Debt Collectors Settle with FTC for $3.3 million, Permanent Ban from Collecting

The Federal Trade Commission Thursday announced a settlement in a long-running case against two debt collection agency owners and their network of companies that threatened lawsuit and arrest over debts consumers often did not owe. The two principal owners of...

Good Ways to Repair Your Bad Credit

The old formula to build better credit went something like this: apply for a few credit cards, use them for affordable purchases such as groceries, utilities or gas; and then pay them off completely when the statement arrives each month,...

What to Do If You Get Calls on a Debt That Isn’t Yours

The Government Is Looking for Consumer Input To Tighten Debt Collection Law

The following article is written by Michelle Singletary of the Washington Post. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is looking for your input in making debt collection laws even tougher.  If you would like to share your input or suggestions, visit www.regulations.gov. WASHINGTON...

Spoofing: Debt collectors sleight of hand dialing for dollars

As debt collectors become more invasive in contacting consumers, spoofing has been utilized with greater frequency. Spoofing is a calling scheme that allows a telephone caller to fool the caller ID system of the recipient. Unfortunately, the law has yet...

Automated Calls Ring in $500,000 Fine for One of Canada’s Largest Debt Collectors

An investigation by Canada’s federal regulatory arm, Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CTRC), found one of the country’s largest debt collectors iQor Canada Ltd guilty of violating consumer rights. Chiefly iQor was accused of using robocalls in an attempt to...

Class Action Suit Filed Against NJ Law Firm Debt Collector Pressler & Pressler

A deceptive-practices lawsuit against Pressler & Pressler, New Jersey’s largest collections firm, is moving forward as a class action. U.S. District Judge Katharine Hayden in Newark certified a class of individuals who allege misrepresentations in a form letter they received...

Class Action Suit Filed Against Victoria’s Secret Debt Collector For Violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act

Lawsuit alleges Allied Interstate charged hidden fees after settlement offers have been accepted Third party debt collector Allied Interstate of Columbus, Ohio, allegedly failed to inform credit-card holders who defaulted on payments and then accepted settlement offers, that interest on the debt...

Turning the Tables on Debt Collectors

Are you being contacted by phone and mail about a debt that you owe but haven’t paid or can’t pay? Maybe you are being called about somebody else’s debt? Does it seem like your phone won’t stop ringing or that...

FDCPA Applies to Text Messages and Phone Calls

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) has a number of complex stipulations that prohibit debt collectors from utilizing practices deemed as harassing. Although some laws within the act can be pretty straightforward, other policies are more complex. For years,...

Chase To Pay $389 Million Over Illegal Charges For Credit-Monitoring Services

JPMorgan Chase has agreed to pay out nearly a billion dollars to close investigations related to the 2012 “London Whale” trading fiasco, and now is told it must pay out $309 million in refunds and $80 million in penalties over...

Glendale-Based Debt Collector Fined $1M for Violating the FDCPA

A Glendale, California-based debt collector will pay $1 million dollars to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that the defendants violated federal law. This is the first FTC action against a debt collector who used text messaging to attempt to collect...