About The Consumer Law Office of Steve Hofer

Steve Hofer has been practicing consumer law in Indiana for more than 20 years. He is a former Indiana State Chairperson of the National Association of Consumer Advocates, a national organization of attorneys striving for fairness in the consumer marketplace. Contact me by phone at 317-662-4529 or via email at hoferlawindyATgmail.com. You can also leave a message through my website at www.hoferlawindy.com.

Saturday, March 7, 2015

Are You Being Sued by Midland Funding?

Midland Funding, LLC files more lawsuits in Indiana than any other civil plaintiff.  As a consumer attorney, I have seen the lazy affidavits prepared by Midland representatives, and because of this, I am astonished consumers don't contest lawsuits filed by Midland more often.  If you have been sued by Midland, read this article  published last year in the Washington Post.  It will give you some background on Midland.  I am a member of a group of consumer attorneys called the National Association of Consumer Advocates, or NACA.  NACA attorneys are attorneys who defend consumers from debt cases, and we represent consumers in cases involving a variety of consumer frauds and ripoffs.  You can find a NACA member attorney at www.consumeradvocates.org or www.naca.net.   A number of us have been sharing information on ideas to beat Midland at their own game.

Thursday, March 5, 2015

More on Pension Harvesting Schemes

I am continuing to work on issues involving pension harvesting schemes.  Retirees are the prey for these companies. They identify senior citizens in need of cash and tell them they can get them money secured by their pensions.  Here's where it gets weird.  We think of arrangements where you get money now and pay back money in installments as loans. These companies sell contracts that do just that, give you money up front that you pay back, but the companies claim they aren't loans. They claim they are turning your pension into annuities and selling the annuities to outside investors.  As far as the retiree is concerned, though there is no functional difference between these annuity contracts and loans, EXCEPT the retirees don't get the disclosure and legal protections that consumers are supposed to get in loans.  I think most of these contracts are illegal loans as to the retiree, and I think most of them are illegal securities as to the investors.  Here are some companies that have been identified in this industry.  If you have a problem with one of these, please contact me.  I will be happy to link you up with a NACA-member consumer lawyer in your area.

LumpSum Pension Advance, Pension Funding LLC
Pensions Annuities & Settlements LLC
Pension Income LLC
Cash Flow Investment Partners
DFR Pension Funding
Veterans Benefit Leverage
Voyager Financial Group LLC (Pension4Case/Cash Out My Pension/Buy Your Pension)
First American Finance Corp. and Investing Forward (Termbrokers LLC).

Check out the  SEC alert, entitled “Pension or Settlement Income Streams: What You Should Know before Buying or Selling Them” is available at www.sec.gov/investor/alerts/ib_income_streams.pdf