Dubiln Packard

Collection Defense

Are collectors after you?

You can protect your assets while you reorganize your finances.
Your rights are clear under the law. Let the law protect you while you restructure debt and take control of your situation.

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Stop Collections

#Stop_Collection #FDCPAWe can stop collection activity NOW, including

  • garnishment

  • liens

  • creditor harassment

  • phone calls

  • emails

  • collection agency threats

  • foreclosure action

  • frozen bank accounts

  • repossession.

The law protects you from disaster, homelessness and imprisonment, giving you time to restructure your debts and work out payment arrangements.

You cannot be thrown in jail for owing money.

We are a nation of second chances. The law is designed to protect you, preserve certain of your assets and keep you in your home while you work out your situation with your creditors, with the help of a lawyer.

As soon as creditors know that you’ve retained an attorney, they are required to stop contacting you and deal instead with your lawyer, who can deploy a wide range of resources on your behalf to help get your financial life back in order.

These resources include negotiation with creditors, restructuring loans or obtaining loan modifications, and possibly filing for bankruptcy to have debts discharged. If collectors persist after you’ve retained counsel, you may be entitled to compensation under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

When you’re under financial duress, it can be difficult to see around the corner to a brighter day.

We understand your situation at Todd Murphy Law

It’s vital to take the first step, before things get worse.

Early action gets better results. Call our office now!

From our offices located in Bedminster, we serve all of Northern New Jersey, including Somerville.

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Capitol One: Not In My Wallet

credit card fraud risk high in new jerseyA report published by NJPIRG says Capitol One is one of the worst credit cards for New Jersey according to consumer complaints.

The report from NJPIRG stated Consumers were most likely to complain about billing disputes (16 percent of complaints), followed by difficulties with APR or interest rates (10 percent) and trouble with identity theft, fraud, and embezzlement (7 percent).

Spokesman Peter Skopec says the report analyzed data from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a federal agency that monitors complaints to ensure banks are not ripping off consumers.

“Something that’s really key is the CFPB should make sure to really aggressively publicize the database and also the resources that it has for consumers cause really the more people take advantage of those resources the more effective the CFPB is going to be and the more likely the banks are going to be to actually improve their practices and be more consumer friendly.”

Skopec says there is some good news, nearly 40 percent of complaints result in some tangible or monetary relief, nearly $800 million nationwide. According to the report Capital One got the most complaints of any bank statewide.

Samuel L. Jackson appears in the latest Capitol One credit card commercial.  Perhaps we should let him know that he should choose who he works for a little more carefully.  Get in touch with SLJ here:

Samuel L. Jackson @SamuelLJackson

http://samuelljackson.com

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How To Protect Your Financial Information From Credit Card Hacks

TargetBy now many of you I’m sure have heard about the breach of credit card information by hackers who infiltrated the information data-bases of Target and Neiman Marcus (or Needless Markup as my wife likes to call them) and may be wondering just how to protect your financial information.

What is interesting about these data thefts is not so much that yet another one or two occurred but that these types of information breaches are happening regularly and many times the companies either don’t tell us about them or wait until a better time to tell us so we don’t stop shopping at a their stores.

For example, Stacey Vanek Smith of Market Place Business reported that Neiman Marcus knew about the data breach in mid-December but only announced it after the Holiday shopping season was over.  And Target didn’t tell the entire story until several days later and even then seemed to manage the information it did release.  Often such announcements are made on slow news days in order to minimize the impact.

Use of credit cards and debit cards is so common, we rarely use cash at all. So, what should you do to protect your date from these on-going breaches that are happening on a regular basis?  Pay with cash only?  Probably not.

How to protect your financial information.

You simply cannot control the data once you provide it to a retailer but what you can do is make your data un-useable if it is stolen.  Perhaps one good idea might be to regularly change your credit card numbers by calling your credit card provider and telling them you lost your card.  They will take immediate action to in-activate the old number and provide you with a new one right away.  At the same time, any charges that come on that card will not be charged to you since you reported the card as lost.

This can be a bit of an inconvenience but it will be effective.

Let me know if you have any good ideas to protect your financial information.

 

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About Car Loans

Financial stress can result in difficulty making car payments. There are several options for the car owner confronting financial difficulty, including loan extension or modification, sale of the vehicle, repossession of the vehicle, surrendering the vehicle, a “cramdown” of the car loan in Chapter 13 bankruptcy, or reaffirmation or redemption of the loan in Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

Auto loans are secured debt, with the car itself used as collateral for the loan. Lenders can repossess vehicles as loan collateral without a court order, soon after default on a loan. The loan is in default the next day after a missed payment, and the car can show up in the collection queue as soon as ten days after default.

Time is of the essence, for both lender and borrower. For the lender, it’s the rapid decline in the value of the car, and for the borrower, it’s the lender’s haste that forces timely action to avoid or address a possible default.

Failure to maintain insurance on a vehicle can also cause the loan to go into default, even if the payments are current.

If you’re going to be late on a payment, call the lender ahead of the due date and try to arrange an extension, change the payment date, or get the loan rewritten for lower payments over a longer term (resulting in more interest paid). If you’ve missed the deadline, try to catch up on payments as soon as possible. Hiding the vehicle or otherwise thwarting repossession will only add more to your liability when the car is repossessed, or a judgment is obtained. Buyers are responsible for collection, towing, storage and auction fees if a car is repossessed.

When a repossessed car is sold, the proceeds may not cover the outstanding loan balance and fees. In this case, a deficiency will exist for which the holder of the loan will be held responsible. (A deficiency is the difference between the outstanding loan balance and the proceeds collected by sale or liquidation of the asset.) This deficiency is unsecured debt, and can be discharged in a bankruptcy.

Another option is a “cramdown” of the loan in Chapter 13 bankruptcy. The loan balance can be marked down to the market value of the vehicle, and pooled with other debt in the debtor’s Chapter 13 repayment plan. The total paid may be less than the balance on the loan, and on completion of the payment plan under Chapter 13, the buyer will own the car free and clear.

In the event of a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, the option to reaffirm the loan exists, if the car payment is judged to be affordable by the court. In the event of a default after reaffirmation, the buyer is responsible for the debt, including a deficiency in the event of repossession and sale. If a vehicle is surrendered (that is, returned to the dealer) a deficiency will be wiped by the Chapter 7 filing.

722 Redemption

Another option in Chapter 7 for the car owner is a “722 Redemption,” in which the car loan is marked down to the market value of the vehicle and the dealer paid the reduced amount arbitrated by the bankruptcy court. The lien is released with no deficiency. It can be difficult for an owner to come up with a lump sum, but there are lenders who specialize in making loans in these circumstances. The loan is not discharged in the bankruptcy, and can enable the owner to keep the car.

Todd Murphy Law is experienced in dealing with issues related to auto loans in financial difficulty. Get help choosing your best course of action. Call Todd Murphy Law today for a free evaluation.