There are roughly 90 million homeowners in the Untied States of America. As a country we commonly encourage home-ownership as vehicle for developing savings and community stability. For most, a home will be the largest single asset they own in a lifetime. Consider the following- the standard mortgage contract used to fund the purchase of a home is 30 years, a very long time. The mortgage lending market works in mysterious ways where the consumer has very few rights after the loan is taken out. As a consumer you have no control over who owns or services your loan after origination, and because of this your rights can actually change with each subsequent owner. There is a way to take power back and level the playing field by using the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act more commonly known as RESPA. Listen and learn more.
Consumer Rights Talk E6: Privatization of federal IRS collections presents a risk to all residents of the U.S.A.
There is a new sheriff in town and the Presidency of Donald J. Trump is projected to bring sweeping deregulation and privatization of government. Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa and presumptive Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin have openly advocated to privatize the collection of unpaid federal income taxes. There are major risk to taxpayers in deregulation of this task. Specifically, if collection of tax debt is privatized, the debt collectors may be immune from liability under the Fair Debt Collection Practices. This means there could be a rise in collection abuses and consumers will have little to no protections.
You can read the interview with Senator Chuck Grassley (member of senate judiciary and finance committees as well as the joint committee on taxation) in which he advocates to privatize tax collection here: http://globegazette.com/forestcitysummit/grassley-q-a-collecting-taxes-owed/article_027f02f2-ca09-52c1-9de7-e5ee4e33f0f8.html
Consumer Rights Talk E5: More than 3/4 of people facing collections do not retain an attorney, don't be one of them!
There is a major disparity in courts. Approximately 95% of all parties filing lawsuits have an attorney, while figures show that fewer than 25% of people being sued in foreclosure or for the collection of a medical, auto, or credit card debt retain an attorney. Collectors know they are likely not going to face someone who is represented and they count on it. Retaining an attorney is more affordable than people think, and it could be free. Adam Deutsch, Esq. of Northeast Law Group explains that collectors frequently add fees they are not entitled to collect. When this happens, the person being sued can get the collection case dismissed and file a lawsuit of their own in which the collector has to pay damages and attorney fees.
The study discussed can be found here: http://www.ncsc.org/~/media/Files/PDF/Research/CivilJusticeReport-2015.ashx
Consumer Rights Talk E4: Disparities in home ownership and interest rates by racial lines.
In January 2017 the Pew Research Center released a new report analyzing disparity in home ownership and interest rates on first mortgage loans when viewed among racial lines. Sadly, the numbers show a clear difference in both ownership rates and the cost of financing charged to different racial groups in America. The cause could have more to do with pure economics than racial discrimination but the fact that the disparity exists means that America remains divided. The possibility of racial discrimination in lending remains a problem and consumers can take action if they have been victimized based on race. Listen to find out more about the numbers and what they mean.
Read the report:
Consumer Rights Talk E3: Medical billing errors
Physicians are making more errors in billing practices as they struggle to adapt to changes in the insurance industry. Patients are suffering as a result. Episode 3 discusses a scenario where a patient is subjected to inappropriate debt collection efforts caused by the physician's billing error. Listen to find out what happens if a physician seeks to collect money that is supposed to be billed to the insurance company rather than the patient. You may be surprised to find out that the patient can get the harassment to stop, be compensated for the harassment and have all of their attorney fees and court costs paid for by the physician and debt collectors.
Consumer Rights Talk E2: Trends and analysis from the December 2016 CFPB debt collection report
On December 27 the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released its monthly report on complaint statistics. The report offers a special focus on debt collection. Looking at the numbers it appears that complaints are trending upward. Compared to the same time period in 2015, complaints about student loan servicing errors are up more than 100%, complaints about credit card collections and servicing are up 36%, and complaints about debt collection are up 10%. Either more people are filing complaints with the CFPB because the government is doing a better job of educating the public about reporting options, or complaints are up because debt collectors, financial institutions and the like are making more errors and injuring more consumers. Either way, the numbers are troubling. Complaints in Massachusetts and New Jersey are both up compared to a year ago.
By far the most complained of financial institutions are Wells Fargo, Citibank, Bank of America, and JP Morgan Chase.
The complete CFPB report can be read here: http://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/201612_cfpb_MonthlyComplaintReport.pdf
Consumer Rights Talk E1: Introduction to the show
You have stumbled upon the first episode of the Consumer Rights Talk. Find out what we have in store for listeners going forward.