Does a Debt Collector Violate the FDCPA When He Threatens to Take My Unemployment Benefits?

By: Robert J. Nahoum THE PROBLEM: You’re out of work, fallen on hard times and your only income is from unemployment benefits.  Now you’re being harassed or sued by a debt collector who has threatened to take your unemployment benefits.  Can he get away with it? The Rule: Under federal debt collection laws known as the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act […]

What Property is Exempt From Debt Collection?

By: Robert J. Nahoum THE PROBLEM: You’ve been sued, there is a judgment against you and now the debt collector is coming to enforce the judgment.  You’re broke and out of work, can the debt collector take away your property? The Rule: In New York, as in most states, there is a laundry list of property exempt from judgment enforcement and […]

Are Debt collectors Being “False or Misleading” (a/k/a Full of Sh#t)?

By: Robert J. Nahoum Federal debt collection laws known as the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA for short) prohibits a debt collector from using false, deceptive, or misleading representation or tactics when trying to collect a debt. The list of prohibited conduct includes: The false representation or implication that the debt collector affiliated with the government; The false representation of […]

What is Debt Collector Harassment?

By: Robert J. Nahoum Have debt collectors been hounding you? Would you say they have been “harassing” you? Federal debt collection laws known as the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA for short) has established guidelines for conduct that is forbidden as “harassment”. If a debt collector commits any of the forbidden acts, you the consumer may have the right to […]

An FDCPA Claim Is not a Defense to A Debt Collection Case, But it is a Claim Worth Pursuing.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iK7uk5VpqIY&feature=youtu.be by: Robert J. Nahoum THE PROBLEM: You’ve just been sued by a debt collector on an old debt.  You hired a lawyer to defend you and the lawyer tells you that the debt collector has violated federal debt collection laws known as the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA).  But, your lawyer also tells you that the FDCPA violation doesn’t […]

When Is A Residential Mortgage Loan Servicer A Debt Collector?

  By: Robert J. Nahoum I. SUMMARY Federal debt collection laws not only regulate the collection conduct of traditional collection agencies but attorneys and, in some circumstances, loan servicers. In the name of thin-profit margins, the current mortgage foreclosure crisis has pushed many loan servicers and bank attorneys to limits of these consumer protection laws. Those found to have violated debt […]