Don’t Feel Bad, Get Mad. Stand Up To Consumer Abuse.
Protecting the rights of consumers in Minnesota and nationwide.
Minnesota Consumer Rights Blog
Background checks growing in importance and scope
Though hiring has slowed during the economic downturn of the coronavirus pandemic, businesses are gradually reopening in some places. More than ever, businesses and governments will rely on background checks as an important component of their hiring, promotion and...
U.S. House passes credit score protection bill
A couple of days ago, the U.S. House of Representatives took a step to help consumers when it passed the Protecting Your Credit Score Act of 2019. The bill is designed to help people get easier access to their credit reports. If the measure is passed by the Senate and...
Debt collection efforts expected to intensify
Though the nation continues to struggle with the coronavirus pandemic and the resulting economic strain, news outlets report that not all industries face hard times. A Los Angeles Times column bore the headline “Debt Collectors See Coronavirus as a Golden...
Part II: Federal appeals court weighs abusive debt collection case revival
As regular readers of our Minnesota Consumer Rights Blog will undoubtedly recall, we recently published a post on a lawsuit that the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is considering. The court will decide if a lawsuit should be revived that question of whether a debt...
Part I: Federal appeals court weighs abusive debt collection case revival
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is weighing arguments it heard a few days ago about whether to revive a lawsuit over abusive debt collection. The suit raises the question of whether a debt collector can be held liable under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act...
Is it misleading if a debt collector says it ‘may’ report you?
Debt collectors do not have carte blanche. U.S. law prohibits the use of threats, harassment and falsities when dealing with debtors. These regulations shield regular consumers from untoward tactics and general unpleasantness. A recent ruling from the federal court of...
Lender’s reporting error drops credit scores nationwide
One of the features of the massive stimulus package passed by Congress earlier this year gave people across the nation a temporary break from paying off their student loan debt during the coronavirus pandemic. Unfortunately, many of those same people have had their...
Debt collection agency penalized $72,000 for failing to follow FCRA
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently reported to Congress on its efforts to inform consumers about the right to dispute and correct errors in credit reports. As regular readers of our Minnesota Consumer Rights Blog know, erroneous credit report information can...
Another form of ID theft: unemployment fraud
It is undoubtedly an understatement to say that these are uncertain times. But one of the few things we can count on is that there are people trying to illegally profit from the uncertainty. Scammers are taking advantage of fears of the pandemic, along with massive...
Debt collector harassment: how to know it when you hear it
Sometimes people think of debt collector harassment as U.S. Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart wrote of obscenity: “I know it when I see it.” The phrase simply means that the definitions of “harassment” and “obscenity” can vary from person to person, and are not...
