consultation to review your rights.

The post THREATENED WITH A LAWSUIT BY FIRST NATIONAL COLLECTION BUREAU, INC.? appeared first on Temecula Consumer Attorneys.

The law firm of Semnar & Hartman LLP has recently filed a lawsuit against these companies for some very egregious violations of the Rosenthal Act and the Federal FDCPA. The client was being contacted on a very old credit card debt that is barred from judgment by statute of limitations. When a debt collector is prohibited from obtaining a judgment by the applicable statute of limitations, the FDCPA requires that the collector not threaten a lawsuit, file a lawsuit, and in many instances cannot even imply that a lawsuit is possible or being considered. The reason is because the debtor is not likely to know that the statute of limitations has expired, and is therefore likely to be misled into paying the debt out of duress just to avoid a lawsuit that in actuality could never have been sought.

The offending companies in this case left multiple voicemails on the cell phone for his client, his mother, and his mother in law claiming that a lawsuit was being filed and process servers were looking for the client. However, all of this was false. A lawsuit had never been filed against the client, and due to the statute of limitations expiring the companies violated the Rosenthal Act and the FDCPA by even claiming one was being considered.

Additionally, the offending companies left voicemails for the client, his mother, and mother in law threatening that the lawsuit involved allegations of fraud and theft of services. Again, these threats were false and violated the Rosenthal Act and FDCPA. A breach of an agreement to pay a credit card (or any other loan) is not a criminal action unless it can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the debtor entered into the loan without any intention of ever paying it back. Simply failing to pay the debt is not a criminal action and a debt collector claiming it is a criminal action has violated the law.

A copy of this Complaint can be read by clicking HERE.

If you or a loved one have been subjected to similar such violations, do not take them lightly. Consumer rights are in play to protect the gullible and to prevent debt collectors and creditors from taking unfair advantage of the consumer. Please do not hesitate to contact us for a free and confidential consultation.

The post BEEN HARASSED BY ORACLE FINANCIAL GROUP OR UNITED PORTFOLIO SERVICING? appeared first on Temecula Consumer Attorneys.

The law firm of Semnar & Hartman, LLP are presently investigating possible consumer rights violations being committed by RoundPoint Mortgage Servicing Corporation in connection with its efforts to collect monthly mortgage payments from California home owners. Such possible violations may include the following:

1. Force-placing into Escrow amounts for anticipated taxes in the future even though the homeowner has a waiver of such items to be paid through Escrow;
2. Failing to send monthly collection statements informing the homeowner of exactly how much RoundPoint is collecting from the homeowner;
3. Sending monthly collection statements that indicate RoundPoint is collecting Escrow items for “taxes and insurance” when in reality they are only attempting to collect either taxes or insurance, but not both;
4. Furnishing inaccurate information to the consumer credit reporting agencies by claiming a homeowner is in default on the mortgage payments when in reality the homeowner has always paid his or her monthly obligation;
5. Threatening foreclosure if the homeowner does not call to make payment arrangements for amounts that the homeowner does not actually owe.

If you or a loved one have a home mortgage loan being serviced by RoundPoint, please do not hesitate to call us for a free and confidential consultation to discuss your rights as a homeowner and whether those rights may have been violated.

The post MORTGAGE LOAN BEING SERVICED BY ROUNDPOINT MORTGAGE SERVICING CORPORATION? appeared first on Temecula Consumer Attorneys.

Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel: “I detest robo-calls. We receive thousands of complaints a month about robo-calls, and our friends across town at the Federal Trade Commission receive tens of thousands more.”

“We applaud the FCC for upholding the essential protections in the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, a key consumer law,” said National Consumer Law Center attorney Margot Saunders. “The industry petitions [requests from companies to protect their interests over consumers’] would have exposed consumers to a tsunami of unwanted robocalls and texts to their cell phones.”

“We applaud the FCC for holding the line to keep the plague of unwanted robocalls from becoming even worse,” added Susan Grant, director of Consumer Protection and Privacy at Consumer Federation of America.

The TCPA (Telephone Consumer Protection Act, at 47 U.S.C. 227) is a statute that prohibits, among other things, unwanted telephone calls with automatic telephone dialing systems, robot messages, and/or pre-recorded voice messages without consent and without emergency purposes, as well as junk faxes and telemarketers calling people who are registered on the “Do Not Call List”. See our page titled “Phone Calls (TCPA Video)” for more detailed information on the statute.

By statute, the FCC has authority to issue rules that interpret and apply the statute itself. The courts are bound to follow the FCC rulings as if they were the statute themselves. Over the years, there has been much heavily-contested litigation over many of the grey areas within the statute and FCC rulings themselves. However, on July 10, 2015, the FCC released its newest ruling and order that clarifies a lot of these grey areas. Many of the rulings are very beneficial to consumers who wish to put a stop to the unwanted harassment that companies engage in.

Consent must be provided by the current subscriber or regular user of the phone number:

“The new user of a reassigned phone number shouldn’t have to put up with being abused by callers for the old user of the phone number,” said FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler.

One of the hotly-contested issues over the years has occurred when a company intends to call one person who had previously given consent to the company for TCPA purposes, but the company inadvertently calls the wrong person who has since received the first person’s phone number. Courts throughout the country have issued differing rulings, with some courts ruling that the company has no liability when it intends to call a person who had previously given consent while other courts have ruled that the person who is the current subscriber is the only person who can consent to be called upon the phone number at issue. The FCC has issued its ruling in favor of the consumers on this issue.

One of the hotly-contested issues over the years has occurred when a company intends to call one person who had previously given consent to the company for TCPA purposes, but the company inadvertently calls the wrong person who has since received the first person’s phone number. Courts throughout the country have issued differing rulings, with some courts ruling that the company has no liability when it intends to call a person who had previously given consent while other courts have ruled that the person who is the current subscriber is the only person who can consent to be called upon the phone number at issue. The FCC has issued its ruling in favor of the consumers on this issue.

This requirement of consent also applies to the person who is the primary user of the phone number but is not the subscriber on paper. For instance, if the wife regularly uses the phone number that was issued in her husband’s name, then the consent must have been given by the wife as the regular user of the number.

Prior express consent can be revoked via any reasonable means:

Another hotly-contested issue over the years is whether a consumer can revoke consent that had previously been given. Again, courts throughout the country have been divided—with some courts ruling that consent cannot be revoked after once having been given, other courts ruling that consent must be revoked in writing, while other courts ruling that consent can be revoked verbally at any time.

The FCC has once again ruled in favor of consumers. A consumer can revoke consent for TCPA purposes at any time and via any method that is reasonable. That means simply telling the company one time over the phone to stop calling is valid and effective to trigger TCPA liability on every call thereafter. But be careful: as soon as the company asks if they can call you back on your current number and you agree, then consent might have just been renewed. It is best to insist that all communications be in writing, and that any letter from you that requests all calls to cease be delivered via fax or certified mail for proof of delivery, so that there is never any ambiguity or question as to whether consent was revoked.

Additionally, it is important to note that the FCC has denied one company’s request that it allow the company’s to control how consent can be revoked. It is clear that no company, for TCPA purposes, can dictate how revocation can be lodged by the consumer—even if the contract that gave rise to a debt is agreed to by the consumer and that contract gives direction on exactly how the company will accept revocation, then TCPA liability still exists even if the consumer gives revocation in a manner different than how the company has dictated in its contract.

Additionally, it is important to note that the FCC has denied one company’s request that it allow the company’s to control how consent can be revoked. It is clear that no company, for TCPA purposes, can dictate how revocation can be lodged by the consumer—even if the contract that gave rise to a debt is agreed to by the consumer and that contract gives direction on exactly how the company will accept revocation, then TCPA liability still exists even if the consumer gives revocation in a manner different than how the company has dictated in its contract.

An automatic telephone dialing system is one that has the capacity to act as an auto-dialer, even if not used for that purpose:

The TCPA prohibits calls from being placed with an “automatic telephone dialing system” (also known as an ATDS) to a cell phone, when there is no consent or emergency purpose. Note that these types of calls do not trigger liability when the call is placed to a landline….only calls to a landline with robot messages and/or pre-recorded voice messages trigger TCPA liability.

There has been heavy litigation over the years as to what triggers liability under this prong of the TCPA. Many companies use machines that have the capability to act as an ATDS, but claim that an agent manually-dialed the number at the time of calling the consumer. It is now unequivocally clear that the FCC has ruled that such calls are still in violation of the TCPA. An ATDS is now unquestionably defined as dialing equipment that generally has the capacity to store or produce and then dial random or sequential numbers even if it is not presently used for that purpose. Also a “predictive dialer” meets the definition of an ATDS, as it is equipment with the capacity to store or produce and then dial random or sequential numbers, even though the dialer predicts when a sales agent will be available to be subsequently dialed by the equipment to then connect with the consumer who answered the initial call by the dialer.

As it always has, the TCPA provides victims of such unwanted calls a minimum of $500.00 per call as strict liability, and possibly $1,500.00 per call for willful violations. If you or a loved one are fed up with the abusive calls lodged by companies on a daily basis, do not hesitate to contact us for a free, confidential consultation to discuss your rights.

The post NEW TCPA RULES ISSUED BY FCC – HUGE VICTORIES FOR CONSUMERS appeared first on Temecula Consumer Attorneys.

Both federal and California laws protect military members from discrimination. The federal law is called Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERA) and can be found at 38 U.S.C. §§ 4301-4333. The California law is called the California Military and Veterans’ Code and can be found at Calif. Military and Veteran’s Code § 394. Among other things, these statutes prohibit discrimination against military members by employers for their status as military or for performing their obligations as military members. Discrimination by employers can occur by way of refusing to hire the military member; taking adverse action such as discipline, demotion, or refusal to promote, or denial of ancillary benefits; termination of employment; or failing to re-employ upon return from deployment. In order to obtain civil relief, the military member need only show that the military status or military obligations served as a substantial motivating factor in the employer’s decision, and need not show that military was the sole motivating factor. The employer can only then escape liability if it proves that the adverse action would have been taken even if the military status or military obligations did not exist.

The law firm of Semnar & Hartman, LLP recently filed a lawsuit against Enviro-Master Corporation for such allegations of discrimination. The lawsuit alleges that the owner of Enviro-Master Corp’s San Bernardino branch terminated the military member’s employment by sending an email that specifically cited the member’s military obligations as the reason for the termination. The complaint can be viewed by clicking HERE.

The post ATTENTION MILITARY MEMBERS! HAVE YOU BEEN DISCRIMINATED AGAINST FOR MILITARY STATUS OR MILITARY OBLIGATIONS? appeared first on Temecula Consumer Attorneys.

Have you or a loved on been subjected to debt collection efforts by Nationstar Mortgage, LLC upon a mortgage debt that is not owed? The firm of Semnar & Hartman, LLP has recently filed suit against Nationstar Mortgage, LLC and Bank of America, N.A. alleging that Bank of America retained the services of Nationstar Mortgage, LLC to collect upon a defaulted mortgage that was settled by way of short-sale. After foreclosure proceedings had been initiated, but before foreclosure occurred, the consumers completed a short-sale of the home. Bank of America signed documents that specifically states the outstanding debt had been settled and that the consumers were released from any further obligation for owing the difference.

Unfortunately, however, approximately one year after the short-sale was completed, Nationstar Mortgage, LLC began sending letters to the consumers attempting to collect upon the amount that had been forgiven. The consumers informed Nationstar that the debt had been settled by way of short-sale, and Nationstar simply told them to ignore the letters. However, Nationstar continued to send collection letters and even began to threaten foreclosure upon the same home that the consumers had already sold. Even worse for the consumers, Nationstar had also began reporting upon their credit reports the false information that they were still in default on the loan and the loan had been charged off as a bad debt. This false reporting led to the consumers being denied new lines of credit and has prevented them from moving on with their lives after such a difficult period. The Complaint has been filed in the Central District of California and can be viewed by clicking here.

If you or a loved one is being harassed by Nationstar for a debt that is not owed, or if being harassed even upon a debt that is legitimately owed, please do not hesitate to contact us for a free and confidential consultation as to whether your rights have been violated.

The post NATIONSTAR MORTGAGE, LLC ATTEMPTING TO COLLECT MONEY THAT IS NOT OWED? appeared first on Temecula Consumer Attorneys.

Semnar & Hartman, LLP is currently investigating claims against Wells Fargo Mortgage regarding harassing telephone calls in connection with their collection of mortgage payments. It is believe that Wells Fargo places harassing robo-calls, autodialed calls, and/or calls with pre-recorded and/or artificial voice messages to consumers who have not previously consented to receive such calls for purposes of collecting upon mortgage payments. In most instances, robocalls and robo text messages violate the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), and generally each violations allows for $500 to $1,500 per violation.

If you or a loved one has received such calls and/or text messages from Wells Fargo Mortgage, we invite you to please contact us for a free and confidential consultation.

TCPA Protections Against Unconsented Robocalls, Autodialed calls, and text messages

The TCPA became law in 1991, putting restrictions on automated calls, autodialed calls, calls with pre-recorded and/or artificial voice messages, and text messages, whether sent for debt collection or telemarketing purposes. In most circumstances, an entity must have a person’s prior express consent in order to make automated or prerecorded calls or text messages. See our “Phone calls” webpage or blog postings regarding TCPA violations for more detailed information.

If you or a loved one have received robocalls or text messages from Wells Fargo Mortgage, we encourage you to fill out our contact form so that we can evaluate your rights. We have experience handling alleged TCPA violations and are committed to providing you answers while holding institutions like Wells Fargo Mortgage accountable. We look forward to speaking with you.

The post HARASSING PHONE CALLS BY WELLS FARGO MORTGAGE appeared first on Temecula Consumer Attorneys.

Semnar & Hartman, LLP is currently investigating claims against TD Auto Finance, the automobile financial services provider, for placing robo-calls, autodialed calls, and/or calls with pre-recorded and/or artificial voice messages to consumers who have not previously consented to receive such calls, as well as sending text messages without consent. In most instances, robocalls and robo text messages violate the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), and generally each violations allows for $500 to $1,500 per violation.

If you or a loved one has received such calls and/or text messages from TD Auto Finance, we invite you to please contact us for a free and confidential consultation.

TCPA Protections Against Unconsented Robocalls, Autodialed calls, and text messages

The TCPA became law in 1991, putting restrictions on automated calls, autodialed calls, calls with pre-recorded and/or artificial voice messages, and text messages, whether sent for debt collection or telemarketing purposes. In most circumstances, an entity must have a person’s prior express consent in order to make automated or prerecorded calls or text messages. See our “Phone calls” webpage or blog postings regarding TCPA violations for more detailed information.

If you or a loved one have received robocalls or text messages from TD Auto Finance, we encourage you to fill out our contact form so that we can evaluate your rights. We have experience handling alleged TCPA violations and are committed to providing you answers while holding institutions like TD Auto Finance accountable. We look forward to speaking with you.

The post RECEIVING CALLS FROM TD AUTO FINANCE WITHOUT CONSENT? appeared first on Temecula Consumer Attorneys.

Suffering a significant injury while on the job can be very traumatizing and life altering. Not being able to perform the job that one was once able to perform can cause a serious blow to one’s emotional stability and self-confidence, and the lack of ability to provide financial stability to one’s family is severely unfortunate. Insult to such injury is added when medical debt collectors fail to submit their billing liens to the workers’ compensation board and persist in attempting to collect from the injured employee directly. Thankfully, the law provides protections against such unfair debt collection tactics.

California Labor Code Sections 4600, 5300, 5304, and 5955 provide the basis that the worker’s compensation board has exclusive jurisdiction to handle medical debts that are the subject of a workers’ compensation claim. In order for the medical provider and/or debt collector to seek reimbursement for such services, they must submit a lien to the workers’ compensation board so that the board can determine the appropriate amount of pay for the employer and/or employer’s insurance company to provide. If the medical provider and/or debt collector is not satisfied with the board’s ruling, then their sole remedy is to file a petition for reconsideration pursuant to California Labor Code § 5900 and then appellate review pursuant to California Labor Code § 5950.

However, California Labor Code § 3751(b) provides that medical providers shall not collect money directly from their patients for services to cure or relieve the effect of the injury for which a claim form, pursuant to Cal. Lab. Code § 5401, was filed, unless the medical provider has received written notice that liability for the injury has been rejected by the employer and the medical provider has provided a copy of this notice to the patient. Any medical provider who violates Cal. Lab. Code § 3751(b) shall be liable for three times the amount unlawfully collected, plus reasonable attorney’s fees and costs.

Semnar & Hartman, LLP regularly ties such unlawful debt collection tactics into a claim for either or both of the Federal or Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Acts, since those laws prohibit any attempt to collect an unauthorized amount in connection with consumer debts. If you or a loved one are proceeding through a workers’ compensation board claim, but are still receiving debt collection bills and/or phone calls, please do not hesitate to contact us as soon as possible for a free, confidential consultation about your rights.

The post MEDICAL DEBT COLLECTIONS TRYING TO COLLECT ON A BILL SUBJECT TO WORKER’S COMPENSATION appeared first on Temecula Consumer Attorneys.

The U.S. Servicemembers Civil Relief Act at 50 U.S.C.S Appx. §537 prohibits anyone from enforcing a lien sale or executing a repossession lien—without first obtaining a court order—upon the property or effects of members of the armed forces during deployment and up to 90 days after return from service. The goal for such a prohibition is so that the servicemember can dutifully serve his or her country with honor, and without having to carry the stress and anxiety over whether their property back home will be safe and secure. A violation of this prohibition is a misdemeanor crime, and can be punishable by up to one year in custody and fines. Additionally, a servicemember whose rights have been violated can pursue a civil lawsuit against the violator and recover damages sustained as a result of the violation in addition to attorneys’ fees and costs of pursuing litigation.

A lawsuit recently filed by Semnar & Hartman, LLP alleges that a vehicle auto-body shop called Pro Custom in Oceanside, California violated this very prohibition. The Complaint can be read by clicking HERE

This lawsuit alleges that Pro Custom promised to hold the servicemember’s car during his period of deployment and promised to safely store the vehicle until his return from deployment. The servicemember then left for approximately 7 months of deployment only to find out upon his return that the vehicle had been sold through a non-judicial lien sale. The lawsuit alleges that Pro Custom sold the vehicle to recover only $2,200.00 for services, and even though the vehicle was worth approximately $14,000.00 the servicemember has not been provided with any finances that would make up the difference between the amount Pro Custom sold the vehicle for and what Pro Custom claimed was owed to them. Even after the member inquired as to why Pro Custom sold the vehicle after they promised to safely hold it upon his return, Pro Custom claimed he abandoned the vehicle and still failed to provide him with any proceeds from the sale.

The lawsuit further alleges that Pro Custom has been continuing to take out of the servicemember’s bi-weekly paychecks money for services performed on credit prior to the member’s deployment, even though Pro Custom seized the property when they sold the vehicle and has recovered any finances alleged to be owed to them for the services on credit by keeping all of the proceeds of the sale. The lawsuit alleges that this conduct is a violation of the California Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, for unfair and oppressive conduct, misrepresentations and false statements as to what Pro Custom is owed, and for taking action that cannot legally be taken.

The lawsuit is seeking actual damages for the servicemember for the loss of the value of the vehicle, loss of use of the vehicle, emotional distress and mental anguish for not having a vehicle for the past 10 months and having to beg for rides from friends to attend his physical therapy sessions for an injury sustained during deployment, recovery of all monies taken by Pro Custom for the services previously performed on credit, recovery of all monies the member has paid to the vehicle financier since his return from deployment, as well as attorneys’ fees and costs. Moreover, because Pro Custom regularly advertises to military members and claims to “Support our Troops”, this lawsuit is also seeking punitive damages as a means for punishing them for their egregious unlawful conduct and to prevent future abuses against other military members.

If you or a loved one are deployed or about to be deployed, please know that you have rights when it comes to your property. Please do not hesitate to contact us for a free and confidential consultation to discuss your rights and whether your rights may have been violated.

The post MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES: HAD YOUR PROPERTY SOLD, FORCLOSED, OR REPOSSED DURING DEPLOYMENT? YOUR RIGHTS MAY HAVE BEEN VIOLATED! appeared first on Temecula Consumer Attorneys.

Mountain Lion Acquisitions, Inc. is known as a “debt buyer” under California law, as it is an entity that purchases charged-off consumer debts for less than the value of the outstanding debt, and then attempts to collect the outstanding amount for the full or near full value in order to reap profits. Mountain Lion Acquisitions, Inc. regularly uses the Law Offices of D. Scott Carruthers as its debt collection attorney, who sends threatening letters to the alleged debtor in an effort to collect for Mountain Lion Acquisitions. It is believed that Mountain Lion Acquisitions and Law Offices of D. Scott Carruthers are both owned and operated by the same person—D. Scott Carruthers—as the secretary of state business search shows D. Scott Carruthers as the agent for service of process and his law office address as the same physical entity address for both companies.

The Law Offices of D. Scott Carruthers has been the subject of multiple lawsuits for what have alleged to be unfair and unscrupulous debt collection tactics, including misrepresenting the amount of the alleged debt, false threats regarding lawsuits and criminal prosecution, misrepresentations as to the alleged debtors’ rights under the FDCPA, among others.

It has come to light that Mountain Lion Acquisitions, Inc. is now also violating the California Fair Debt Buyer’s Practices Act (FDBPA)—Cal. Civ. Code § 1788.50-1788.64. The FDBPA requires that a debt buyer who files a debt collection lawsuit upon an allegedly outstanding consumer debt include certain required disclosures within the complaint, so long as the debt was purchased on or after January 1, 2014. These disclosures are required to protect the consumer, so that the consumer can make an informed decision about what the alleged debt is, where it came from, how much is actually owed, and can also allow the consumer to research the details of the alleged debt for security purposes.

In one particular example, a class action lawsuit recently filed by Hartman Law Office, Inc., Semnar Law Firm, Inc., Hyde & Swigart, and Kazerouni Law Group, APC alleges that Mountain Lion filed a complaint against the consumer on an alleged consumer debt—charged off but then purchased by Mountain Lion after January 1, 2014—and the complaint fails to include the name and address of the charge-off creditor, fails to state that it has complied with 1785.52, fails to provide the name and address of all purchasers after charge-off, and fails to state the nature of the debt and the transaction from which it was derived. All of this information, among others, are required to be included in the complaint pursuant to Cal. Civ. Code § 1788.58. By failing to include these disclosures, the consumer is harmed because the complaint would not give sufficient information for the consumer to know why and for what purpose he or she is being sued by a company with whom the consumer never entered into any transactional relationship. Read the class action complaint here.

Violations of these laws entitles the consumer to recover any actual damages pursuant to Cal. Civ. Code § 1788.62(a)(1); statutory damages in the amount up to $1,000.00 pursuant to Cal. Civ. Code § 1788.62(a)(2); and reasonable attorney’s fees and costs pursuant to Cal. Civ. Code § 1788.62(c)(1).

If you or a loved one have been contacted by the Law Offices of D. Scott Carruthers for purposes of debt collection, or if you have been sued by the Law Offices of D. Scott Carruthers on behalf of Mountain Lion Acquisitions, Inc., it is imperative you contact us immediately for a free and confidential consultation to discuss your rights.

The post BEEN SUED BY MOUNTAIN LION ACQUISITIONS, INC.? appeared first on Temecula Consumer Attorneys.

The FTC has legal enforcement powers to pursue action against companies that violate the Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) for engaging in conduct that amounts to harassment under the FDCPA. The FTC recently published a list on its website of many debt collectors against whom they have been successful obtaining federal court orders prohibiting them from engaging in further debt collection activities. Read the list here http://www.ftc.gov/enforcement/cases-proceedings/banned-debt-collectors.

Additionally, the FTC website above has a link to view other entities against whom it has pursued enforcement actions, but did not obtain an injunction to prohibit further collection activities.

If you or a loved one have been contacted by any of the people or entities named in that list, then you or the loved one may have been the subject of a scam and should discontinue any further communications with the “debt collector” immediately. You should also contact the FTC to report them, and also contact us to see what your rights may be in seeking recovery by way of private lawsuit.

The FDCPA is designed to protect consumers. There are over 40 ways the FDCPA can be violated. If you or a loved one are being contacted by a debt collector, be sure to keep all letters, regularly check your credit report for inaccuracies, and write a journal about every phone call. See our webpage discussing the FDCPA for more information. Do not hesitate to contact us for a free and confidential consultation to discuss your rights.

The post FEDERAL FAIR TRADE COMMISSION PUBLISHES LIST OF BANNED DEBT COLLECTORS appeared first on Temecula Consumer Attorneys.

The law offices of Hartman Law Office, Inc. and Semnar Law Firm, Inc. have recently teamed up with the law firms of Kazerouni Law Group, APC and Hyde & Swigart to file a class action lawsuit against a medical debt collection company called Collection Consultants of California. The lawsuit alleges that the company has been attempting to add unlawful interest to the debt that they allege is outstanding, and when the Plaintiff called to complain about their adding of interest despite the medical provider having never added interest, she was told by a collection agent that they were entitled to interest pursuant to pursuant to Calif. Civ. Code §§ 3287-3289. The lawsuit further alleges that the case of Diaz v. Kubler Corp. (So. Dist. Calif. Nov. 6, 2013) 982 F. Supp. 2d 1146, 1153-1157 holds that a debt collector claiming to be entitled to interest pursuant to Calif. Civ. Code §§ 3287-3289 without first having a judgment in place and without the debtor’s express agreement to be so obligated in the contract creating the debt violates 15 U.S.C. §§ 1692f and 1692f(1) of FDCPA as a matter of law for unfair and unconscionable means in connection with debt collection, including collecting amounts that are not authorized by law or agreement.

If you or a loved one have received any efforts by Collection Consultants of California to collect interest on an allegedly outstanding debt (medical or otherwise), please do not hesitate to contact us for a free and confidential consultation to discuss whether your rights have been violated.

The post CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT FILED AGAINST COLLECTION CONSULTANTS OF CALIFORNIA appeared first on Temecula Consumer Attorneys.