Can they Garnish my Wages?

Recently, I’ve had several calls to my office about Garnishment of Wages, so perhaps a short article is in order. Wage Garnishment is a legal procedure in which a person’s earnings are required by court order to be withheld by an employer for the payment of a debt. The key to the preceding statement is [...]

Worried About the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act?

Do you work for a financial institution that collects debts? If so, do you know whether the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 U.S.C. 1692 (the “Act” (http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fdcpa/fdcpact.htm) regulates what you do? Do you fear that your collection practices might subject you or your company to liability? Relax. The Act generally does not apply to [...]

What Is a Debt Settlement Attorney?

A debt settlement attorney specializes in negotiating with creditors to reduce the amount of debt the individual must repay. They will contact each one of the creditors and each collection agency to stop the late fees, penalties, and premiums building up on all accounts. The debt settlement attorney will establish agreements so the credit card [...]

I’ve been sued by a collection agency, what do I do now?

I just received notice of a lawsuit that was filed against me by a collection agency. What do I do now? I get that type of phone call at my office about once a week. Fortunately, the caller has made the obvious correct choice in contacting an attorney right away. This is an important aspect [...]

Chapter 13 Meeting of Creditors

Have you recently filed Chapter 13 Bankruptcy? Do you have an upcoming Meeting of Creditors hearing? Many Chapter 13 debtors get a little nervous about the meeting since they are not exactly sure what to expect. So, I decided to take some notes on exactly what happens during the meeting for the benefit of [...]

Credit Damage

Until recently lawyers for victims of credit damage had little possibility to collect for damages beyond medical treatment, lost wages and property loss.
Insurance companies threw up their hands in sympathy, claiming victims can only be compensated for what can be measured tangible goods and services. But, what happens when the victim has lost considerable time [...]

Anatomy of an International Debt Collection Case

Introduction
In late June of 2003, I received an e-mail from Daniel Harris, who introduced himself as maritime lawyer from Seattle. He had found me through the internet and was asking me whether I was interested in helping arrest transshipped cargo in Dalian. I was excited about the task and I surfed Dan’s website [http://www.harrismoure.com] and [...]

Stop Collection Agency Harassment

Owing a debt does not automatically subject you to harrassing, threatening and other inappropriate collection agency behavior. Some collection agencies go too far with what I call “renegade collectors” they will repeatedly call you at your home and/or business, threaten to send a marshall over to serve you with lawsuit papers or send intimidating letters, [...]

Debt Collection Laws

In your small business debt collection laws will eventually become important, as your debt grows and some clients do not pay. To collect small business debts legally, you must send a written notice that collections have begun, within five days of first contacting the debtor for collections. The letter must include dispute instructions.
Small Business Debt [...]

What the Credit Industry Doesn’t Want You to Know About Bankruptcy

1. The “new” bankruptcy law that went into affect in October, 2005 isn’t very much more restrictive than the “old” law.
The law revision got a lot of press that made it sound like it would be much more difficult—perhaps impossible—to file for bankruptcy protection after the new law went into effect. It’s true that there are [...]