Tag Archives: Scam

Should I Try Some Sort of Debt Consolidation?

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No. Hell no. Absolutely no. Just spend some time on the Federal Trade Commission website and read all of their warnings. It is more than likely just a scam. You have no idea who you are doing business with and when they rip you off you are not going to sue them in the state they are doing business in. You are going to call me to file bankruptcy for you and have wasted anywhere from $1,000 – $6,000 of your hard earned money. That is what we see, as bankruptcy attorneys, time and time again. Here are four simple rules of thumb to avoid ever getting scammed by a debt relief company of any kind.

1. Do not do business with any company you hear about on the radio or has a television commercial regarding debt relief;
2. Do not do business with any company that is not doing business in your general area; that means never ever do business with a debt relief company that is from another state;
3. Do not do business over a website with a company that does not even list what state they are doing business in;
4. Do not do business with a debt relief company that will not put in writing when you will be 100% debt free; and if you are not 100% debt free they will give you all of your money back.

Fortunately the Federal Trade Commission continually fights for your rights and shuts down these fraudulent debt and mortgage relief companies. The FTC recently shut down some companies from Florida that ripped off people in need of debt relief for millions of dollars. Go to: https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/cases/160907paydayorderirby.pdf the stipulated judgment. The FTC charged PSC Administrative, LLC f/k/a Payday Support Center, LLC, Coastal Acquisitions, LLC d/b/a Infinity Client Solutions, Infinity Collect, LLC, Jared Irby, an individual, and Richard Hughes, an individual with violation of the Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act; 15 U.S.C. Section 6101. The defendants in this case, instead of admitting fault, entered into a stipulated settlement agreement with the FTC. The agreement provided the defendants are permanently restrained and enjoined from advertising, marketing, promoting, offering for sale, or selling, or assisting others in the advertising, marketing, promoting, offering for sale, or selling, of any secured or unsecured debt relief product or service. The laws regarding debt consolidation just be to be more stringent.

California State Attorney General

Student Loan Debt Consolidation Scams

https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-kamala-d-harris-issues-consumer-alert-student-loan-debt

Telemarketing Fraud

https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-lockyer-announces-189-million-settlement-telemarketing-fraud

Your Credit Rating

https://oag.ca.gov/consumers/general/your_credit

Coping With Debt

Based upon my real world experience and a bankruptcy attorney involved in thousands of bankruptcy cases I do not agree with everything in this list. But it is sure better than getting ripped off. https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0150-coping-debt

Advertising and 2016

Every time I hear a commercial on the radio or a commercial on the television about debt relief it makes me sick. The station airing the station is making money off of airing the criminals commercial and the criminal advertising their fraudulent services makes money because advertising like that unfortunately works. If you have never been told this before here we go: “The worst attorneys and businesses have to advertise their services over and over again to get new clients.” They do not build a real business based upon the goodwill of their past clients. There are none to be found. So these criminals have to spend thousands of dollars a month to get new people to rip off to stay in business and make money. Sadly it works. Every now and again there becomes a critical mass of ripped off people and the bad reviews on the internet and possible prosecution from the angels at the Federal Trade Commission or the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau shut down the criminals forever. Many times unfortunately, before the heat gets too hot, the criminals just change the company name and contact information to keep the ball rolling. It is just horrible.

What We Do For People In Need of Debt Relief

Not every case is easy for different reasons. At least all we have to do IS BE HONEST WITH OUR CLIENTS AND HOW BANKRUPTCY CAN HELP THEM TO OBTAIN A DISCHARGE OF THEIR DEBTS OR REORGANIZATION OF THE DEBTS BASED UPON THE LAW, THE BANKRUPTCY CODE. How wonderful is that? Some debts are dischargeable. Some are not. Some debts can be reorganized to make the terms of repayment more favorable for our clients. It all depends upon your income, expenses, assets and debts. All you have to do is be truthful and honest about your income, expenses, assets and debts and you are entitled under the law to have debt relief. It is wonderful. Debt consolidation is completely unregulated and is the wild, wild west. There is little recourse when you are fooled out of your hard earned money.

Why Did I Receive A Letter From REM Division of Notification?

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So you filed for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 7, 11 or 13 and now you are receiving all this information/marketing material in the mail. One of the letters could be from REM Division of Notification. If you do not have much time right now just throw the letter away, burn it, shred it or return it to the sender and stop reading now. REM Division of Notification DOES NOT have any to do with the United States Bankruptcy Court or have anything to do with your actual bankruptcy case. They are just trying to pry some money out of your hand for now good or apparent reason.

Filing Bankruptcy Is A Public Record

Yes, the bankruptcy filing is a public record. Like all legal matters bankruptcy records are open to the public. You need a Public Access to Court Electronic Records account and login. After you create a PACER account it will cost $0.10 a page to review the documents. So companies like REM Division of Notification pay $0.10 a page to obtain your information and send marketing material to you. There is nothing wrong with that until you read the letters that come in the mail. I have yet to read a marketing letter that is not misleading or confusing to our clients. Sage Financial sends marketing material to bankruptcy filers to complete the second required course for around $50.00. While it is true a second course is required to receive a discharge of eligible debts when filing bankruptcy. The company we recommend to our clients only charges $7.95 for the second required course. Every now and then we have a client get fooled by Sage Financial and use them for the second course and they waste $40+. On a side note, Google also finds the bankruptcy filing information because the meeting of creditors hearings are posted as a PDF on the bankruptcy court’s website.

REM Division Of Notification’s Letter Is Misleading

First, REM Division of Notification has nothing to do with the government or the United States Bankruptcy Court. The letter in the top left-hand corner says “Bankruptcy Notification Division” as if the letter is an official communication from the bankruptcy court. The second misleading statement is in the first sentence. The letter says “Your Bankruptcy has been filed by the Court System and the information needed to access your records is printed above.” No, that is false and misleading again. Your bankruptcy attorney has records of your bankruptcy petition and all you should need to do is call them for a copy of the filed documents. The REM Division of Notification letter actually does not provide any information to access records. Next the letters says, “Please keep this letter because during your bankruptcy there will be 3 stages you will go through in order to complete the process. Many times the data centers are very slow in or with sending you the information you need so we will keep you informed and supply you with any available court information you may request using our web site during your proceedings.” What data centers? Once a bankruptcy case is filed certain documents are served directly by the court and the court is NOT slow in providing service. There are deadlines for everything, so it is actually not possible for notices to not be sent timely.

You Should Be Receiving The Information You Need From Your Bankruptcy Lawyer

Hopefully you used good judgment and retained a bankruptcy lawyer to prepare and file your bankruptcy petition. If so, then that lawyer should be providing you with all the information you need from start to finish. That is part of what you are paying the lawyer for. So what does REM Division of Notification actually do? Who knows? It appears they will provide you will the filed documents from your bankruptcy case for a fee. These are the same documents you should get from your attorney for free or can obtain directly from the bankruptcy court yourself for $0.10 a page. REM Division of Notification probably only has a normal PACER account just like me, pay $0.10 a page for documents, then fool people into using their service and charge people something far over $0.10 a page so they make a lot of money.

Ask Your Bankruptcy Attorney

If you filed for bankruptcy protection and have questions about the documents you are receiving in the mail ask your bankruptcy attorney to explain them to you. Before calling your bankruptcy attorney scan and email the letter or fax the letter to your attorney first. It is difficult to explain a document or answer questions if we cannot read the actual letter the questions are about. So please forward the document first, then call and ask questions.