Ron Sykstus's blog

On July 26, 2013, a jury in Oregon returned a verdict on behalf of an Oregon woman, Julie Miller, against Equifax Information Services. The jury awarded Ms. Miller $180,000 in compensatory damages and $18.4 million in punitive damages. See jury verdict here. The complaint filed by Ms.

On July 9, 2013, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) fined Expert Global Solutions, the world’s largest debt collection agency, $3.2 million for violating the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). The FTC’s complaint, which you can read here says that Expert Global Solutions called consumers multiple times each day, morning and night, even when consumers asked them to stop.

Recently, NerdWallet Health published an article that estimates that 56 million Americans under the age of 65 will struggle with medical debts in the year 2013. Astonishingly, NerdWallet stated that one in five American adults will struggle to pay medical debts this year. The article further stated that medical bills are the leading cause of personal bankruptcy.

The Fair Credit Billing Act (FCBA) is a subsection of the federal Truth in Lending Act (TILA). It is an important federal law for all consumers since it contains the billing error procedures at sections 1666 and 1666(a). These billing error procedures most commonly assist consumers when they are disputing credit card transactions on their credit card statements for which they do not believe that they should be held liable.

A common question that we often get asked is whether someone can give away or transfer over property in order to avoid their creditors if they are going to file for bankruptcy. The very short and quick answer is no.

If you are giving up or “surrendering” your house in bankruptcy, our initial advice to our clients is to stay in the house until the foreclosure sale date. As a general rule, it takes quite a while for most mortgage companies to foreclose on a home.

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act is a federal law which proscribes and restricts a number of actions that debt collectors, collection agencies and lawyers can take if they are pursuing you on a debt. Debt collectors, collection agencies and lawyers are not allowed to harass you or abuse you in trying to collect a debt.

Dealing with a Revoked Security Clearance

If someone has an issue in regard to his or her security clearance, either initially applying for one or having a problem with one that the government is attempting to suspend or revoke, they are often unsure where to turn to find out what exactly the issues are with their security clearance. Department of Defense (DOD) Directive 5220.6 deals with all matters regarding the Defense Industrial Personnel Security Clearance Review Program.

Many of our clients have this particular question with if they are filing bankruptcy and they are giving up or “surrendering” their house in bankruptcy. Our advice to our clients is to stay in the house until the foreclosure sale date. As a general rule, it takes quite a while for most mortgage companies to foreclose on a home. As a result, if our clients move out prior to the foreclosure, then they still may be responsible for utilities, insurance and any city or municipal requirements such as lawn care and maintenance.