The Most Popular Post of 2018 - Is Home Title Lock Legitimate?

I looked back at my posts from 2018, and by a large margin, my most popular post was my post posing the rhetorical question: Is Home Title Lock legitimate?

This post generated over 500 views per Blogger's counter.  (What can I say? This blog isn't exactly the New York Times.) 

I still hear the advertisements all the time on Sirius XM radio. They still bug me because I think they are spreading fear far out of proportion to the problem.  I still believe you are more likely to get struck by lightning than to have your home title affected by the fraud of a stranger.  According to outsideonline.com, you have a 1/10,000 chance of being struck by lightning in your lifetime (80 years). Also about 40 people per year die from lightning strikes in the US.  

Thoughts on Removing Yourself from Spokeo, Mylife etc.

I have seen a  number of articles lately about removing one's self from information aggregation websites like mylife.com and spokeo.com.  I even experimented with removing myself.  My first impression is that it's a waste of time, and I'm not sure it's worth the effort, and I'll tell you why.

In the United States at least, the First Amendment to the Constitution protects the right of free speech.  The government cannot pass a law that restricts the right to post true information on the web, and for mass media defendants, even false information is protected unless it is published with knowledge of falsity or reckless disregard for the truth.

Moreover, there is no real remedy at law for posting false information that is not defamatory.  There is a state law tort of invasion of privacy, but bringing an invasion of privacy case is rarely economical. 

Mylife.com has something it calls a reputation score.  They can put anything they want on that because their assessment of your reputation is an opinion, and that is constitutionally protected. 

The bottom line is that living in a country with a right of free speech is a two-edged sword, you can pretty much say any true factual information to anyone you want as well as voice your opinion about anybody you want, but other people also have the right to say stuff about you as well. You can try to remove yourself from these sites, but don't be surprised if your efforts aren't rewarded by results. 

BTW, you can comment on this post, but please don't email me on this topic. I have nothing more to add, so you would be wasting your time. 

Update on VFG Pension Advance Schemes, Cash Flow Investment Partners, and Pension Viaticals Structured Cash Flows

I have written before about Voyager Financial Group.  I am still getting calls from people who sold their pensions to Voyager Financial Group (VFG) even five years ago. I don't think VFG still exists Incredibly, there is still a  Voyageur Financial Group website, but note the spelling:Voyageur.   This appears to be a different company, one that spells "voyager" like the Canadians do.  Different spelling or not, in my opinion, they picked a lousy name, and they ought to consider changing it in light of the problems with the pension-advance VFG. I spent an hour looking at their stuff before I realized it was probably another company entirely.


How bad are these pension advance companies? In September of this year, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau filed a lawsuit against another group of pension advance companies.  Here is the text of the CFPB press release:

The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (BCFP) has filed a complaint against Future Income Payments, LLC (FIP), Scott Kohn, and the following related entities: FIP, LLC; BuySellAnnuity Inc.; Cash Flow Investment Partners LLC; Pension Advance LLC; Cash Flow Investment Partners East LLC; Cash Flow Investment Partners MidEast LLC; Lumpsum Pension Advance Atlantic LLC; Lumpsum Pension Advance Southeast LLC; Lumpsum Settlement West LLC; PAS California, LLC; PAS Great Lakes, LLC; PAS Northeast LLC; PAS Southwest LLC; Pension Advance Carolinas LLC; Pension Advance Midwest LLC; and Pension Loans South LLC.
The lawsuit, filed in federal district court in the Central District of California, alleges that the defendants violated the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010, 12 U.S.C. § 5536(a)(1)(B), by representing to consumers that their pension-advance products were not loans, were not subject to interest rates, and were comparable in cost to, or cheaper than, credit-card debt when, in actuality, the pension-advance products were loans, and were subject to interest rates that were substantially higher than credit-card interest rates. The Bureau also alleges that Defendants violated the Truth in Lending Act (TILA), 15 U.S.C. § 1638(a)-(b), by failing to disclose a measure of the cost of credit, expressed as a yearly rate. 

What is notable about this lawsuit is that it was the first enforcement lawsuit filed by the CFPB under the the supervision of acting CFPB director Mick Mulvaney.  Mulvaney never met a corporate scam he didn't like. He has even advocated dismantling the very agency he purports to head.

The Virginia attorney general also secured a default judgment in a separate lawsuit against some of the same entities.  https://www.consumerfinancemonitor.com/2018/11/21/virginia-attorney-general-obtains-judgment-in-lawsuit-against-pension-advance-company/


As I have said earlier, I believe virtually all of these pension advance contracts entered into by consumer/employees and private investors are illegal.  We have successfully protected pensioners who have decided to stop making payments on the contracts.

If you are a pensioner who is losing some of your pension every month, I suggest you talk to an attorney before ceasing payments, but that can be an option worth considering in a given case.

If you invested in a pension annuity, you might have a right to sue the individual or company that sold you the annuity.  Keep in mind, it is harder to get back money that you put out than it is for the pensioner to keep from losing additional money beyond what has already been lost.

I came across a great article at consumermojo.com titled "when you stop paying off a pension advance" that looked at a lawsuit between an investor in a pension advance and the pensioner. The long and the short of it is that the investor walked away empty handed.


Below are the names of some companies that have been associated with pension advances. I have not examined the contracts of all of these companies.

• 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 Corporation
• Investing Forward (Termbrokers LLC)

Total Resource Auctions and Nextgear Repos

I talk to a lot of dealers who are shocked to find out how little Nextgear sells their cars for after the cars are repossessed by Nextgear.  I have had dealers tell me that Nextgear waits until the end of the auction to sell the Nextgear repos - after the majority of the bidders have gone home.  Then there is another possibility.  Mannheim Auctions has a separate division, "Total Resource Auctions"  that according to its website specializes in nondrivable and salvage vehicles.  If drivable repossessed vehicles are sold there, it seems a good case could be made that the sale is not commerically reasonable under the Uniform Commercial Code.  https://publish.manheim.com/en/services/unique-vehicles/salvage.html

Lifeway Credit Union and contracts from The College Network - Looking to set up group action

I have a client who is looking to join up with other former students/customers of The College Network for defensive and offensive action against Lifeway Credit Union.  This includes looking at the company's credit reporting practices. This may be a class action, but more likely would be a multiple plaintiff non-class action, or even coordinated offensive/defensive actions.  If you are paying on a Lifeway Credit Union College Network debt and think you should be able to stop, or if you stopped and are facing collection actions or bad credit reporting, please contact me at 317-662-4529 or hoferlawindyATgmail.com. (of course substitute the "@" symbol for "at" in the email address above.  If you email me, please put "college network" or "Lifeway Credit Union" in the text of your email.  Thanks. Steve Hofer

Indiana Attorney General Sues Two Car Dealers

The office of Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill (I say office of, because A.G. Hill seems to be spending more time running from his scandals than running the office) filed an action against two car dealers.

According to the Indianapolis Star:

The civil suit, according to a news release, takes aim at Jerramy Johnson and Jeffrey Presnell, who owned and operated three southside businesses: Wheels of Fortune LLC, Southpointe Motorcars LLC and Mid America Auto Remarketing.
The men have been accused of misrepresenting mileage on motor vehicles, failing to deliver titles and charging inappropriate fees, according to the complaint. The lawsuit seeks restitution for affected consumers, many of whom are listed in the complaint, and civil penalties.  

The lawsuit alleges cars sold with incorrect odometers and vehicles that were certified as rebuilt salvage vehicles under fraudlent certifications of inspection.

The lawsuit alleges that the Wheels of Fortune Dealership, which didn't have a license, and whose owner couldn't get a license, illegally sold cars piggy-backing on the license of another dealer, BWI Equipment, I

If you bought a vehicle on credit from Wheels of Fortune, LLC, Southpoint Motors, LLC Mid America Auto Remarketing, Or BWI Equipment, Inc. you MIGHT have legal grounds to get out of your loan and make your lender buy back the vehicle.

If you end up with a bad vehicle that you paid cash for, you may have to rely on whatever relief the attorney general can get because it is unlikely that the individuals behind these operations left enough money in the business to pay claims. consum

There's are lessons to be learned her by everybody.  for dealers - don't let anybody else use your license, period.

For consumers:always get an independent inspection of the used vehicles you buy. Make sure you look for signs of a rebuilt wreck.  Make sure you look for signs that the mileage on the vehicle might be inconsistent with the wear on the vehicle.  You can get a Carfax, but they don't always tell you what you need to know.

Another Hurricane - Another Rash of Dealer Floorplan Lawsuits?

As I write this, Hurricane Florence just hit North Carolina and South Carolina.  Based on what we saw with Hurricane Harvey last year, we can expect that a lot of car dealers will be especially hard-hit. 

We had a number of car dealers from Houston to Louisiana hire us to defend dealer floorplan lawsuits, mostly by Nextgear.  These dealers were, for the most part, established businesses that couldn't keep current on the fees and curtailments that they were being charged by their floorplan lenders. 

If you find yourself with large storm losses, I suggest that you first talk to a peer dealer who faced a similar position but worked through it.

Talk to your accountant, talk to your insurance representative, talk to FEMA.  Don't expect a lot of understanding from your floorplanner.  Look at the possibility of getting an SBA loan to cover your floorplan debt. 

If you get sued by your floorplan lender in Indiana, call us at 317-662-4529. The worst thing you can do is let the floorplan company get a default judgment on a lawsuit. 

(Video from ABC News via youtube.com) 

Like a Good Neighbor - State Farm is There - Settling a RICO Case for a Quarter of a Billion Dollars

State Farm just agreed to pay $250 MILLION dollars to settle a civil racketeering (RICO) case alleging it engaged in an enterprise for the purpose of illegally funnelling $4 million dollars in 2004  into a campaign to elect a faborable judge to the Illinois Supreme Court.  That judge eventually was elected and was theeciding vote overturning a  $1 billion judgment in Avery v State Farm where a class of consuemrs were awarded a big vicotry concerning improper use of none OEM repair parts. 

Now if all this sounds like mumbo jumbo, it's from me trying to summarize in a paragraph things that took 20 years to happen in real life.  Here's what to take from it.  State Farm says it did anything wrong, but State Farm paid $250 million for the privilege of not having a court rule to the contrary.  If you are a State Farm policy holder (as I used to be), this money came from your premiums.  Your money, your choice. 

(By the way, don't call me about this case. It wasn't my case.  I just read about it.) 

Here's the article. 

Consumer Advice from NCLC on How to Deal with Credit Report Problems

The National Consumer Law Center's (NCLC)  primary role is to educate attorneys on consumer law issues. The NCLC also gives expert analysis and testimony to state, local and federal government and the news media. Finally, from time to time, the NCLC drafts publications giving consumers advice directly.  Recently Chi Chi Wu of NCLC posted a concise yet informative article on credit reports and credit scores. Here is the link.  I think this artic should be mandatory reading for college students taking personal finance classes. I am going to start sending a link to the article to every caller who asks me about credit report problems. 

https://library.nclc.org/essentials-about-credit-reporting-consumer-debt-advice-nclc

Potential Defenses to The College Network Assignees

I've been looking at some documents lately relating to a loan by Lifeway Credit Union for a LPN-to RN contract by The College Network.  The College Network is a defunct Indiana firm that sold LPN-RN programs. TCN was accused of selling the programs as if they were a full class program while at the same time claiming htey were just a provider of educational material.  It has come to my attention that the Credit Unions that provided capital to The College Network by funding their student accounts are still trying to collect these debts even though The College Network was run out of business for being a deeptive operation.

From what I have been able to gather, Lifeway Credit Union was a relatively-small player regarding TCN contracts. Southeast Fenderal Credit Union the most contracts and We Florida Financial Credit Union was a player.  Southeast Federal Credit Union sued TCN.  See this link. 

If you have a debt to a credit union arising out of a contract with The College Network, you should be that if TCN referred you to the lender, any claim or defense you could raise against The College Network you can raise against your lender up to the amount of the contract.  This means you MIGHT have an offensive claim to get some money back.  You have an even better chance at getting out of the loan obligation and getting your credit report clear.

It seems that most of the contracts that I've seen involved either Southeast Financial Credit Union or Lifeway Credit Union.  The Attorney General of New York brought an action against Southeast Financial Credit Union for disregarding the claims and defenses of the studnets.  You can read about it here. 

Until recently, when I have received calls about The College Network, I have referred callers to fellow NACA member attorneys in their area.  Quite frankly, I have been disappointed by the results, as the lawyers I have referred the consumers to have not known what to do with the cases.  I recently noticed that The College Network contract that I reviewed included a clause mandating binding arbitration in Marion County, Indiana. Now, the general rule is that binding arbitration is a disaster for consumers, BUT depending on the Arbitration agency, binding consumer arbitration may cost the business a lot more than the consumer, and may discourage a suit against the consumer.  Marion County, Indiana happens to be my home county.  Because of the connection to Indiana and the arbitration clause, I have decided to take on cases defending against claims by assignees of the College Network.  If you are subject to collection activity relating to a College Network contract, please call me at 317-662-4529.

My blog is ugly - but it's sincere

It has come to my attention that my blog is ugly and old-fashioned.  Yeah.  Yeah, it is. - But it is sincere. 

Have you been fired or denied employment due to the Auction Insurance Agency's "KO Book" (EKO system) ?

We are investigating use of the Auction Insurance Agency's "KO Book" , Which is now the Electronic KO Book. 

The KO book is used by auto auctions to determine creditworthiness of buyers.  When we did our initial investigation, we determined that in cases where the auction is qualifying the buyers as businesses, the KO book is likely legal because in that context it is not a consumer credit agency subject to the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

We are investigating complaints by individuals  had been involved with a failed dealership and later tries to seek work in the industry as an empoyee of another company who wants to buy vehicles at the auction.  Under the current system, these individuals may be listed in the KO book, with that information used to blacklist or keep the individual out of the auction as an agent of their employer. This effectively keeps these individuals from jobs as buyers. 

We have had two complaints relating to this practice.  If you have been denied employment or terminated as a buyer because of information in the KO book, please call my office at 317-662-4529. 

The information in this post came from multiple sources and is believed to be correcct if you believe any information in this post is factually incorrect, please contact my office. 

Washington Post on Private Equity Funds Cashing in on Desperate Poor People

There is an interesting article on washingtonpost.com today concerning on how private equity funds are cashing in on the short term cash needs of poor people, Billionaire-controlled private equity funds are investing heavily in payday loans and high-intereset personal loans including "check loans"  Highlighted in the story is Mariner Finance, a firm run by a private equity firm headed by Timothy Geithner.

  If that name sounds familar Geithner was the Secretary of the Treasury under President Obama.. In my opinion, President Obama was an excellent president who made two big mistakes (1) Not going to the mat for his Supreme Court pick, and (2) picking Timothy Geithner as his Secretary of the Treasury.  Time and again Geithner was two-faced in claiming to be pro-consumer but taking actions that were pro-lender.  Although Geithner denies it, many people believe that Geithner was responsible for President Obama not nominating Elizabeth Warren as the first permanent head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the important agency that she conceived. 

If you get tangled up in predatory installment loans or paday loans that you can't pay, you should consult with a consumer lawyer or bankruptcy lawyer in your area.  Because the laws are written to protect these lenders, there may be nothing a lawyer can do for you directly except filing bankruptcy; however indirectly these companies might violate the Fair Credit Reporting Act and the Fair Debt Collection Practices s Act. Their dunning phone calls and text messages may violate the TCPA.  In cases of disabled customers, elderly customers, and customers who don't speak English, the loans might be rendered void. 

Thanks to Carol P. For pointing out this article to me. 

Is Home Title Lock Legitimate?

I listen to satellite radio a lot, and I frequently hear commercials for Home Title Lock. (hometitlelock.com).

This is what Home Title Lock says on their website:

 Mortgage fraud is the fastest growing white collar crime in AmericaTitle fraud is when a thief uses a false identity and transfers your home's title to his name. He can take out a loan and stick you with the payments, he can change the title so he inherits your home and even have you evicted from your own home.
Title Insurance Doesn't Protect You and Neither Does Your Bank or Identity Theft Protection. HOME TITLE LOCK DOES

I have been a consumer lawyer for almost 30 years. During a lot of those years, I did 3500 intakes per year from everyday people with a huge variety of legal problems, and in that time I NEVER encountered a single complaint of home title fraud BY A STRANGER.  

I saw cases of home title fraud, but then involved relatives or "we buy homes" scams (usually involving sale/leasebacks), I also saw many cases of mortgage fraud by mortgage brokers in the bad old days prior to mortgage meltdown in 2008: 

I would like to see the data that Home Title Lock relies on to say that mortgage fraud is the fastest growing white collar crime in America. Also "Title fraud" and "Mortgage fraud" are not the same thing.  There are a whole lot of types of mortgage fraud, and as far ask I can tell, most types went into sharp decline after 2008 when lenders got more picky about their mortgages - and regulators enforced more due dilligence.  Title fraud, in my experience is very rare and usually involves confidence scams by no-money down real estate types, Usually the homeowner actually does sign title documents but under false pretenses.  

I don't really do consumer mrotgage cases anymore, but I am in contact with fellow consumer attorneys that do. Most of their time is spent on cases involving improper mortgage servicing (for example: failure to credit payments properly) and improper fees.

Here's why I think the type of deed fraud Home Title Lock scares people about is exceedingly rare: It takes multiple stages of fraud to pull off, and there are multiple chances of getting caught each time.  Let's look at the initial fraudulent deed.  The owner's signature has to be forged, and there has to be a fraudulent notarization.  A pattern of fraudulent transactions involving a single registered notary would be detectable by a  state notarization board and maybe a title insurance company.  The deed has to be transferred to a transferee who is either in on the scam or is a "straw buyer".  There are lots of scams involving "straw buyers" and they are relatively easy to track.  These tra"innsactions almost certainly would have to focus on properties where the deed owner is not in possession. Why, when the "innocent" third party buyer paying money to the scammer tries to take possesion, they will see the real owner. The real owner can defend against the "innocent" purchaser. In short, if your deed is forged, you have the chance to prove that in an action against the person who pays the scammer.  The person who pays the scammer, may be able to sue the title insurance company that closes the sale.  So I just told you that t the smart scammer will target properties that are not owner-occupied. - BUT THAT'S NOT WHOM HOME TITLE LOCK IS TARGETING. This company is targeting ordinary homeowners who live in their homes.  Now at the closing with the innocent purchaser putting up money, the only way the scammer gets paid, the scammer has to present id that is suitable for notarization.  You have to generate a fake identity for every deal you close. That's a lot of work.

In my opinion, it is not a good investment to pay Mortgage Title Lock $9.95/month to protect your home title. I think they are selling fear to gullible (often elderly) targets.  I don't have any legal action against this company, nor am I planning any.  Hopefully, they won't be into most of their customers more than about $100 before the customers realize that maybe there are better ways to spend money.

So to answer the question I posed in the title, is Home Title Lock legitimate?  Well, I don't have any reason to doubt that they monitor public records, so to that end they probably are legitimate. On the other hand, I have my doubts about the scope of the problem that they claim to be guarding against. That's why I wouldn't give the company any of my money.  

  

Mid 2018 - Trends in Nextgear Dealer Litigation

Here are my impressions in what I've seen in recent cases filed by Nextgear Capital, Inc. against dealers floorplanned with Nextgear.  The overall rate of filing seems about the same as last year, on an annualized rate of about a thousand cases a year. It varies from week to week. It seems like the average size of the debt claimed that I'm seeing is smaller, in some cases much smaller, even under $10,000. It also seems that Nextgear is not waiting as long before an account goes into default before filing suit, sometimes 2-3 months.  As i wrote in a previous post, it seems like Nextgear is suing more wholesale dealers, although because of a small sample size that might actually not be true.

From the point of view of our defense, the thing that I have noticed is Nextgear is a bit more aggressive in filing for summary judgment in cases where an answer has been filed.  In tew cases we have seen motions for summary judgment filed approximately 6 months after we filed an answer. Other cases have gone as long or longer with no action.  This is not completely surprising. Nextgear can't keep an unlimited number of open cases on the docket.  What I think a potential Nextgear defendant should take from this is that if you have an attorney answer your case on your behalf, you should have a "Plan B" ready by six months after your answer is filed. That plan could be a plan to settle the case, a plan to litigate the case actively, a plan to file bankruptcy, or something else.  It's not uncommon for you to not have a plan immediately when you are sued, and an answer will buy you time, but you need to dust yourself off and look at all alternatives after the answer is filed.

Finally, be on the look-out for a new website, dealerfloorplandefense.com. I recently reserved this domain. Keith Hagan and I intend to use it as the main website for the information that we collect that is relevant to legal actions by floorplan lenders. We hope that if you are sued by a floorplan lender, dealerfloorplancefense.com will be your first stop on the web for information. 

If you would like to talk to an attorney who is experienced at dealer floorplan defense - with no obligation, call me at 317-662-4529.

Nextgear vs the Wholesalers

I have been receiving a rash of complaints lately from Wholesale auto and truck sellers who floorplanned with Nextgear. It seems the Nextgear model of requiring periodic inventory checks at the dealer's place of business doesn't mesh with typical wholesaling practice where vehicles are physically located in warehouses or out on consignment.  This has the potential to cause breaches of contract (or claimed breaches of contract)  when the floorplanning account is up-to-date. 

If you are a wholesale dealer financing with Nextgear, I suggest that you read the whole boring Nextgear contract and make sure you are in compliance.  If you aren't, and practically can't be, I suggest you shop for alternate financing, and proactively come up with a plan that will satisfy nextgear, and put it in writing. 

By the way, consignment selling to used car dealers is an unavoidably risky business.  I personally question whether it is compatible with a floorplanned inventory in any case.  Who knows, maybe Nextgear sees things the same way.  That might be true, but the fact is that Nextgear has financed numerous wholesalers. Complaining that they are wholesalers now seems questionable to me. 

We have defended or are defending over 50 dealers and guarantors sued by Nextgear, in suits rainging from around $10,000 to over $2 million.  If you are sued by Nextgear in Indiana, call us at 317-662-4529. 

Bedbugs in a new bed - is it possible?

After receiving a complaint from an individual who claimed to have bought a new bed that was infested with bedbugs, I started looking into the question of whether new mattresses and bedding could be infested with bedbugs. I found a Dateline NBC report from 10 years ago that suggested not only was it possible, but that it is fairly common, especially in the context of "rebuilt" mattresses.  An online search found more than one claim of bedbugs associated with products from Wayfair.  (Of

Wayfair is a relatively large company that sells reconditioned furniture including bedding.  An online search found more than one claim of bedbugs associated with products from Wayfair. (Of course, I have no way of knowing if these complaints are valid or accurate. I am just pointing out that the complaints exist. 

If you buy a new, used or reconditioned piece of furniture or bedding, and it has bedbugs, what should you do?  First, don't call me. You aren't ready for a lawyer yet. You need to document the product. Show the product and the evidence to some friends, and document it by taking pictures and video.  Call the county or state department of health, and ask them to come in and do an inspection.  If you can, encase the product in plastic sheeting or get it out of your house If you have a garage, you can put it in the garage.  If you are going to ask for compensation, though, don't get rid of the product yet.  don't get rid of the product until the health department or an independent inspector can come to inspect it.  Either the board of health or the pest control expert needs to do a detailed inspection of the product and of your residence. For there to be the core of a legal claim against the seller of the product, you have to prove that it is more probable than not that the bedbugs came from the seller's product. There are two main ways that you can do this.  Of course your testimony that you had no bedbugs pefore you had the product is useful, but more useful is being able to show evidence that there is long-term evidence of bedbugs on the product and no long-term evidence of bedbugs in your residence, or, you could come up with evidence of bedbugs at the seller's or manufacturer's facility.  Obviously, you would need help in getting evidence of bedbugs at the facility. 

If you or your family members are injured by bedbugs, and you can prove where they came from, at that point you can contact either a personal injury lawyer or a consumer lawyer in your area.  You can ask for the cost of the product replacement, the cost of disposal of the infected product, your medical bills, pain and suffering, the cost of treating yoru residence and any other residences that you were forced to contribute to treating due to lease covenents.  You might also get compensation for your attorney fees. 

You may also want to contact your homeowners or renters insurance company. 

How does a "new" mattress get infested by bedbugs?  On the local news clip below, the homeowners speculates that the bedbugs jump from the used mattresses in the delivery truck to the new ones. This suggests that it may be negligent for delivery companies to transport mattresses this way. 

I can take complaints relating to individuals in the central Indiana region only.  To find a alwyer in your area, go to the National Association of Consumer Advocates' "find a lawyer" page. 

Vietnamese Nail Salon owners - are you having a problem with high credit card processing fees?

We have had indications that credit card processing companies are taking advantage of the fact that English language skills are often low among Vietnamese nail salon owners.  There have been stories of vietnamese-speaking salesmen doing cold calls on salons, promising to charge low fees to handle credit card transactions, but instead the salons are charged several times the going rate.  If this applies to you or someone in your family, please go to my website at www.hoferlawindy.com, and fill out the quick intake form.  Thank you. 

Indiana Workers - Have you been cheated out of earned wages?

If you are an Indiana Worker who has been cheated out of earned wages, I'd love to hear from you.  As a general rule under federal wage and hour statutes you need to be paid at least federal minimum wage for every hour you work,  anb by work, that generally means all the time that you aren't free to pursue your daily life routine, so that would include on call time and waiting time.  You should be paid training time, orientation time and travel time from your office or central location to a job site.

Some industries that commonly don't pay their workers

Cable Installers
Security System Installers
Truckers  (special rules apply to the trucking industry, but there are frequent violations)
On-call workers in general


I'll try to update this when time is available. 

What's the deal with Capital One and the "Soft Pulls"?

I have a client who's had a problem with "soft pulls" by Capital One showing up regularly on some of his credit reports.  That's great, you say, but "what's a soft pull?"  A soft pull is a credit report inquiry by a third party that doesn't show up when other people pull your credit report, and it isn't reflected in your credit score.  What's the big deal then? you might ask.  Well, regardless of whether it shows up when potential creditors evaluate you for credit, each time there is a soft pull, it means somebody saw some of your credit data. 

There are two primary types of "soft pulls" . The first is an account review inquiry. This is done by a credtior with whom you already have an account, just keeping tabs on your general financial health.  It's pretty much allowed period as long as you actually have an account with the company. If you don't have an account with the company, they shouldn't be doing account reviews.  The other type is trickier. It is the "PRM" or "promotional inquiry".  A promotional inquiry shows on your credit report when the credit bureau sells a targeted list to a prospective creditor based on defined characteristics chosen by the company that wants to sell you credit. The prospective creditor does not get your full information; rather, the creditor simply gets a ping that you are in the group they are looking for.  The Fair Credit Reporting Act allows these inquiries, but only when, in exchange for the information, the prospective creditor agrees to make you a "firm offer of credit."  The catch with Capital One seems to be how often they are doing it, and whether they are really making firm offers in connection with all of the inquiries.  One thing I found out in my web research, that people have been complaining about the quantity of Capital one promotional inquiries for at least a decade.  Here's a link to an articles at consumeraffairs.org talking about Capital One's promotional inquiries back in 2006. 

If you find out that Capital One has been making a number of promotional inquiries on your credit report that do not correspond with firm offers of credit that you received, please call my office at 317-662-4529. I'd love to hear from you. You can also send me an email inquiry through my website at www.hoferlawindy.com. 

Prospective RICO Class Action Filed (by another law firm) against Kevin Mason and Stuart Goldberg

About a year ago, I filed on behalf of clients a lawsuit against National Legal Staffing Support LLC, Kevin Mason and V. Stuart Goldberg regarding a student loan debt settlement operation.  That was an individual law suit which is still pending as I write this. Since then I have received a number of calls from consumers asking if this lawsuit was a class action or was going to be turned into a class action. The answer is no. 

HOWEVER, somebody else has stepped into the breach.  Two other attorneys, Daniel Gamez (gamezlawfirm.com)  and Macy Hanson (macyhanson.com) have filed a putative class action lawsuit, Matthew Ali v. Kevin Mason, P.A. et al in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, case 2:18-CCV-01110-CBM-FFM.  A copy of the complaint and a write-up can be found at classaction.org with this link.  Please note that I am not associated with the Ali lawsuit in any fashion.

This lawsuit alleges Racketeering (RICO) on the part of the defendants. RICO is hard to prove and many if not most RICO cases get dismissed early in the proceedings. - Which is not to say that it is a waste to file them, because it often isn't. If nothing else, this lawsuit may extend the statute of limitations for a number of consumers who have potential claims.

Do not call me regarding the class action lawsuit.  Please call either attorney Gamez or Hanson through their websites referenced above.  

Timeshare Relief Companies - Coming Back

When I worked for UAW Legal Services Plans, very often I would have a client come in with a timeshare that he/she couldn't afford.  That experience made me really hate timeshares. What I hate worse than timeshares are the scammy companies who get money from desperate timeshare owners and generally do nothing.

Fifteen years ago the scam centered on companies promising to find a buyer for your timeshare, and naturally you had to pay them an up-front fee. Now the scam seems to be a simple problem of "relief" from your timeshare, no promises you will get any cash from the deal, just that you will get out of the timeshare.  Of course, you have to pay them a fee, usually about $3,000.

What the timeshare relief companies generally won't say int heir advertising  is that to qualify for their program, you have to be completely paid up on your timeshare, with all dues and assessments current as well.  What they also don't tell you is the  more reputable timeshare companies (and I hate saying that), such as Wyndham, will generally take your timeshare back for FREE if it is completely paid for and dues and assessments are current.  When your timeshare is not current, it's just a problem to get rid of period, and there is no easy answer. Sometimes the best thing to do is file bankruptcy. Sometimes the best thing to do is default and try to settle up with the company when they sue you.   None of the alternatives are perfect or costless.

I am not takng cases from people who are trying to get out of their timeshares.  I will consider cases from people in Indiana  who were defrauded by timeshare relief companies.  If you are from Indiana and are having a problem with a timeshare relief company, please contact me through the "quick contact" form on my website, http://www.hoferlawindy.com/  If you are from another state and have a timeshare problem, I suggest you talk to a NACA consumer attorney in your state.   You can find one with this link.

If you have a personal experience with a timeshare company or a timeshare relief company that you would like to share, please enter it in the comments.  (If the discussion gets out of hand, I may have to shut it down, but let's see how it goes.) 

Pension Assignment Problems Are Coming Back

Just when I thought the pension assignment industry was dead, they keep popping back up. The current problem seems to be collection effords driven by the "investors" who purchase the pension assignments.  I have beeen dealing with these cases since 2014.  Below is from a blog entry that I wrote initially in 2015. 

In my opinion, these contracts are illegal not just from the point of view of the seller, but also from the point of view of the buyer as well.  From the seller's point of view, they are disguised loans without required disclosure. From the buyers' point of view, they are illegal securities.  The basic rule of securities law is that, unless an exemption applies, the security must be registered and the seller must be licensed to sell the security.  In most of these cases, the security is not registered and the seller is not licensed to sell the security. 

Many times these pension securities are sold to unsuspecting buyers by their trusted life insurance agents.  These life insurance agents may have a bond and professional liability insurance. This is important because the companies putting these securities together may be practically insolvent or their assets may be out of reach of a reasonable-cost lawsuit.  The sellers' only recourse may be to bring a claim against the life insurance agent or other person who sold them the security. 

Note this applies not just to pension securities but other investments that might be sold by brokers and agents.  I have seen cases involving illegal church bonds, for example. 

If you bought a pension investment that is not performing, or were sold some other type of worthless security from a life insurance agent, including church bonds or unregistered corporate bonds, please call my office at 317-662-4529.

Of course, we still represent consumers who have sold part of their pensions. Here are some of the companies that are involved in the industry

Voyager Financial Group, LLC (also doing business as Pension4Case, Cash out my Pension, Buy Your Pension)
Veterans Benefit League
Cash Flow Investment Partners
LumpSum Pension Advance
Pension Funding, LLC
Pensions Annuities & Settlements LLC
Pension Income LLC
DFR Pension Funding
Veterans Benefit Leverage
First American Finance Corporation
Investing Forward (Termbrokers LLC)

Great Seneca's Ghost is continuing to try to collect judgments

I received two calls last week from people in different states who are facing renewed collection activty on Great Seneca Financial Corporation judgments dating from as far back as 2003.  I have written about Great Seneca before. The thing to remember is that Great Seneca and a numbrer of associated companies are defunct, dead, ceased to be, toes-up, shuffled this mortal coil and gone to join the choir invisible, breft of life, they rest in peace, they are ex-companies. 

Here is a list of the dead companies that shouldn't be collecting from you. 

Great Seneca Financial Corporation
Platinum Financial Services Corporation
Monarch Capital Corporation
Colonial Credit Corporation
Centurion Capital Corporation
Sage Financial Corporation
Hawker Financial Corporation

A company named Stone Creek Financial, Inc. has claimed to be the assignee of some of these judgments, but the documents that I've seen don't include an assignment of individual accounts.  They have used a lawfirm named Slovin & Associates Co. L.P.A.  

If you are receiving letters regarding a judgment of any of the dead companies, or if they are trying to seize assets or garnish wages out of a judgment relating to these companies, please contact my office at 317-662-4529.  If you are not in our area, I will look for a NACA consumer lawyer in your home state to refer you to.  

More Proof Trump's CFPB pick is working against consumers - New Policy on Car Loan Rates

For years consumer lawyers were telling authorities that banks were working with car dealers to fleece minority buyers, fleece them by charging minority group buyers more for interest than non-minority buyers.  Ally Financial was tagged to pay $98 million in a settlement regarding overcharges in 2013.  (Don't feel bad for Ally, they got $16 BILLION in the bailout.) 

The way this worked is that lenders gave dealers flexibility in determining the "sell rate" on an auto loan they originated, with a fixed "buy rate" charged by the bank.  Some unscrupulous dealers used this as a tool to charge buyers of color (and others they determined were gullible) higher interest rates than they would otherwise qualify for and higher rates than others with similar credit were paying for the same loans.  The CFPB was installing a system with a "fixed reserve" so that dealers would up-charge by a standard amount for each loan. 

According to Auto News, even ahead of a formal change in policy, lenders are reinstating flexible margins on their loans, thereby making it open season on consumers again.