Consumer rights laws and consumer protection laws involve several regulations and statutes that regulate the transactions between buyers and sellers in the marketplace. Generally speaking, it prevents businesses from using fraudulent and dishonest tactics when buying and selling goods to consumers.
If you face a situation involving a consumer transaction and feel like the business is taking advantage of you or not treating you professionally, contact Diwan Law for consumer law advice.
Tag Archive for: consumer rights
Portfolio Recovery Associates, Debt Collection
What is Portfolio Recovery Associates?
Portfolio Recovery Associates also know as PRA Portfolio Recovery or PRA is one of the largest debt collection companies in the world.
This collection agency specializes in buying old debt from companies and trying to collect on it. With most cases involving charged-off debt, they can buy it for extremely cheap.
Is Portfolio Recovery Associates a Scam?
Portfolio Recovery is a real collection agency.
Like other debt collectors, Portfolio Recovery often goes straight into litigation without first informing you that they are attempting to collect a debt. This is in an attempt to get you to pay your debt faster or face the repercussions.
Are you being sued by Portfolio Recovery?
If you are served with a summons from PRA, you need to respond quickly.
If you fail to respond to the lawsuit, Portfolio Recovery may be able to obtain a default judgment against you.
Armed with the default judgment, the debt collection company can garnish your wages and bank accounts.
Before accepting a PRA judgment, speak with a debt defense attorney. A collections defense lawyer will explain your rights and the legal process, such as how long you have to answer the lawsuit, the proven defenses, and the impact of a judgment.
Are you being harassed by Portfolio Recovery?
Under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act [FDCPA], debt collection companies such as Portfolio Recovery Associates cannot take the following actions when attempting to collect a debt:
- Contact anybody who is not the main person that owes the debt;
- Threaten to refer to a lawyer, harm of credit, or wage or bank garnishment without the actual intent to act on the threat
- Contacting you at “unreasonable times,” such as before 8:00 AM or after 9:00 PM;
- Contacting your employer;
- Use profane or obscene language during calls;
- Sending collection letters that appear to be from a court or government agency;
- Threaten to arrest you if you do not pay the debt
Contact Diwan Law
We are experienced in debt collection law and have an established record of protecting consumer’s rights. No matter where you are in the collection process, you deserve to know your rights and what to expect. Give us a call at 404.635.6883.
ATTORNEY VS. DEBT SETTLEMENT COMPANY
Suppose you are struggling to pay your debts. You may question whether you should hire a debt defense attorney or a debt settlement company to assist you in negotiating with the credit card company, debt collection attorney, or debt collector.
In almost all cases, it is best to avoid debt settlement companies.
Debt Settlement
Generally speaking, debt settlement means that a creditor has agreed to accept less than the amount you owe as full payment.
How Debt Settlement Companies Work
Debt settlement companies claim that they can negotiate with your creditors to settle your debts for pennies on the dollar.
If you are current on your credit card payments, they will tell you that the creditors will not negotiate the debt unless you stop making payments.
The settlement company will then tell the consumer to make these payments to them directly while they negotiate with the credit card company or debt collector.
These payments will go towards the debt settlement company’s monthly service fee, and the remainder will be set aside for future settlements of your debts.
The debt settlement company will only contact your creditors after you have enough—based on the company’s opinion—and offer each one a lump sum that is less than what you owe.
Why Settlement Companies Are Not the Best Solution
While debt settlement companies can certainly help you work out a payment plan with your creditors, they can also hurt you.
The main problem with debt settlement companies is that they often charge for their services upfront.
Here are the main downsides to using a debt settlement company:
Downside #1: Your Debt Continues to Increase
The debt relief company might not mention that the total amount you owe will increase once you stop making your payments, which will increase due to various added fees and interest charges.
Downside #2: The Credit Card Company or Debt Collector May Not Settle
The debt settlement company probably won’t tell you that your creditors don’t have to accept a lesser amount than it is owed to satisfy the debt or that many creditors will not agree to a settlement, if you are working with a debt settlement company.
Downside #3: Debt Settlement Fees Are Typically High
Going through a debt settlement company can be costly. These companies often charge a set-up fee, a monthly fee, and a percentage of each settled debt (say, 25%), and they might pay themselves before paying any of your creditors. Or, a debt relief company might disappear with your money.
Why are Debt Defense Lawyers better than Debt Settlement Companies?
Debt settlement lawyer has negotiation skills developed over years of experience dealing with creditors and extensive knowledge about debt collection laws.
A debt settlement attorney will discuss your options with you and decide if you should attempt to settle your debts or do something else, such as fighting the debt or filing for bankruptcy.
A debt defense attorney can represent you in court if you get sued by a credit card company or debt collector.
And, if a debt collector violates any consumer protection law, the consumer protection attorney can assert any claim you may have against the creditor.
Conclusion
Debt relief attorney services and debt settlement company services are both widely available in Georgia. However, an Atlanta debt relief attorney has a broad range of legal tools at their disposal.
Diwan Law works hard to provide positive results for its clients dealing with debt collection issues.
If you are dealing with debt collection issues, you need an experienced collection lawyer. Contact Diwan Law today at 404-635-6883.
A Guide to Consumer Fraud in Georgia
As a consumer in Georgia, you have the legal right to truthful information about products and services you purchase or wish to purchase. When we make a purchase, we need to be able to trust the merchant is being truthful. But, when a business sells you something fraudulently, they need to be held accountable. Consumer Fraud is often related to false promises or inaccurate claims made to consumers, as well as business practices that directly cheat consumers out of their money.
What is Consumer Fraud?
It is a practice designed to deceive consumers into purchasing a product or service.
Under the Georgia Fraud Statute [O.C.G.A § 51-6-2], fraud is defined as a willful misrepresentation of a material fact that is made to induce another to act, upon which such person acts to his injury.
Keep in mind that knowledge of the falsehood is an essential element of this tort.
But, a fraudulent or reckless representation of facts as true when they are not, is the same as knowledge of their falsehood.
Examples of Consumer Fraud
- Shop at home and catalog sales
- Foreign money and counterfeit check scams
- Banks, lenders, and mortgage fees
- Business opportunities and work from home
- Advance fee loans and credit protection repair
- Travel, Vacation, and Timeshare Plans
- Credit Card Fraud
- Life insurance plans
- Car Dealership Fraud
- Car Repair Fraud
- Telephone and computer services
What are the signs of consumer fraud?
- Unreliable and misleading information;
- False or misleading promises;
- Unethical, deceitful, or aggressive sales tactics;
- Promises that cannot be kept;
- Unsatisfactory products or services;
- Lies or misrepresentations made to consumers;
- Unusually high prices charged for services;
- Unlicensed, unregistered, unsanctioned or unapproved products or services;
- Illegal activity (unauthorized use, false advertising, tax evasion, unauthorized use of trade secrets, etc.);
- Illegal or abusive business practices.
How does Diwan Law help people who have been a victim of consumer fraud?
For Individuals, Diwan Law is a firm uniquely positioned to help clients at all stages of the consumer fraud investigation, litigation, and resolution process.
We focus our attention on those who have been defrauded, their families, and loved ones. We encourage consumers to contact us immediately and seek legal recourse to help them restore their financial health.
Conclusion
If you believe that you have been a victim of consumer fraud, it is essential to hire a Consumer Fraud Lawyer who can handle your case from beginning to end.
If you have experienced any of the following, then you may have a consumer fraud claim:
- Being lied to about the condition of a car or any other item before purchasing it;
- Improperly billed for a product or service;
- A merchant offering one product but deliver another [“bait and switch”];
- Being sold an item as new, and later learned that this item was actually used;
- Being lied to about the source of a product;
- Being lied to about the certifications of a service provider;
- A merchant offering a defective product;
- Being lied to about the uses of a product.
Diwan Law is a consumer protection law firm with a reputation for excellence in handling fraud cases, both large and small. Contact the Georgia consumer attorneys of Diwan Law today at 404-635-6883 schedule your initial consultation with one of our experienced attorneys.
What is Zombie Debt?
Once a certain amount of time has elapsed, a debt collector, credit card company, or creditor can no longer file suit against you to collect on the debt, but you still have to worry about a collector trying to collect this zombie debt.
What is a Zombie Debt?
Zombie debt is old debt that is usually charged off as bad debt by the original creditor and later sold to a collection agency.
In many cases, zombie debt is legally unenforceable, meaning that, unlike your current creditors, zombie debt collectors cannot sue you to collect the debt.
But, there is no law against trying to collect the debt, and many consumers end up paying the debt.
How zombie debt works
Debt collectors cannot take you to court for zombie debts, but they may contact you to collect the debt.
The cost to buy expired debt is often low, so when consumers agree to repay their old debts, zombie-debt collectors can earn decent profits.
Debts that zombie-debt collectors try to collect
If you completed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, your unsecured debts may be discharged, which means you are no longer obligated to pay these debts.
- Time-barred debt
Except for federal student loans, most debts have a statute of limitations. This means after a certain amount of time has passed, a debt collector can no longer sue you to collect on the debt.
The statute of limitations on debt in Georgia usually ranges from four to six years.
- Debt that is not yours
A debt collector mixes you up with another consumer, or someone could steal your identity and make fraudulent charges in your name.
Even though it is not your debt, the debt collector will try to collect from you.
How to protect yourself from zombie debt collectors
If a zombie debt collector continues to call you even though your debt is time-barred or the debt is not yours, consider taking one of the following approaches.
- Tell the debt collector to stop contacting you
Under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act [the “FDCPA”], you have the right to tell a debt collector not to contact you.
If a zombie-debt collector violates the FDCPA by harassing or threatening to sue you, contact a consumer rights attorney immediately.
- Ask the zombie debt collector to validate the debt
If you are unsure whether a debt belongs to you, contact the creditor and ask for a validation notice. This notice should contain the amount of the debt, who the original creditor is, and when the debt was incurred. Compare this to your records.
If the debt is not yours or the amount is incorrect, send a dispute letter to the creditor and contact a consumer’s rights lawyer.
Contact an Atlanta Debt Defense Lawyer
A debt collection defense attorney has experience standing up against debt collection agencies. They can provide you with the legal representation you need when dealing with any debt collection issue.
The bottom line
If a debt collector contacts you about a debt that has expired, has already been paid off, or does not belong to you, you are not legally responsible for repaying it.
If you are dealing with any debt collection legal matter in Atlanta, GA, call the skilled consumer rights lawyer at Diwan Law, LLC. Call 404-635-6883 to schedule an initial consultation today.
Diwan Law is qualified to handle debt collection matters involving the following types of debt (not an exhaustive list):
- Credit Card Debt
- Department Store / Retail Debt
- Car, Truck, Vehicle, Auto Loans
- Boat and other Recreational Vehicle Loans
- Home Loans
- Personal Loans
