Do NOT try to pay the Mann Bracken collected debts!
According to the Maryland regulators (article posted below), consumers WANT to pay their debts. What a FOOLISH move!!!!
The Maryland statute of limitations for credit cards is only 3 years. HOWEVER, the 3 year statute of limitations begins again if creditors can document that a debtor has reaffirmed a debt on a good faith basis by a written agreement, orally, or by payment.
PAYING your debts will often NOT help your credit rating at all and paying a collection reported by a collector will NOT increase your FICO scores.
I really don’t like to give advice to anyone before I’ve reviewed their credit reports and know the person’s financial situation and ambitions. But since the Maryland regulators are doing such a HORRIBLE job, here are my two cents to anyone with a debt collected by Mann Bracken:
1) KEEP everything you receive from Mann Bracken.
2) Play dead— try to wait out the statute of limitation.
3) If anyone contacts you regarding the debt, RECORD all calls and SAVE all collection letters.
4a) If you have the money to settle the debt and your credit is important, try to get the most favorable settlement and credit reporting.
SETTLE accounts BEFORE a new collector or debt buyer reports. Documented violations result in more favorable settlements. Once you receive their initial collection letter, you should have at least 30 days to dispute or settle BEFORE they report on the credit.
4b) If you do NOT have the money to settle or you have better things to do with your money, ask collectors not to call you again, dispute the debt, and document violations.
You may be able to settle accounts for just a few thousand dollars if you can document FDCPA and/or state law violations.
It is WORK to document violations and whether it’s worth the hassle all depends on what value you allocate to your TIME wasted. But if your credit rating is important, it might be well worth the effort.
If the debt was SOLD to a debt buyer, chances of prevailing in court if they should sue you are excellent—if you’re willing to learn how to defend yourself and how to document counterclaims for violations of the law.
EDUCATE yourself.
Do NOT follow the FREE advice on the web by clueless consumers or worse, people like Mark Cella whose only goal is to make as much money as possible. Stay away from debt settlement companies!
There are MANY scammers like Mark Cella and his Federal Debt Relief Systems. Since there are STILL people wondering whether they really are scammers, read what their clients have to say in their DAMAGE REPORTS:
If you’re serious about your credit and/or fighting collectors:
Donate $50 to Liars and Cheats EXPOSED and get your FREE 6-months subscription to CreditFactors.
There’s NO magic at CreditFactors, but you’ll have the information you need to prevail against collectors and you can even post questions in the member forum.
I spent HUNDREDS of hours UNPAID on the FDRS investigation. If people SUPPORT Liars and Cheats EXPOSED, we can put MANY of these frauds out of business and we can MAKE the regulators take action. Vote with your money!
Below is the Baltimore Sun article on Mann Bracken:
By Jamie Smith Hopkins and Andrea K. Walker Baltimore Sun reporters
January 22, 2010
Maryland regulators, after receiving a slew of consumer questions in the wake of a major debt collector’s collapse, have sent letters to every collection agency operating in the state to try to connect anxious debtors with the companies they owe.
Rockville-based Mann Bracken, which abruptly shut its doors after the recent bankruptcy of a spinoff company that handled its nonlegal work, used to collect payments from consumers on behalf of firms that owned the debt, passing that money on to the creditors. Now that the firm has all but disappeared, consumers calling the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation say they don’t know where to send their money and can’t reach anyone at Mann Bracken for information.
“When payments start to back up, it’s bad for everybody,” said Mark Kaufman, the state’s deputy commissioner of financial regulation, noting that consumers rightly fear being hit with interest charges and penalties.
His office asked Mann Bracken for a list of its clients in order to contact them, but the state hasn’t received it yet. So regulators sent letters this week to about 1,400 licensed collections agencies in the state, telling them to get in touch with any consumers who owe them money “and inform them of what to do” if the accounts were handled by Mann Bracken or its offshoot, Axiant.
“Simply responding to inbound inquiries is not sufficient, particularly given the scope of Mann Bracken’s activities,” the letter states.
Because debt is sold like any other commodity, figuring out whom you owe can be difficult. Consumers might have racked up unpaid bills on a department store credit card a year or two ago, but a company they haven’t heard of probably owns the right to collect on it. Kaufman said he and others in the office are getting “numerous” calls from confused and worried residents.
He said consumers in limbo should look at paperwork sent to them about their debt to see if the debt owner is named. People with court-ordered settlements, meanwhile, might want to file a notice with the court to state for the record that they can’t pay because the company has shut down, some legal experts have suggested.
The state’s district courts are in the process of dismissing what are thought to be tens of thousands of open Mann Bracken cases. Anyone whose case is dismissed will get a “notice of dismissal” letter in the mail, said Darrell S. Pressley, a spokesman for the Maryland judiciary. He said he didn’t know if people had started to receive those letters.
The courts are still trying to determine exactly how many cases were handled by Mann Bracken.
Mann Bracken is a law firm, and the state has said in documents that it will refer the principals to the Attorney Grievance Commission for an investigation of any ethical violations. Two principals, Scott Kramer and Connell Loftus, have not returned phone calls seeking comment.
Melvin Hirshman, bar counsel for the grievance commission, said he was not allowed to discuss whether an investigation had been launched. The information becomes public if there is enough evidence to bring the matter to court, he said.
Copyright © 2010, The Baltimore Sun
Posted by Christine on 01/23/2010 at 08:12 PM
Credit - Collection - Economic News • (0) Comments • Permalink
