Have you had your water disconnected without notice?

I recently talked with another attorney who alerted me to the problem that local water utilities often don't follow proper notice provisions before turning off water service. There is a remedy when this occurs. If this happens to you, call us at 317-662-4529.

Update on Debt Buyer Collection Lawsuits in Indiana - Other Courthouse Trends Noted

I just wanted to post a short note on trends that I have seen filed against consumers in Indiana this year. Since I last visited the topic, in August 2014, there seems to have been a slight decrease in the number of collection lawsuits brought in Indiana. I think that is partially due to an improved economy, and it is partially due to the fact that consumers cut way back in their credit card borrowing during the recession. There has been a corresponding rise in student loan lawsuits. New mortgage foreclosure suits seem to be way down; but on the other hand, lenders seem to be more reluctant to negotiate mortgage modifications in the lawsuits that are filed. This is especially true in cases where the loan was sold to private equity fund like LSF9 Master Participation Trust (serviced by Caliber Home Loans). A troubling trend is lawsuits to collect deficiencies on automobile loans after repossession. If you are looking for an Indiana consumer lawyer, or if you are sued anywhere in Indiana on a collection case, a repossession case, a foreclosure case, or if you have a new collector or attorney trying to collecto on an old judgment, please call my office at 317-662-4529. Below are some companies that frequently file against Indiana consumers: Midland Funding Arrow Financial Services Asset Acceptance LVNV Funding LLC American Acceptance Atlantic Credit & Finance Credit Max CACH, LLC RAB Performance Recovery NCO Financial Unifund Patriot Recovery LLC Portfolio Recovery

Have you received a 1099C letter from a debt collector?

I am collecting letters from debt collectors that threaten the issuance of a 1099-C (forgiveness of debt). There are a lot of different strategies that collectors are using to collect money using the threat of tax liability for foregiveness of debt. Often the collectors mis-state the law and the level of taxpayer responsibility. There are also some interesting legal issues now regarding the collection of accounts after a 1099-C has been issued. This should be completely banned, but at present it is not necessarily illegal. By the way, this is an issue where your vote in November can make a difference to your pocket book. If you vote for representatives who put the interests of Wall Street ahead of the interest of working people, you are going to end up with laws that allow banks to charge off a debt as a bad debt, so the bank takes a tax deduction, the consumer incurs a tax liability, then the bank sells the loan to a bottom feeder debt collector. The bottom feeder sues the consumer, gets a default judgment for the full amount of the debt plus interest and court costs. That's the kind of junk that is going on right now, and it really has to stop. Anyway, if you receied a 1099 letter from a debt collector, feel free to send it to me. If you want a referral to a NACA consumer attorney in your area, I will be happy to find one for you.

Were You Sued by National Collegiate Student Loan Trust (NCSLT) in Indiana? - Free Case Evaluation

I am interested in reviewing lawsuits filed by National Collegiate Student Loan Trust in Indiana. I am especially interested if there is a cosigner involved. I will be happy to review your documents at no charge and to discuss them with you. Send your documents to hoferlawindyATgmail.com. (replace the "AT" with the "@".) If we take the case as an offensive case (us suing them), generally there would be no out-of-pocket fee. If we take the case as a defensive case (us defending you from them) there would be an out-of-pocket fee. I found this video on Youtube by Alabama Attorney John Watts explaining your four options if you are sued by NCSLT. I am not affiliated with Mr. Watts, but I think this video includes some useful information regarding student loan cases, and NCSLT in particular. I think John Watt's take on NCSLT agrees with mine. Even though this video is over an hour long, if you are sued by NCSLT, it is worth watching. Basically, if you are sued by NCSLT, your options are: (1) Do nothing - NO NO NO (2) represent yourself - BETTER THAN NOTHING, BUT MAKE SURE YOU ANSWER THE COMPLAINT PROMPTLY AND FULLY. READ UP ON HOW TO DO IT RIGHT. (3) Hire an attorney to defend (4) Hire an attorney to negotiate. Understand that in most cases when borrowers represent themselves, they are eventually going to lose because the collection attorneys usually file motions for summary judgment which are very hard for nonlawyers to defend. Common defenses against NCSLT include: (1) Questioning the assignment (2) Statute of limitations (The loan may have gone into default earlier than you thought. (3) Questioning their payment records (4) Cosigner defenses Thanks to industry lobbying, even private student loans cannot generally be discharged in bankruptcy; however in a given case, a bankruptcy might be useful to free up resources to pay student loans, to get breathing room to free up assets to pay student loans, or to budget the payments in the context of a Chapter 13 repayment plan. On behalf of clients, my office has sued other student loan collectors (but not NCSLT) for suing consumers in a forum that is not allowed by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. As a general rule, a private student loan collector must sue you in the county where you currently live, in the county where you physically signed the student loan agreement - and this applies to the cosigner as well. Often the principal borrower is sued in the right place, but the cosigner is not.

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.

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.

Initial "Call For Action" Ask an NACA Attorney Day was a success

Here's an article from the Indianapolis Star talking about their "Call for Action" program including the call in session staffed by NACA Indiana attorneys.