Driver Solutions LLC - Bad Company of the Week

I spent much of the day today reviewing records in Warren Township Small Claims Court.  I was looking at cases filed by Driver Solutions LLC against students at their truck driving schools from all over the country.  The unfairness of these contracts is just staggering, but not nearly as the unfairness of the litigation tactics of the company, putting a clause in their contracts that they can sue their own customers in Indiana regardless of where the live, regardless of where the school was they attended, and regardless of where they signed the contracts.  In addition, my review of the files shows that in many cases where they got judgments, there was not any evidence at all that the defendants ever received a copy of the summons and the complaint.  Despite this, they are now trying to garnish wages of their customers whom they got judgments against in 2008, 2009, 2010, and these people may not even know they've been sued.  I'm trying to put together a master strategy against Driver Solutions.  If you find out they've sued you and gotten a judgment against you, you may be able to fight it.  Send me an email through my website, www.hoferlawindy.com.

What is striking about these suits is that the company seems to be targeting the most down and out, and seems intent on keeping them there.  A notice to appear in court directed to a trailer park here, a garnishment order directed to Wal-Mart there,   For the most part, these people have been living with a judgment on their credit report for at least 5 years that they don't know about. They don't know about it probably because it's not the only credit problem they have. Often times these people have not filed bankruptcy because they are too poor to file.  I just saw an article today by Robert Reich talking about Economic Apartheid.  We have enabled institutions that keep the poor down and keep them from moving up.  When we let creditors take over our courthouses and turn them into slaughtering houses, we move away from the social mobility that used to be a hallmark of America.  It's just sad.

Put Geek Support on Life Support

Lately I have been getting calls to  my landline from a blocked number.  The call is clearly auto-dialed with a pause before a live person .  on.  the call clearly comes from an overseas call center.  The person comes on the line with a generic American name and says he/she is from "geek support" and is calling about my computer.   I don't have any technical support calls in on my computers, and I know it is a scam.  I try to engage the caller, but he senses something is fishy and he hangs up.

I think these are the same people that called my elderly mother.  They got her quite worried, and she was ready to go along with their pitch until she figured something was wrong and hung up.

I have never subscribed to the argument that scammers should have free reign to take advantage of the most mentally infirm customers.  When you think about it, we all hope to get to the point one day when we don't have the mental skills we had at our peek.  At the same time, when we are aged, we don't want to have to be locked in a closet to keep from being preyed upon by every scammer under the sun.  I don't believe in a "gotcha" society.  It shouldn't be "open season on grandma".  

What can you do about overseas telemarketing scams? Realistically, there's not a whole lot that I can do as a private lawyer about overseas scammers using blocked numbers. The Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Communication Commission, on the other hand have more resources and international connections, and they can. They just need to make it a higher priority.  If you receive a predatory call, complain to the FCC  and The FTC.  If you have the opportunity, see if you can get information from the scammer to identify them and the numbers they are calling from.   If you or your family members give them money, if it is by credit or debit card, contact the company that issued your card and ask about their fraud procedure.  If you give them personal information and/or access to your computer, that creates a messy situation that is not easily resolved and has to be handled on a case by case basis.

Here's a link to FTC information on phone scams.

One last thing: it is easier dealing with telemarketing calls to cell phones rather than land lines. If you are getting telemarketing calls to your cell phone, you should make a recording of you getting information about the identity of the caller and you telling the caller that they do not have permission to call your cell phone, then give the number. If they call you after that, using an automated dialer or recorded voice, you can sue them for damages based on the number of calls they made.  If you are getting auto-dialed telemarketing (or collections) calls, contact our office or find an attorney close to you through the National Association of Consumer Advocates at www.naca.net.

Bankers Lobby Defeated in Fight Over Robo-Calling Rules

The Federal Communications Commission issued new rules concerning robo-calling under the Telephone Consumer Privacy Act, or TCPA.  Among other things the TCPA provides remedies for consumers when they receive auto-dialed telemarketing or collection calls to their cellphone when the consumer has not given the caller permission.

Under the TCPA, consumers have the right to sue for $500 per unauthorized robocall to their cell phone with that number tripled in cases of intentional violations.  The  Consumer Law Office of Steve Hofer is working on Two TCPA cases at present.

The banks had lobbied for complete exemption of liability to wrong number telephone numbers. The FCC made a slight concession and now exempts one call to a wrong number phone.  This is the right decision.  Nobody really files suit for one call anyway. The TCPA does not have a clause providing for attorney fees separate from the consumer's per call damages. That means that attorney fees for the violations have to come out of the consumer's damages.  Unless the consumer has been called numerous times, there is no economic incentive to file suit.  If a bank or other commercial caller calls your phone one time by mistake, there's not enough harm to justify a law suit.  But if a bank calls your phone "by mistake" numerous times it is harmful enough to justify damages just to encourage the caller to be more careful.

Driver Solutions LLC at it again - Garnishing on Old Judgments

I received another call from a consumer who received a garnishment notice on an old judgment on Driver Solutions LLC.  Before I got that call, I thought those guys had been taught a lesson, being sued on a class action, paying the better part of a million dollars and forced to satisfy more than $56 million dollars in judgments against former students, but no, they are still trying to garnish on old judgments.  The class action referenced above covered cases Driver Solutions filed on or after July 13, 2010, and it appears that at least as to lawsuits filed before that day, Driver Solutions considers collections to be fair game.  I don't think so.  I'm putting together a strategy to deal with these cases.  Please call me if you are being garnished or having assets seized over these old judgments.  Defendants in these cases are all over the country.  You may not even know you were ever sued until you find out they got a judgment against you.  I will try to link you up with another NACA consumer lawyer in your area.

Issues We're Working on or Looking into Summer 2015

It's been awhile since I updated the master list.  This is adapted from our client sheet so the formatting may be kind of crazy.

If you are an Indiana resident OR if you were affected by misconduct originating in Indiana, please contact us at hoferlawindy@gmail.comThe Indiana Supreme Court probably considers this to be an ATTORNEY ADVERTISEMENT

1.       If you had a car repossessed, and the lender is trying to collect money from you WHETHER OR NOT THE A CASE HAS BEEN FILED IN COURT.

2.       If you have sold rights to part of your pension in exchange for cash (Pension Factoring) or if you purchased an income stream from someone else’s pension. Many of these contracts are illegal and you might get some money back.

3.       If you have been sued or face suit for foreclosure.

4.       If you bought a car, but after the paperwork was done and you took the car home, the dealer said you had to come back in and redo the paperwork.  (This is called a Yo-Yo sale.)

5.       If you have received letters from a county prosecutor’s office demanding payment for a bad check.

6.       If you are being harassed by a debt collector including name-calling, racial slurs, frequent hangups, early morning or late-night calls, threatening to take actions they can’t take.

7.       If you are receiving any kind of collection or harassing calls on your cellphone even if you owe the debt.

8.       If you are receiving collection letters or calls on either debt not owed or debt that is more than 6 years old.  (Six years since last payment).

9.       We do debt defense and offensive cases against debt buyers.  These are the largest in Indiana/ Midland Funding, Arrow Financial Services, Asset Acceptance, LVNV Funding, LLC, American Acceptance, Atlantic Credit and Finance, Credit Max CACH LLC, RAB Performance Recovery NCO Financial, Unifund, Patriot Recovery LLC Portfolio Recovery.

10.    We are starting to do some STUDENT LOAN DEFENSE.  The most common lawsuits are by National Collegiate Student Loan Trust(s) and Educap.

11.   Get your free credit reports at www.annualcreditreport.com. Contact us if you have inaccurate data or if your information was confused with someone else’s or If there is identity theft.

12.   If you are contacted regarding an out-of-state speeding or parking ticket that you don’t owe or any fine from many years ago.

13.   If you bought a new (or almost new) car or light truck and within 18 months or 18,000 miles of the ORIGINAL purchase, the vehicle had a problem that was subject to 4 repair attempts OR was out of the shop totally for 30 days or more during the first 18 months/18,000 miles of service. (This is the LEMON LAW. Note the lemon law does not apply to older vehicles. Other laws do apply to used cars, but the analysis is more complex, and the remedies are more iffy.) 

14.   If you bought a car that you later found out was a rebuilt wreck, but that wasn’t disclosed to you.

15.   If you are receiving collection calls at work and you told the collector that you can’t be called there.

16.   If you received telemarketing calls even though you are on a do not call list or any telemarketing calls on your cellphone. 

17.   If you are being dunned for add-on servicing charges by your mortgage company that you don’t understand or are unwarranted.

18.   If you have received calls or letters from a collection agency about a student loan.

19.   If you have received a periodic “mystery charge” on a credit card statement, usually about $9.99/month.  More than 100 names have been associated with this cam, usually the name associated with the charges includes reference to Buyers, Identity, Advantage, Charter, Chase, Benefits Bonus, Advantage, Rewards, Enhanced, Fraud (ironically), “Great Fun”, ID or Identity, Savings, smart, Travelers, Ultimate or Value. 

20.   If you received a death benefit from an insurance company and they required that you take the money by charge card or new checking account.

21.   If your employer requires you to be paid via funds loaded on a debit card.

22.   If you received debt collection communications on a deceased spouse’s account.

23.   If you were sued for medical bills that were incurred by your spouse. 

24.   If you are having problems with a timeshare or camping club.

25.   If you received collection letters and the collector imposed charges for accepting credit card/telephone or check payments.

26.   If you are having any kind of a dispute with an insurance company regarding payment of a claim.

27.   If you did work for which you were not paid or for which you were not paid at least minimum wage. Note: this covers mandatory time before clock-in or if you are required to clock out but remain on hand for a split shift.   Most workers should also get time and a half for over 40 hours/week. Often employees are classified as “exempt” managers improperly, especially “assistant managers” who do the same work as line employees.

28.   If you were fired for union-organization activity.

29.   If you know about a company ripping off the government, and you want to claim whistleblower protection.

30.   If you received unsolicited fax advertising either at home or at your small business? These cases could be worth $500 to $1,500 per fax.

31.   If you received unsolicited text message (SMS) advertising? These cases could be worth $500 to $1500 per message.

32.   If you have received autodialed calls or calls involving a recorded voice on a cell phone. (4 year limitations period).

33.   If you were unable to protect yourself from a creditor due to MILITARY SERVICE, or if you are a service member or family member who needs protection from a creditor.

34.   If you are getting dunned for payday loans, especially loans you don’t remember taking out OR ANY PAYDAY LOAN FROM AN OUT-OF-STATE OR INTERNET LENDER OR LENDER ON AN INDIAN RESERVATION.

35.    If you are the survivor of a person who had a reverse mortgage, and they are requiring you to pay off the mortgage in full.

36.   Predatory Mortgage lending – We aren’t seeing as much of this as we used to, because most of the lenders were driven out of bankruptcy in the Great Recession, it is usually easiest to deal with these cases defensively when dealing with mortgage foreclosures.

37.   If a home improvement contractor refuses to finish a job or redo shoddy work.

38.   If there is an abandoned big box store in your neighborhood that is an eyesore or worse.

39.   Personal Injuries: Our office will rarely take personal injury cases independently; however we can find and co-counsel with specialized firms who have experience with different kinds of injuries including, auto and motorcycle accidents, workplace chemical exposure, medical negligence, hospital infections, defective-product caused injuries. 

40.   Other Matters: As we add personnel, we expect to gradually add some additional areas of practice, but in the meantime we can refer to other offices for areas including Bankruptcy, Guardianships, Adoptions, Social Security Disability, Probate, Criminal, Zoning and Condemnation, Family law, Immigration.

By the way, we know that a lot of our folks are “snowbirds” and spend part of the year in other parts of the country. If you have an incident or problem that occurs somewhere other than Indiana, just send us an email at hoferlawindy@gmail.com, let us know about the type of problem and where it occurred, and as a courtesy, we’ll try to find you a NACA-member attorney as close as possible to the place of the incident.   

Has United Health Group Turned Down Coverage for a Jaw Operation?

Jaw operations for crossbite, TMJ and other conditions are routinely denied by insurance companies, and they are often excluded explicitly in policies, even policies that are somewhat generous in most other kinds of care.  We ran into a situation where United Health excluded a jaw operation.  Apparently, paying to fix peoples' jaws will get in the way of paying the $66 million dollars in CEO compensation that CEO Stephen Hemsley received last year.  All-in-all, United Health paid more than a million dollars to at least 6 executives.  It's time for people who have not received coverage to band together to demonstrate against this company.

This company has a history of questionable ethics and alleged overcharging of customers.

If You Are Sued by Educap Please Contact Me - Even IF You Aren't in Indiana

Private student loans cannot be discharged in bankruptcy if the loan is originated by a not-for-profit company (I'm oversimplifying but this is the gist.)  Educap has created quite a niche for itself by being technically not-for-profit but still being lucrative for its principle players.  See this CBS news story.  Educap has been suing student loan borrows lately, and I have my suspicions about these lawsuits.  If you have any experience being sued by Educap, either now or anytime within the past 2 years, please contact me.  If you have a live case that needs defending, I will try to find a NACA member attorney in your area.  If you have a dead case, I will look at it to see if I can see any offensive claim you can make.

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