Sued Over Old Debt, and Blocked From Suing Back

[aggiesal]

This article appeared in yesterday's NY Times. I didn't see it posted, but since it's past being "LBN", I felt that people needed to know about this, so I'm posting it here.

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By JESSICA SILVER-GREENBERG and MICHAEL CORKERYDEC. 22, 2015

Clifford Cain Jr., a retired electrician in Baltimore, was used to living on a tight budget, carefully apportioning his Social Security and pension benefits to cover his rent and medication for multiple sclerosis.

So Mr. Cain was puzzled when he suddenly could not make ends meet. Months later, he discovered why: A debt collector had garnished his bank account after suing him for about $4,500 the company said he owed on an old debt.

Clifford Cain Jr., a retired electrician, in his West Baltimore home.

Picture Credit Matt Roth for The New York Times

Mr. Cain said he never knew the lawsuit had been brought against him until the money was gone. Neither did other Baltimore residents who were among the hundreds of people sued by the collector, Midland Funding, a unit of the Encore Capital Group, in Maryland State Court. Some of them said they did not even owe any money, or their debt had long expired and was not legally collectible, according to a review of court records.

...

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/23/business/dealbook/sued-over-old-debt-and-blocked-from-suing-back.html?emc=edit_th_20151223&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=67594617&_r=0

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I've always hated those arbitration clauses. They're everywhere.

[midnight]

1. Yikes. Lizzy Warren's Bureau of Consumer Financial Protections is also in trouble.

Seems her agency is doing it's job and now congress want's to block it's efforts via a rider.

"Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (C.F.P.B.)
News about Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (C.F.P.B.), including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times.
CHRONOLOGY OF COVERAGE

DEC. 2, 2015
Steven Davidoff Solomon Deal Professor column describes how Consumer Financial Protection Bureau tripped political land mine by trying to sidestep restriction on its ability to regulate auto-loan industry; notes significant pushback in Congress underscores uncertainty surrounding future of agency in next presidential administration. MORE
NOV. 16, 2015
United States Chamber of Commerce joins effort to block Consumer Financial Protection Bureau from restricting arbitration; has begun lobbying lawmakers to attach rider to federal budget bill that would force regulator to conduct new study before issuing any rule. MORE
OCT. 11, 2015
Gretchen Morgenson Fair Game column notes that student-loan servicers are adding to already heavy debt of borrowers through dubious practices that include not informing them of all available options; cites Consumer Financial Protection Bureau report finding high distress levels for student borrowers. MORE
OCT. 7, 2015
Editorial calls on government to prevent companies managing student loan debt, to whom it pays over $600 million per year, from misinforming distressed borrowers about alternative payment plans; cites Consumer Financial Protection Bureau report suggesting some companies benefited by deliberately pressing borrowers into default. MORE
OCT. 7, 2015
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will propose draft rules prohibiting financial companies from using arbitration clause, which bars customers from their services unless they agree to waive right to file or participate in class-action suit. MORE
SHOW MORE"

Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (C.F.P.B.)
News about Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (C.F.P.B.), including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times.
CHRONOLOGY OF COVERAGE

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will propose draft rules prohibiting financial companies from using arbitration clause, which bars customers from their services unless they agree to waive right to file or participate in class-action suit. MORE
SHOW MORE

This is what I found when looking into this story you posted.