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CT Woman Arrested for Striking Repossessor
STAMFORD, CT – February 24, 2011 – A woman 44 year old woman who struck a repossessor and took off with her car moments before the repo man was about to hook it up, was arrested last Wednesday night after she arrived at police headquarters and tried to push past police and jump back into the car, police said.
A Plan to Open the CFPB to Congressional Control?
Under its current positioning under the Federal reserve, it is impervious to any Congressional control. With such powers it may write any regulation it feels is in the best interest of the public’s financial protection be it directly or indirectly related to any financial transaction or service provider to any financial institution. While poised to open for business in July 2011, it is expected to begin enacting sweeping regulations to the collections and recovery industry.
Ohio Pastor and Author Charged with Assaulting Repossessor
“Pastor charged with speeding away with repossessor on the hood claims innocence” AKRON, OH – February 11, 2011 - ''With him being a man of the cloth, I was having a little spiritual battle because I'm a Christian myself,'' said Ken Falzini on Friday. ''But I figured I got to do what I got to do.''
Judge Refuses to Reduce Repo Man’s 20 year Sentence
COLUMBIA COUNTY, GA – February 4, 2011 - Judge James G. Blanchard Jr. refused to reduce the 20-year prison sentence of Renaissance Recovery repo man Michael Faron Brown, now age 29, at a Friday hearing.
MTV’s New Repo Game Show
NEW YORK, NY – February 1, 2011 - Anyone ready to play “Let’s Make a Deal on a Repo” or “Wheel of Misfortune?” If you hadn’t already had enough of “reality TV” with moronic depictions of the repossession industry like the carnival side show freaks on “Operation Repo” or the bumbling, lawn wrestling Reverend Ron on “All Worked up”, the producers of MTV’s “Jersey Shores” have a new treat in mind for you. A repossession game show.
Busted! - Would-be Thief Tries to Pose as a Repo Man
EVERETT, Wash. – January 26, 2011 – Late on a single car payment, Miguel Galicia didn't expect to see the repo man yet. But, when his wife saw someone rummaging around in his car, he considered it a possibility and went outside to investigate.
Train Hits Car During Repossession in NC, Tow Driver Flees the Scene
LOWELL, NC – January 16, 2011 – At apx. 4:48 am, a 1999 Lexus 300 was being towed from the site of a repossession at the nearby Robinson Street Apartments when the tow driver attempted to cross railroad tracks. It was then that it bounced off its wheel lift and became stuck on the tracks.
Two Different Repo Assaults Result in Two Arrests Texas
In two separate incidents in as many days in two different Texas towns, vehicular assaults result in arrests.
Massachussets Citizens Get to Keep Cows, Sheep, Swine and Hay
in Amended Collections Law Boston, MA - January 7, 2011 – The recent ratification of ammendments to a Long standing Massachusetts law still allow citizens of the state to maintain two cows, 12 sheep, two swine and four tons of hay exempt from seizure in lawsuit. With new changes to a colonial era law, creditors collecting debts in Massachusetts can no longer take assets that a consumer can claim is needed for work and to survive...
Colorado Governor Modifies Repossessor Murderers Sentence
Denver, CO – January 7, 2011 – Outgoing lame duck Democratic Governor Bill Ritter Jr. granted pardons and commutations of sentences on 30 Colorado criminals as his last act before the swearing in on January 11th. While many of these criminals were first time offenders, shoplifters and drug possession convicts, he also modified the sentences of several burglars, robbers and murderers. Amongst those whose sentences were modified, Robert F. Willner who in 1991 was sentenced to life without parole for first-degree murder of 24 year old rookie repo man and father of two Steven Morgan. Read More
3rd Burned Body Discovered in Foreclosure Suicide and Murder
After World Savings Bank denied a mans loan modification request, the gravity of his financial woes was too much to handle. Three burned bodies were found at the scene of a foreclosure suicide and murder in Santee, California. Read More
Convicted Stock Broker Present at FLA Repo Forwarding Company Lockout
Florida based National Asset Recovery Corp.(NARC) has had a tumultuous month since its December 6th, 2010 IPO of stocks in this repossession forwarding company. The events previously reported on December 22nd’s story “Shake up in Florida Repo Forwarding Company” were only the legal surface reported to the SEC of the events that played out that day. A police report of events as they occurred the morning of the SEC K-8 filing, as reported by the Palm Beach Gardens Police Department, paints a much different picture of the situation and lists a person of dubious criminal history in attendance and in the employment of the reported major shareholders of NARC.
Early Morning Fire Destroys Long Time NFA Recovery Agency Office
December 26, 2010 – Whitehall, PA - An early-morning fire is being labeled as suspicious, has destroyed a MacArthur Road building that Financial Adjusters, Inc. Firefighters arrived and began battling the blaze at 5:50 a.m. Sunday at Financial Adjuster’s office at 1634 MacArthur Road, according to Whitehall Fire Chief Robert Benner.
Woman wanted For Striking Repo Man With Car
Dunbar Pennsylvania – December 21, 2010 - State police have charged a Fayette County woman with hitting a man with her car after he came to repossess it.
Shake up in Florida Repo Forwarding Company
December 22, 2010 – As a follow up to December 15th’s “Casinos Ballroom Dancing and Repo Forwarding Companies”, less than a month after going public with the SEC, there is a major change to the status of Florida repo forwarding company National Asset Recovery Corp. (NARC), also known for its affiliation with a Ballroom Dance Fitness Company and Casino player clubs. Brad Shrader, COO of NARC and the only known member of the executive management of NARC with actual repossession agency experience has resigned after just under four months in the position.
Debtor with Sledge Hammer Attacks Furniture Repossessors
Van Buren County, MI - December 21, 2010 – A man currently sitting behind bars is accused of attacking two rental store workers attempting to repossess rented furniture with a sledgehammer. Jose Lopez Gonzalez now faces two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, resisting law enforcement and malicious destruction of personal property. He is currently being incarcerated in the Van Buren County Jail on bond.
Repo Men Charged After Debtors Deputy Boyfriend Intervenes
Hendersonville, TN - A Nashville car lot owner’s repossessors are facing criminal charges while there are no charges against a woman who was caught on camera ramming both the recovery truck and another car. Even better, she is now suing them.
Verdict Reached in Atlanta Repo Man Trial
“We should be Christmas shopping for our kids, instead he is dead…”
December 6, 2010 - Atlanta, GA - After brief one hour deliberation on Friday and a second hearing of the 911 call from surviving Repossessor Willie Thackston, during which the family of Thomas left the court room, an Atlanta jury has reached a verdict on the November 2009 murder of Repossessor Brandon Thomas.
Murder Trial of Atlanta Repo Man Begins
November 30, 2010 - Atlanta, GA - The jury has been seated in the Atlanta Superior Court murder trial of 30 year old Justin Moore charged with the November 2009 murder of 27 year old Repossessor Brandon Thomas and wounding of fellow agent Willie Thackston after they repossessed his 2004 Ford Mustang. Moore, 30, faces multiple charges, including felony murder and aggravated assault.
According to testimony, Moore followed the men in a work-assigned van after they repossessed his Ford Mustang from the driveway of his Fairburn home. Thomas, was killed by a shot to the chest that, according to defense attorney Teddy Ray Price, was fired accidentally after Thomas' partner, Willie Thackston, steered his tow truck into Moore's vehicle. Read More
Nations Largest Forwarding Company Owner’s Scam Proves to be a
Costly Backfire in Court
When Chicago native Kevin Flynn came in to lead a Marne-based repossession firm through a reorganization, he ended up buying Renaissance Recovery Solutions for $892,000.
A Kent County Circuit Court jury this week addd $8 million plus interest onto the 2007 sale price, finding Flynn, also embattled in an Illinois lawsuit that is asking$519 million in damages for his alleged role in the demise of the Emerald Casino company, used underhanded maneuvers in buying the company at a below market rate price.
Read More!
FLA Repo Man Arrested for Trying to repo Cops Car
Cocoa, FL – Nov. 5, 2010 – When Florida Recovery Agent Joe Ortiz attempted to repossess Cocoa, Florida police officer Amy Moons car in May, 2010, he was confronted by Officer Moon with, according to his statement, her screaming and yelling “'Get off my property, you're not getting my car!” as he described. Both Moon and Ortiz called the police and per Mr. Ortiz, he left her property without the car to avoid a breach of peace. According to Officer Moon, he did not. There were no witnesses and Ortiz was on the street when the police arrived. Five months later, he was pulled over and arrested on charges of trespassing from charges pressed by Officer Moon.
Read More!
PA Collection Agency Busted Using a Fake Courtroom
Oct. 2, 2010 Erie, PA – Erie County Judge Michael Dunlavey has ordered Unicredit, a collection agency in Northwestern Pennsylvania, also known as Unicredit Debt Resolution Center, to dismantle its fake courtroom that it had allegedly been using to stage mock trials and order debtors to pay under threat of arrest. Read More!
e Sen Al Franken Introduces Amendments to the FDCPA
October 3, 2010 - On Wednesday September 29th, Minnesota Senator Al Franken introduced S. 3888 titled “The End Debt Collector Abuse Act.” This bill is designed to end the act of using arrests as a collections tool and provide court ordered protection in dealing with debt collectors. While this pending bill appears designed to curb overaggressive ARM firms and collection agencies, it will likely be applicable to all levels of debt collections and still does not answer in specificity many of the long standing issues of the 33 year old law. Read More
Abusive Bank of America Collection Agency Caught on Tape
September 24, 2010 - Two days after ABC News confronted Bank of America regarding its continued use of several of its operators that were caught using racist and obscene phone calls to collect debts from bank customers, Advanced Call Center Technologies, a Philadelphia-based company that provides collection services for a number of major corporations was fired. Read More
NCUA Takes Over Three More Corporate Credit Unions
September 24, 2010 -
This Friday the National Credit Union Administration seized three Corporate Credit Unions. Illinois based United Corporate Federal Credit Union; Southwest Corporate Federal Credit Union of Plano, Tex. and Constitution Corporate Federal Credit Union of Wallingford, Conn., takes to five the number of Corporate Credit Unions under government control since March 2009 when they took over Western Corporate Credit Union of San Dimas, CA and US Central of Lenexa, KS. Read More
KY Repo Men Accused of Impersonating the Police Speak Out
Louisville, KY September 14, 2010 - The three repo men accused of impersonating police during a repossession speak out in their own defense.
Experian Announces Auto Delinquencies Continue to Drop
Schaumburg, Ill., Aug. 30, 2010 - Auto loan delinquencies dropped during the second quarter of 2010 according to Experian. This marks the second consecutive quarter showing quarterly delinquencies. It is also reported that lenders made a higher percentage of loans to non and subprime consumers. This may indicate a loosening of the credit market.
Hamp Slowing to a Crawl
Aug 25, 2010 - The Treasury Department’s Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) has been slowing down along, with far more enrollees being dropped from the program than receiving a permanent mortgage modification. In July, the numbers plummeted, with fewer than 17,000 trial modifications getting underway and nearly 100,000 borrowers being dropped from the program for default or for unknown errors. Nearly half of the borrowers who entered the program, about 1.3 million, still have not received a permanent modification.
To date 422,000 homes have benefitted from the troubled program that began in 2008. The Treasury Department budgeted $75B to develop this program and had made claims that it would help three to four million homeowners keep their homes. Read The Report Here!
Treasury Department Offering $1B in Loans to Unemployed Homeowners
August 11, 2010 - Treasury’s Hardest Hit Fund Will Provide $2 Billion of Additional Assistance in 17 states and the District of Columbia; HUD to Launch a New $1 Billion Program to Help Unemployed Borrowers in Other Areas.
The 20 Most and Least Stressed Cities in America
Aug 2, 2010 - According to the Associated Press Economic Stress Index, the below list of cities represent the 20 most and least stressed cities in the United States by stress core.
Read "Repo Madness!"
The National Consumer Law Center published a report of alleged repossession abuse complete with a map of incidents across the United States. Their allegation is that self help repossessions are endangering the public. They believe that self help repossession should be banned and repossessions should only occur after a right to cure letter is sent and then, the member is to be sent a letter telling them when, where and under what conditions the repossession will occur.
Read The Publication
New Los Angeles Foreclosure Ordinance Creates Fines For Lenders if Borrowers Don't Maintain Home.
July 12, 2010 – Los Angeles, CA
Effective July 8th, Lenders must register all Los Angeles properties currently involved in a foreclosure and pay $155 per year. Lenders may be fined up to $1,000 per day and up to $100,000 if properties are not maintained after the Notice of Default is filed even if the borrower still occupies the residence. While the city is clearly looking for both a way to abate urban blight and create a new stream of revenue, their misunderstanding of the foreclosure process is creating a compliance nightmare where the lenders are being held responsible for property they have no authority to maintain.
Read The Ordinance
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What are your thoughts?
Florida to Require a Repossession Tax On Lienholders
June 25, 2010 – Tallahassee, FL
Effective July 1, 2010 Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles issued a memo stating that effective July 1, 2010 all lienholder desiring to repossess a vehicle in Florida will be required to either have the vehicle registered in Florida or apply for a repossession certificate in compliance of HB 971 which amended section 319.28(2)(B) of the Florida Statute relating to the repossession of motor vehicles.
Read the memo
What are your thoughts?
California Bill Proposition Would Require Loan Modification Options
June 3, 2010 - Sacramento, CA
On June 3, 2010, the California Senate Banking Committee passed Senate Bill 1275 (SB 1275) by a 21 to 12 vote and sent it on to the Assembly for review. The intent of this bill is to deter foreclosures and provide for lawsuits against lenders who are found to be in violation of it’s major provisions which include,
· A specific notification advising the borrower of their foreclosure related rights. This notice must be served in the five languages listed in California Civil Code 1632
· Provide Borrowers with a loan modification application.
· Send notification of denial stating, in detail the reasons for denial at least 15 days before an NOD can be recorded.
· Requires the filing of a new document known as the “Declaration of Compliance.”
· Authorizes the borrower that previously owned the home to recover thegreater of $10,000 or treble damages from the lender that failed to properly record a declaration
This is one of several bills designed to require lenders to modify loans and create strict penalties and liabilities for non-compliance.
See the document
Digital Recognition Network Completes Phase I Integration with Re-Pros
December 28, 2009 - Fort Worth, Texas
Digital Recognition Network (DRN), the leader in the use of License Plate Recognition technology for asset location services to the automotive finance industry, announced that it has successfully finalized its Phase I Integration with Re-Pros, a leading provider of software to the automotive finance and recovery service industries.
Read The Article Here
Fannie Mae to Prohibit Backing in Strategics Defaulters
June 23, 2010 – Washington, DC
Fannie Mae announced changes to policy designed to discourage borrowers from walking away from their homes without attempting to work with their servicers and pursue alternatives to foreclosure. The policy change is directed at defaulting borrowers who walk-away from homes while still having the capacity to pay or did not complete a workout alternative in good faith. These bad faith borrowers will be ineligible for a new Fannie Mae-backed mortgage loan for a period of seven years from the date of foreclosure.
Read The Article Here
Shots Fired At Repossessor
June 16, 2010 - Augusta Georgia
Several shots were fired at a repo man by five men on the 2000 block of Bolt Drive at apx. 1:30 am while a repossessor and his wife were searching for a vehicle. Police reported observing several bullet holes in the bed of the truck as well as one that struck the rear window and exited the front windshield. There were no arrests and no injuries reported.
Letterhead Violation of the FDCPA
U.S. Federal Judge Magistrate Andrew Smyser of the Middle District Pennsylvania Federal Court ruled that an attorney letterhead can not be used on a collection letter unless the attorney is clearly going to initiate legal action upon a debtor. This comes despite clear disclosures that the case has not yet been reviewed by an attorney. The ruling based the decision upon an interpretation that the letterhead violated the FDCPA because it gave the impression that legal action was pending. This is despite the true intention of the letter which was offering a settlement of the debt.
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