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.

Monday, May 30, 2016

Have you had Assets Seized or Garnished from an Indiana State Tax Debt (owed or not owed)?

I am interested in talking to people who have had assets seized or garnished relating to Indiana state tax debts, including income tax, payroll tax and other taxes as well. I have talked to two people who owned small out-of-state companies who were surprised to find out that the State of Indiana had put a freeze on their bank accounts relating to old tax debts. It seems that at least in some cases the problem comes up when the company does business for a short time in Indiana, pays payroll taxes for awhile in Indiana, then ceases Indiana operations, but the State of Indiana presumes that the operations and the employment went on (maybe for years) afterwards. The good news is that when you show Indiana that you ceased operations years before, it is likely that Indiana will send your money back. More problematic is getting back collection fees that are charged by third party collection agencies collecting for the state. I have some theories to get this money back, but I haven't been able to test them in the real world yet. Indiana has a contract with Premiere Credit of North America, LLC. to collect state taxes. Indiana may have arrangements with other collection agencies as well. If you have any problems with Premiere Credit of North America, please contact me. If you have assets seized relating to Indiana state taxes - even if Premiere Credit isn't involved, please contact me. I am trying to find patterns that so fare have been elusive.

Thursday, May 26, 2016

Apology and Retraction

In a post to this blog in August of 2015 concerning the Sherman Group of companies, I inadvertently and incorrectly identified a company, Granite Bay Acceptance (Specifically, “Granite Bay Acceptance I”) as being associated with the Sherman group of debt collectors. I have since been informed and confirmed that this is incorrect. There is an entirely separate and distinct entity, Granite Asset Management LLC which is associated with the Sherman Group, but Granite Bay Acceptance is not. We confused these two entities in the original post. We want to make clear that we have no evidence or indication that Granite Bay Acceptance is a debt collector or has any relationship with the Sherman Group, and we accept their position that their primary business involves making firm offers of credit to consumers. We apologize to Granite Bay Acceptance for the incorrect information in the original post.

Monday, May 23, 2016

Monday, May 16, 2016

Free Ask an Attorney Night - Indianapolis Star Call for Action, May 19, 2016

Indianapolis-area NACA attorneys will be participating in a free "ask a lawyer" night from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM in conjunction with the Indianapolis Star's "Call for Action" program.  I'm happy to be participating in this event.  We may even get a Facebook web stream going. We'll see how that goes.

http://www.indystar.com/story/news/2016/05/16/indystar-call-action-hosts-ask-lawyer/84184640/

Thursday, May 12, 2016

Have you been sued in Indiana by Jefferson Capital Systems, LLC?

If you have been sued in Indiana by Jefferson Capital Systems, LLC, please contact us. The suit may or may not have something to do with the College Network.