The American Banker’s Jeff Horwitz recently put together a fantastic story exposing widespread internal irregularities at Chase regarding its credit card practices. The story is pulled from information gathered from a number of current and former Chase employees. It all began back in 2009 when Chase’s credit card team sold off credit card judgments valued…
West Virginia consumer Diana Mey is trying to collect money from a collection agency after winning the largest judgment ever against an abusive debt collection company — more than $10 million. “I’m a mom, and I’m a housewife, and I’m an accidental activist,” Mey said. From her small-town home in Wheeling, Mey took on a…
Are you experiencing a high volume of aggressive debt collection calls? Are you constantly asking yourself how to stop collection calls? As a consumer you have rights, especially when it comes to harassing collection phone calls. While you can verbally demand that calls stop, and to keep calling you is indeed harassment under the law,…
In a series of 2009 and 2010 transactions, Bank of America sold credit card receivables to an outfit called CACH LLC, based in Denver. Co. Each month CACH bought debts with a face value of as much as $65 million for 1.8 cents on the dollar. At least a portion of the debts were legacy…
Bank of America says it has begun a pilot program offering some of its mortgage customers who are facing foreclosure a chance to stay in their homes by becoming renters instead of owners. The “Mortgage to Lease” program, which was launched this week, will be available to fewer than 1,000 BofA customers selected by the…
When the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act was enacted in 1978, social media sites like Facebook and Twitter did not exist. No one could have anticipated how much of an impact social media would have on our lives but the debt collection industry is taking full advantage of our lives on public display. MSN recently…
According to a report last month from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, student debt is now at $870 billion, topping the total owed by Americans on credit cards ($693 billion) and even cars ($730 billion). Right now, 27 percent of borrowers are in default. The nation’s bankruptcy attorneys have warned that unpaid student…
Consumer attorney Craig Thor Kimmel spoke with Eyewitness News via Skype about consumers’ rights under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act: PA Home Page posted the video on their website here: Know Your Rights with Debt Collectors – video has been taken down, link removed.
Anne Sessions of Lane County, Oregon is suing Wells Fargo after one of its debt collectors reported to police that that the 85-year-old was threatening suicide, a claim she maintains was false, The Oregonian reports. After hitting financial trouble, Sessions says she arranged a payment plan for her credit card debt with Wells Fargo last…
In what is sure to be considered a major victory for consumers everywhere, the FTC this week ordered Asset Acceptance to pay $2.5 Million in fines. Asset is one of the largest debt collectors / debt buyers in the country. The fines handed out this week certainly send a message that debt collectors should not see themselves…
