http://www.consumerfinance.gov/pressreleases/consumer-financial-protection-bureau-to-pursue-discriminatory-lenders/
Lending Discrimination Bulletin:

http://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/201404_cfpb_bulletin_lending_discrimination.pdf

The FTC alleged that Billing Services Group (BSG) placed charges on nearly 1.2 million telephone lines on behalf of a serial phone crammer. The charges were supposedly for “enhanced services,” such as voicemail and streaming video, that consumers never authorized or even knew about. “BSG made it possible for con artists to steal people’s hard-earned money by placing charges on phone bills for services they never ordered or used,” said David Vladeck, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “Under previous federal court orders, BSG cannot profit from the fraud of others and then deny responsibility for the harm they made possible.”

Story Location:http://ftc.gov/os/caselist/x980069/120508bsgmotion.pdf

Story Location:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/05/07/BUBJ1OEHSO.DTL#ixzz1uSN6yNXN

Story Location: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politics/54080039-90/consumer-bureau-financial-law.html.csp

Location: http://abcnews.go.com/US/va-woman-fights-collect-10-million-debt-collectors/story?id=16205697

Stop the intimidation, lies and other debt collection harassment by fighting back!
Stop the Harassing Telephone Calls and Letters Now Without Filing Bankruptcy!
Know your rights. We’ll sue violating debt collectors and get them to pay you and your attorney’s fees.

You can sue creditors and debt collectors and recover up to $1,000 statutory damages plus any actual damages for harassing collection agency abuse, including money for emotional distress. Arleo Law Firm uses the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and the California Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to Stop creditor and collection agency abuse.

STOP Debt collector’s repeated, daily telephone calls to your home, cell phone and office.

STOP Creditor inaccurate and false credit reporting.

STOP Debt collector’s false threats of lawsuits, credit reporting, violence and arrest.

STOP Debt collectors from using obscene and harassing language.

STOP Debt collector’s embarrassing calls to your work, friends and neighbors.

STOP Debt collectors recording your telephone calls.

STOP Attempts by debt collectors from collecting more than you owe.

The Fair Debt Buyers Practices Act will require purchasers of consumer debt, or debt buyers, to provide documentary evidence to consumers in order to ensure that their collection efforts are directed at the proper individual. Debt buyers have flooded California’s courts with lawsuits seeking judgments on debts without adequate documentation, often resulting in collections efforts against the wrong person.

“Too often, a consumer can get ensnarled in a long and costly battle to prove they are not the ones responsible for debt,” said Attorney General Harris. “The Fair Debt Buyers Practices Act will put reasonable requirements on debt buyers and ensure consumers are not forced to pay the debts of others.”

Consumer debt is routinely purchased and resold in bundles, made up of thousands of accounts, with inadequate documentation. As a result, debt collection efforts often target the wrong consumers or wrong amounts, or seek payment on debt that has expired or been discharged.

Senate Bill 890, by Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), would prohibit debt buyers from obtaining a judgment in a debt collection lawsuit unless the debt buyer can document their ownership of the debt, the balance of the debt, the date of the default or last payment, the identity of prior owners of the debt and the name and address of the debtor in the original creditor’s records.

In addition, the debt buyer must also have the original contract or a document provided to the debtor while the account was active to show evidence of the debt.

“The passage of this legislation is a major breakthrough for consumer protection in California,” said Senator Leno. “Aggressive debt buyers are using deceptive tactics to collect funds when they cannot even prove they are targeting the right consumer for the correct debt amount. The Fair Debt Buyers Practices Act relieves consumers and courts from the burdens and costs associated with processing large volumes of unsubstantiated debts.”

The California Department of Consumer Affairs issued a report in August 2011 concluding that much of the debt purchased by debt buyers is not accompanied by sufficient documentation to identify the debtor. Yet, as many as 90 percent of some debt buyers claims result in a default judgment where no defendant appears to challenge the debt claim. This often happens because the consumer is not even aware of the claim.

The Federal Trade Commission received more than 33,000 complaints regarding the validity of collection efforts in 2010 and has described the system for resolving disputes as “broken.”

SB 890 passed the Senate on a 22 to 14 vote and now moves to the Assembly.

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