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The bulk of our caseload at Artim Law is defending individuals who are sued by collection agencies. We see lawsuits from Cavalry, LVNV Funding, Midland Funding and Portfolio Recovery Associates every day. These guys are the large debt buyers and it appears that they’ve swallowed all of the smaller debt buyers. Every now and again,…
Facing a credit card lawsuit? Please don’t panic. Follow these easy steps and you’ll obtain a great result almost every time. Step 1 – Take a few minutes to actually read the lawsuit. See if they have sued the correct person, see if you can recognize the account that they are suing on. Step 2…
If you’ve been sued by Portfolio Recovery Associates (PRA), then you need to do something, right now. Since you’re here, you obviously are at least attempting to do some research, which is a good thing. The next step is to consult with and then hire a consumer attorney. Please don’t make the mistake of handling a…
Years ago, you were sued. You lost, either because you didn’t properly defend yourself and allowed a default judgment to be entered, or, because you didn’t hire an attorney. Now years later the collector is trying to enforce the judgment and is demanding that you pay. Or, you’re trying to buy a new home and…
Well, for the 5th time in the last 7 days I’ve had a new client inquiry where the individual has been representing themselves in a credit card lawsuit. The common scenario is this…Debt buyer sues person. Person goes on internet and googles what to do. Google tells them to file an “answer” so they do…
Responding to a Credit Card Lawsuit When a lawsuit is filed in the Court of Common Pleas you as the defendant have 20 days to get a written response filed with the court. The initial written response to the lawsuit is crucial, so please heed the following advice. There are generally two choices when responding:…
Apparently, its bank account garnishment week here in Pennsylvania. We’ve been inundated with calls from consumers who have had their bank accounts garnished. In some cases, the consumer didn’t even realize that they had been sued. We’ll be attacking the judgments on those ones for sure. In many cases, however, the consumer did realize…
At our office, for most consumer claims we offer a free initial consultation (we do charge for federal student loan consultations). We do this as a courtesy to our potential clients. As a consumer law firm, we are most often dealing with a consumer who is being harassed by a debt collection agency ( or…
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has laws regarding the sale of used cars. Most people are familiar with these laws, but don’t realize they are federal regulations. The FTC provides federal regulations for a dealership’s ability to sell a vehicle “As-Is.” If you have seen the “As-Is” sign on the window of a used car,…
We get calls every day asking us to negotiate debt. For some people, paying debt is a good idea. For others, its not such a good idea. Most people do not realize the nature of debt. The typical phone call goes like this…”Attorney Artim, I have a debt with Chase that I’d like to…
We’ve had lots of calls over the last few weeks asking about a Writ of Execution. Can I hire you? Why didn’t they give me notice? What can be done? These are some of the frequent questions that we get regarding Writs of Execution. What is a Writ of Execution? A Writ of Execution…
We’ve had a number of calls over the last few weeks from people who think they are being sued with a new lawsuit. As the consultation goes on, the client inevitably says “I was sued for this claim years ago”. At that point, we need to take a look at the docket and at the…
LVNV Funding is a junk debt buyer that we deal with on a daily basis. They fell under the radar for a few years and now are making a big comeback. We’ve seen hundreds of LVNV cases being filed across western Pennsylvania in the last few months. Below, we’ll talk about the 5 steps…
Douglass v Convergent Outsourcing Third Circuit Court of Appeals The Third Circuit Court of Appeals on August 28, 2014 issued a precedential opinion in the case of Douglass v Convergent Outsourcing f/k/a ER Solutions, Inc. Douglass filed an action against Convergent Outsourcing for sending a collection letter using a window envelope that exposed Mr. Douglass’s…
Now that the Court has spoken on this issue, it is a violation for a debt collector to disclose on the outside of an envelope (or if you can see it through the envelope window) any personal information other than the debt collector’s address. This can include a file number, identification number or a QR…
The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) promotes the accuracy, fairness and privacy of information in the files of consumer reporting agencies. There are many types of consumer reporting agencies, including credit bureaus and specialty agencies (such as agencies that sell information about check writing histories, medical records, and rental history records). Here is a…
The IRS requires any entity discharging a debt to file an “information return” on a Form 1099-C with the IRS. See Treas. Reg. § 1.6050P-1(a). Debt collectors or creditors will sometimes mail a form 1099-C to a consumer when debt is settled, discharged, or is no longer collectable. The most relevant requirements for our typical…
What in the world is a Deposition in Aid of Execution? Why am I receiving this? Did I get sued? These are the hot questions of the day. We receive at least one of these calls every day at our office and sometimes its up to 6-7 calls per day. If you’ve received a notice…
For today’s blog post I want to talk about some general collection issues and terms that we get asked about quite often. Let’s start with the Statute of Limitations. The Statute of Limitations (SOL) for credit card debt in Pennsylvania is 4 years (3 years on some cases). Well, 4 years from when, exactly? The…
Generally speaking, we handle used car cases when an individual buys a used car only to find out after the sale that the car is suffering from a serious defect. However, there are more potential causes of action that can arise from used cars than those that arise at the time of sale. For example,…