Fair Debt Collection Practices Act Blog

As a Consumer Protection Attorney, I get asked this question quite often, and the answer is always a qualified Yes and No. Let me explain: The first inquiry we have to make is who is the creditor and who is trying to collect the debt. Once, we determine who the creditor is: Let's say it's Visa Card. A typical unsecured creditor.

Then we have to determine who is attempting to collect the debt. Is Visa Card attempting to collect their own debt or did they hire out the debt collection process to a third party debt collector?

This is very important because if Visa Card is attempting to collect their own debts, then we are playing by one set of rules, and if they hired a third party debt collector to collect on the debt, we are playing by another set of rules.

Continue reading " Can A Debt Collector Call You If You Have An Attorney? " »

This week the Internal Revenue Service announced that it is once again offering amnesty to delinquent tax payers. The IRS will allow individuals to pay penalties and avoid jail time. This initiative follows a similar one in 2009 that the IRS deemed to be a success. Of course, the Government has only completed review of 2000 of the reported 15,000 taxpayers cases. Isn't this typical.

The IRS states that an additional 3000 taxpayers came forward after the last amnesty program ended. I think this is great. However, if the IRS doesn't have the manpower to deal with these individuals, why do another amnesty program? Is the United States broke????

Continue reading " IRS Amnesty Program And Thoughts On Income Taxes " »