Credit Card Lawsuit Lawsuit News

November 27, 2012

Settlement Reached with Company Violating Missouri’s No-call Law

Innovative Wealth Builders, Inc., a Florida business, to pay $36,000 in penalties and to abide by Missouri telemarketing laws.

Jefferson City, MO - infoZine - Attorney General Chris Koster said that he has reached a settlement with Innovative Wealth Builders, Inc., requiring the Florida business to pay $36,000 in penalties and to abide by Missouri telemarketing laws.

Koster filed a lawsuit against the business last March, alleging that Innovative Wealth Builders made solicitation calls to Missourians who had previously placed their names on the state's no-call list. Koster said the solicitation calls claimed the company could lower consumers’ credit card interest rates or offer credit counseling services.Read More

November 23, 2012

Identify Your Loan Problem

Use the following list of common problems to help you identify exactly what type of problem you are having with your loan and what you should do to prepare to solve it.

IF: You believe you’ve made all of your payments on time, but it looks like your account balance might be wrong.
THEN: Check your payment history, gather the documents necessary to show what payments you’ve made, and contact your loan servicer to find out how to submit the proof.

IF: You believe you’ve made all of your payments on time, but your loan is in default.
THEN: Gather the documents necessary to prove that your payments were made on time, and contact your loan servicer to find out how to submit your proof.Read More

November 17, 2012

Why Rising Student Debt Isn’t As Big A Problem As You Think

College tuition is steadily rising in Florida, but at least one expert says the issue of student debt is being blown out of proportion.

Dr. Ed Moore is president of the Independent Colleges & Universities of Florida. He is also on the Higher Education Coordinating Council.

He and six other council members are charged with making recommendations to the Florida Legislature and education leaders regarding new degree programs and institutions.Read More

November 14, 2012

Florida Collection Laws

A collection agent or law firm that owns a collection account is a creditor. A creditor has several legal means of collecting a debt. But before the creditor can start, the creditor must go to court to receive a judgment. See the Bills.com resource Served Summons and Complaint to learn more about this process.

The court may decide to grant a judgment to the creditor. A judgment is a declaration by a court that the creditor has the legal right to demand a wage garnishment, a levy on the debtor’s bank accounts, and a lien on the debtor’s property. A creditor that is granted a judgment is called a "judgment-creditor." Which of these tools the creditor will use depends on the circumstances. We discuss each of these remedies below.Read More

November 10, 2012

Credit Card Default in Florida

Federal law sets a floor or minimum – states may choose to offer more protection, but they may not offer less. Florida has its own law regulating consumer collections, but it doesn't add to the federal protections – it merely restates them.

Even if you don't want to review those laws right now, you should know that they are process protections. That means they regulate the mechanics of debt collection: how debt collectors can communicate with you;Read More

November 8, 2012

Boca Raton couple tormented by foreclosure that won’t go away

Deborah Strassburger fans her hands in front of her face trying to stem the tears. She sighs.

“I’m sorry,” she apologizes unnecessarily.

It’s been three years since the foreclosure, the eviction notice, the yard sales.Read More ...

November 5, 2012

Consumers Getting A Hand With Debt Collectors

Many Americans are looking forward to Election Day simply because the political robocalls will stop. Finally. But the phone never stops ringing for about 30 million Americans who owe money and are hearing, perhaps a little too frequently, from debt collectors.

And what if you don't even really owe money?

Nearly one out of 10 Americans is dealing with debt collectors for an average of about $1,500 apiece, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.Read More ...

November 1, 2012

FTC files lawsuits against five robo-call companies

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on Thursday filed complaints against five companies in Arizona and Florida that are allegedly behind millions of illegal robo-calls that promised to help people lower their credit card interest rates but instead charged them hundreds of dollars in fees.

The agency estimates that the five companies raked in roughly $30 million via the robo-call operation and said similar telemarketing scams in United States take in upwards of $100 million. Read More ...

October 29, 2012

Jackie, Jeff Soffer sued personally on Las Vegas debt

Lenders are pursuing Jeff Soffer and his sister Jackie Soffer personally in a new federal lawsuit filed in South Florida federal court.

The lawsuit by Wilmington Trust, a subsidiary of M&T Bank, seeks to pierce the corporate veil for the Soffer’s Turnberry companies, and hold the Soffers personally liable for a judgment recently obtained in New York of $50 million plus.

Dennis Richard, attorney for Turnberry, said in an emailed statement, "This lawsuit has no merit. We expect it to be dismissed by the court."Read More ...

October 25, 2012

Debt Collector Allegedly Threatens Mother and Uses Social Media as Weapon

In a suit filed by Royette Fincher against Medicredit (Cogent Financial Group) on October 18, 2012 a disturbing allegation was made that a Medicredit debt collector used information gathered from social media sources, like Twitter or Facebook, to manipulate the consumer into paying a debt.

According to the complaint filed, "During the week of August 8, 2012, Defendant's representative going by the name of "Wes Alford" contacted Plaintiff on multiple occasions, Each call was conducted in a rude and threatening manner.

October 23, 2012

Floridians who lose homes to foreclosure may be doggedly pursued for unpaid mortgage debt

Floridians who lose a home to foreclosure may be more doggedly pursued for their unpaid mortgage debt after a federal audit that says lender losses can be recovered by demanding payback.

That kind of collection process, called a deficiency judgment, is allowed in Florida, but has so far been rare.Read More ...

October 17, 2012

Consumers Paying Down Debt Helps Boost U.S. Expansion

Anita Bullock-Morley was $57,000 in debt on 27 credit cards and close to filing for bankruptcy in 2007. With help from an Atlanta counseling service, the 37-year- old says she paid about $1,400 a month and cleared her balances. Now she’s used cash to buy an $800 iPad and upgrade her iPhone.

Three-plus years into a recovery from the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, Americans finally are getting their finances back into shape, Federal Reserve figures show. Household debt as a share of disposable income sank to 113 percent in the second quarter from a record high of 134 percent in 2007 before the recession hit. Debt payments on that basis are the smallest in almost 18 years, while the delinquency rate for credit cards is the lowest since the end of 2008.Read More ...

October 15, 2012

Study: Miamians’ Credit Scores Lower, But So Is Their Average Debt

Miamians are paying down their debt, albeit at the cost of their credit scores, a study by Credit Karma reveals.

Citing the study, the South Florida Business Journal reports the average credit score in the Miami area was 644, down by five points from a year earlier. While it was slightly better than the average Florida credit score of 642, it was below the national average credit score of 650.

In three of the four categories of debt that Credit Karma tracks, Miami area consumers were less in the hole last month. The average local consumer had credit card debt of $4,768 in September, compared to $5,548 a year ago.Read More ...

October 11, 2012

Ten Surefire Steps to get Errors off Your Credit Reports

If you've already spent the past several months -- or even years -- trying to scrub errors from your credit reports, it may feel like you have no choice but to live with the inaccurate marks.

Don't give up. There are ways you can beat the frustration-causing standard credit report dispute process, say experts.

"The Fair Credit Reporting Act requires that the credit reporting agencies, such as Experian and Equifax and TransUnion, conduct a reasonable investigation whenever a consumer disputes information on their credit report," says Chi Chi Wu, a staff lawyer at the National Consumer Law Center in Boston.Read More ...

October 9, 2012

Laws for Being Sued Over Credit Card Debt in Florida

Credit cards can be a great way to pay for something when you don't have the cash on hand. They can also be a great way to get into trouble with too much debt. Whenever a credit card user runs into debt problems in Florida, he should be aware of the laws that apply to the situation. In general, being sued over credit card debt, or having a collections action filed against you, can only happen in a limited amount of time in Florida.

Debts

In general, credit card debts in Florida can only be acted upon before the statute of limitations expires. For credit card debts in Florida considered open accounts, this is generally four years. That means that a credit card company has four years to sue the card holder on any unpaid debt. Generally, this time period starts from the last date upon which payment was due. So, if a card bill went unpaid starting on February 4, 2008, the credit card company has until February 4, 2012 to sue on the debt. If they file after that, they lawsuit will probably be dismissed.Read More ...

October 4, 2012

Court: Can gov't be sued for credit card mistakes?

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court on Tuesday pondered whether it should allow the federal government to face millions of dollars in class-action lawsuits for violating identity theft protection laws that ban the printing of credit card numbers and expiration dates on receipts.

Government lawyers argue that the United States is immune from being sued for money over violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. But a federal appeal court refused to throw out a class-action lawsuit from a Chicago lawyer who found part of his credit card number and the expiration date on his $350 receipt from a government website.

John Jacobs, the lawyer for James X. Bormes, argued in court that he could use either the FCRA or a second law, the Tucker Act, which allows the government to be sued in some circumstances, to negate the government's sovereign immunity.Read More ...