Recent Blog Posts

Debt Collection Murders

Joseph Mauro — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 02:54:00 GMT

Two horrifying debt collection stories have been reported this month out of Indonesia. Last week an Indonesian debt collector was murdered by a consumer for trying to collect a debt. Earlier this month, a consumer was murdered by a debt collector for not paying his bill. The two stories demonstrate the raw emotions at play in the debt collection arena.

The first story involved a debt collector attempting to collect a debt on behalf of Citibank. According to an investigation by the Indonesian Central Bank, Citibank hired a third party debt collector to help collect a debt of approximately $11,500.00. When the consumer (who was a local politician) appeared at a Citibank office to contest the debt, he was tortured and killed by the debt collectors. The Indonesian Central Bank has alleged that Citibank violated certain protocols by hiring a third party debt collector too quickly. The Indonesian government has threatened to revoke Citibank's authority to issue credit if they do not overhaul their debt collection practices.

The second story involved a debt collector who was trying to collect a debt from a member of the Indonesian military. It's alleged that the debtor along with other members of the Indonesian military surrounded the debt collector outside the debt collector's office. The debt collector was allegedly taken away, tortured, and then released. He died later from his wounds.

If you are a New York resident and you feel you have been harassed or abused by a debt collector, contact the Law Office of Joseph Mauro to arrange for a consultation.

Mortgage Modification and Credit Reports

Joseph Mauro — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 14:13:00 GMT

Modifying your mortgage may help with the financial trouble you are in, but voluntarily going into default so as to become qualified for a modification may have some unforeseen downsides. Consider a person who is not in default that wants to use the modification system to try to lower their interest rate to that wonderful "2% rate my friend got." After learning that she must be behind in her mortgage before qualifying for a modification, the consumer purposefully begins to pay less than the full amount of her mortgage each month. After making the lowered payments, the homeowner is horrified to learn that her credit report had been damaged.

There are certain reporting guidelines that the credit industry (and the Federal government) has agreed to use to address the mortgage modification explosion. But exactly how mortgage modifications situations are going to be "scored" on consumer credit reports is not perfectly clear. More importantly, it is not clear how potential new lenders are going to view someone who modified their mortgage. How much is a "credit score" going to be decreased because of a mortgage modification? Even if the credit scoring companies, (FICO, etc) don't consider modifications as a negative, will new mortgage lenders refuse to lend to someone who participated in a mortgage modification? These answers are not yet clear. What is clear however is that consumers should consider these issues when making decisions about mortgage modification.

If you are having an issue with improper credit reporting, you are welcome to contact the Law Office of Joseph Mauro to discuss your situation.

School District to Hire Debt Collectors for Overdue Lunch Money

Joseph Mauro — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 16:00:00 GMT

A Pennsylvania school district is considering hiring a debt collection agency to pursue children who owe lunch money. The school district is owed a total of about $3,000 for school lunches that were given to children on credit. The district has apparently forwarded their own reminder notices to the children's parents, but some accounts remain unpaid. The district has indicated that there are at least 35 children who owe money. The district recognizes that many of these children may be poor, and may actually qualify for free or reduced-fee lunches. But since the indigent children have not filed the appropriate forms, they are currently obligated to pay their outstanding lunch room tabs.

Considering the financial condition of most state and local governments, it's understandable that school districts are examining their accounts receivable (though one wonders how much of an impact this $3,000 could have on their budget). What is notable here however is the apparent excitement this proposed new business niche is causing in the collection industry. There are apparently at least three collection agencies vying for the right to go after the lunch money. Whether appropriate or not, the images of the school yard bully stealing a kid's lunch money cannot be avoided. The collection industry has not missed this potential problem either. An article in a leading collection industry trade journal recently noted the potential "PR nightmare" involved with trying to collect children's lunch money. The article however also notes how using debt collectors to go after lunch money could be viewed as another example of how the collection industry helps strengthen our communities.

If you are a New York resident and you feel you have been harassed or abused by a debt collector, contact the Law Office of Joseph Mauro to arrange for a consultation.

Federal Trade Commission Issues 2010 Report on Debt Collection Abuse

Joseph Mauro — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 23:45:00 GMT

The Federal Trade Commission just issued its 2010 Annual Report on debt collection. Not surprisingly, debt collection is once again the single most complained about industry in the United States. The FTC received over 140,000 complaints last year about the way debt collectors were conducting business. The top complaints that the FTC received last year involved:

Harassing the consumer or others
Demanding a larger payment than permitted by law
Failing to send required notices
Threatening the consumer
Communicating with third parties
Calling the consumer's place of employment Failing to verify disputed debts and
Continuing to contact the consumer after receiving a cease communication request

The debt collection industry reacted as do they each year by noting that the amount of complaints is small compared to the amount of telephone calls that debt collectors make each year. The industry's argument of course ignores the fact that most consumers don't file complaints - so the amount of complaints that the FTC receives each year likely represents a fraction of consumers actually victimized. The debt collection industry has not adequately responded to this reality.

The FTC Report also noted several lawsuits that the FTC itself has brought against debt collectors around the country. The FTC is the federal agency currently responsible for stopping debt collection harassment.

If you are a New York resident and you feel you have been harassed or abused by a debt collector, contact the Law Office of Joseph Mauro to arrange for a consultation.

Federal Trade Commission Issues 2010 Report on Debt Collection Abuse

Joseph Mauro — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 03:40:00 GMT

Harassing the consumer or others
Demanding a larger payment than permitted by law
Failing to send required notices
Threatening the consumer
Failing to identify self as a collector
Communicating with third parties
Calling the consumer's place of employment
Failing to verify disputed debts and
Continuing to contact the consumer after receiving a cease communication request

If you are a New York resident and you feel you have been harassed or abused by a debt collector, contact the Law Office of Joseph Mauro to arrange for a consultation.

Debt Collector to Pay 2.8 Million Dollar Fine

Joseph Mauro — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 14:20:00 GMT

The Federal Trade Commission has reached a settlement with a debt collection agency called West Asset Management. The Federal Trade Commission is the federal agency that oversees debt collection practices. The FTC had accused West Asset Management of engaging in illegal debt collection practices, including using abusive language, telephoning the consumers numerous times in one day, communicating with people other than the consumer about the debt, and ignoring consumers' requests not to called. The agreement calls for West Asset Management to pay a fine of 2.8 million dollars. The fine is the largest ever imposed on a debt collector by the Federal Trade Commission.

The FTC had received thousands of complaints about West Asset Management from consumers around the country. The allegations against West Asset also included falsely threatening to sue consumers, and threatening consumers with arrest.

It is illegal for debt collectors to make false threats of any nature to consumers including falsely threatening to sue a consumer, freeze their bank account, or falsely threatening to garnish their pay.

If you are a residence of New York, and you feel that you have been victimized by West Asset Management or any other debt collection company, you may contact the Law Office of Joseph Mauro to set up a consultation.

Debt Collector/Fugitive Nabbed

Joseph Mauro — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 14:00:00 GMT

Debt collector/fugitive Tobias Boyland, was captured (again) by U.S. Marshalls near Pittsburgh Pennsylvania on March 15th. Boyland (a.k.a. "Bags of Money") operated numerous collection agencies in three different states. Boyland's companies used illegal strong-arm practices to force consumers to fill his bags with money. The 33 year old ex-con was arrested last year after the New York Attorneys General's office investigated numerous complaints filed against him and his operations for debt collection harassment. Boyland's illegal actions included threats of physical violence, impersonating police officers, and threatening to throw consumers in jail if they did not pay. The collection abuse was alleged to be a normal part of Boyland's operation. When originally arrested last year, Boyland was found with numerous guns in his possession. He was convicted on the gun charges and sentenced to 15 years, which he then appealed. The appealed was rejected and an arrest warrant was issued for Boyland in January. Boyland had been previously convicted of armed robbery.

If you are a New York resident and you feel you have been harassed or abused by a debt collector, contact the Law Office of Joseph Mauro to arrange for a consultation.

Welcome To My New York Collection Abuse Law Blog!

Joseph Mauro — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 02:49:00 GMT

I am pleased to announce the launch of my New York collection abuse law blog! An RSS feed is available for you here.