Jim Francis has been voted one of the Top100 SuperLawyers in Pennsylvania and Philadelphia for 2012

May 16, 2012 – 2:28 pm
Top 100 Pennsylvania Super Lawyers 2012 Top List The following is an alphabetical listing of the lawyers who received the highest point totals in the Pennsylvania nomination, research and blue ribbon review process. ShareThis Browse more Pennsylvania Top Lists on superlawyers.com. David I. Ainsman Ainsman Levine & Drexler, LLC Thomas R. Anapol Anapol Schwartz Mark A. Aronchick Hangley Aronchick Segal Pudlin & Schiller Gerald B. Baldino, Jr. Sacchetta & Baldino   Michael L. Banks Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP James E. Beasley, Jr., MD The Beasley Firm, LLC Nadeem A. Bezar Kolsby, Gordon, Robin, Shore & Bezar, P.C. Daniel T. Brier Myers, Brier & Kelly, LLP   Robert L. Byer Duane Morris LLP Alfred J. Carlson Martin Banks Lawrence R. Cohan Anapol Schwartz Barry L. Cohen SorinRoyerCooper LLC   Stanley H. Cohen Caesar, Rivise, Bernstein, Cohen & Pokotilow, Ltd. Stephen G. Console Console Law Offices LLC Scott B. Cooper SchmidtKramer PC Samuel J. Cordes Samuel J. Cordes & Associates   Stephen A. Cozen Cozen O'Connor Cynthia M. Danel Edgar Snyder & Associates, LLC Robert E. Dapper, Jr. Dapper, Baldasare, Benson, Behling & Kane, P.C. John G. Dean Elliott Greenleaf & Dean   A. Roy DeCaro Raynes McCarty Francis P. Devine, III Pepper Hamilton ...

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Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in Filing Brief Supporting the Constitutionality of the Fair Credit Reporting Act

May 11, 2012 – 1:48 pm
Federal Trade Commission The Federal Trade Commission has joined the Department of Justice and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in filing a memorandum brief in support of the constitutionality of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), the 1970 law that is designed to protect the privacy of credit report information and ensure that the information supplied by consumer reporting agencies (CRAs) is as accurate as possible. In the filing, the CRAs urge a federal district court to uphold an important provision of the FCRA, which has protected consumers' privacy for more than 40 years.

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Discrepancies on Medical Bills Can Leave a Credit Stain

May 7, 2012 – 4:00 pm
Discrepancies on Medical Bills Can Leave a Credit Stain By TARA SIEGEL BERNARD Published: May 4, 2012 When Ray White’s son was about 9 years old, he struck a tree branch while riding his bike. Within minutes, an ambulance whisked him off to the emergency room. The boy recovered, but many months and phone calls later, Mr. White’s insurance company still had not paid the $200 ambulance bill, even though the insurer had assured him it was covered. He finally decided it was easier to pay it himself. But by then, it was already too late. Unbeknown to Mr. White, the debt had been reported to the credit bureaus. It was only when he and his wife went to refinance the $240,000 mortgage on their home in Lewisville, Tex., last month — nearly six years after the accident — that he learned the bill had shaved about 100 points from his credit score. ...

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Memorandum Opinion, Granting In Part and Denying In Part, def’s MTD 3-23-12

March 27, 2012 – 7:59 pm
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA KEESHA GOODE and VICTORIA GOODMAN, on Behalf of Themselves and Others Similarly Situated, Plaintiffs, v.LEXISNEXIS RISK & INFORMATION ANALYTICS GROUP, INC., Defendant.

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LexisNexis Can’t Escape Claims It Misreported Workers’ Info

March 27, 2012 – 4:13 pm
Law360 By Greg Ryan Law360, New York (March 23, 2012, 8:34 PM ET) -- LexisNexis Risk Solutions Inc. failed Friday to dismiss a proposed class action in Pennsylvania claiming it illegally distributed damaging information about retail workers to current and potential employers, though it did extinguish the plaintiffs' ability to recover punitive damages on one claim. U.S. District Judge Jan E. DuBois granted in part and denied in part a dismissal bid from the Reed Elsevier PLC unit. The judge sustained the plaintiffs' two claims in the suit, for violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, but limited their potential recovery under the first FCRA claim to actual damages, costs and attorneys' fees. The suit, brought by plaintiffs Keesha Goode and Victoria Goodman in May, claims LexisNexis classified retail workers as thieves in a proprietary database called Esteem and distributed damaging information from the database to current and prospective employers without complying with the ...

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Federal Court Order Denying Debt Collector Professional Collection Consultants Inc. Motion to Dismiss

March 21, 2012 – 7:59 pm
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA CIVIL MINUTES - GENERAL CASE NO.: CV 11-10089-SJO (AGRx) DATE: March 19, 2012 TITLE: Plaintiff v. Wells Fargo Dealer Services, Inc., et al. ======================================================================== PRESENT: THE HONORABLE S. JAMES OTERO, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE Victor Paul Cruz Courtroom Clerk Not Present Court Reporter COUNSEL PRESENT FOR PLAINTIFF: Not Present COUNSEL PRESENT FOR DEFENDANTS: Not Present ======================================================================== PROCEEDINGS (in chambers): ORDER DENYING DEFENDANT PROFESSIONAL COLLECTION CONSULTANTS, INC.'S MOTION TO DISMISS [Docket No. 60] This matter is before the Court on Defendant Professional Collection Consultants, Inc.'s ("PCC") Motion to Dismiss or, in the Alternative, for More Definite Statement ("Motion") filed on February 9, 2012. Plaintiff ("Plaintiff") filed an Opposition to the Motion on February 27, 2012 ("Opposition"), to which PCC filed a Reply on March 5, 2012 ("Reply"). The Court found this matter appropriate for decision without oral argument and vacated the hearing set for March 19, 2012. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 78(b). For the following reasons, PCC's Motion to Dismiss is DENIED. I. FACTUAL AND ...

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Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Issues First Report on Debt Collection

March 21, 2012 – 5:02 pm
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau CFPB Annual Report 2012 The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ("CFPB" or "the Bureau") is pleased to submit to Congress its first annual report summarizing its activities to administer the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ("FDCPA" or "the Act"), 15 U.S.C. §§ 1692 et seq., during the past year. These activities represent the Bureau's inaugural effort to curtail deceptive, unfair, and abusive debt collection practices in the marketplace prohibited by the FDCPA. Illegal collection practices cause substantial harm to consumers, who may pay amounts not owed, unintentionally waive their rights, suffer emotional distress, and experience invasions of privacy. Such practices can even place consumers deeper in debt. The Bureau's program to administer and enforce the FDCPA has only just begun. The Bureau came into existence on July 21, 2011. On January 4, 2012, the President appointed Richard Cordray as the Bureau's first Director. The Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") has prepared this ...

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Federal Court Decision Against MDA Lending Solutions

March 21, 2012 – 3:53 pm
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA     Plaintiff, :                                                                                                   CIVIL ACTION v. : : TRANS UNION, LLC, et al., : Defendants. :                                                                                                         No. 11-3607 MEMORANDUM PRATTER, J.                                                                                     JANUARY 25, 2012     Plaintiff filed this action, alleging violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act that arose from the alleged inaccurate inclusion of tax liens on credit reports produced by Defendants Trans Union and MDA Lending Solutions (now “DataQuick”). DataQuick has moved to dismiss Plaintiff’s  Amended Complaint. After oral argument on January 17, 2012, the matter is ripe for decision. BACKGROUND1 Defendant DataQuick is a consumer reporting agency and a reseller of consumer information which takes information furnished by Trans Union, Equifax, and Experian to create tri-merge credit reports for sale to third parties. Plaintiff complains that Defendants TransUnion and DataQuick inaccurately included two tax liens, which were actually the responsibility of his father (also named Plaintiff), on his credit report. More specifically, in December 2010, DataQuick created a tri-merge report concerning the Plaintiff ...

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Federal Court Complaint Against Debt Collector Pinnacle Credit Survives Motion to Dismiss

March 16, 2012 – 2:36 pm
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA                                                                                                                          CIVIL ACTION Plaintiff,   v. :   TRANS UNION, et al., :                                                                                                                             NO. 11-2895 Defendants. : M E M O R A N D U M GENE E.K. PRATTER, J.,                                                                           MARCH 5, 2012 Plaintiff alleges that the Defendants violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act and the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act. Defendant Pinnacle Credit Services, LLC filed a motion to dismiss the claims against it pursuant to Rules 12(b)(2) and 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. For the reasons that follow, the Court denies the motion.   I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND Plaintiff brings this action against Trans Union, LLC, Experian Information Solutions, Inc., First Premier Bank, Pinnacle Credit Services, LLC, Arrow Financial Services, LLC, Cavalry Portfolio Services, LLC, and Midland Credit Management, Inc. for various violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”) and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”).1 Plaintiff alleges that as a result of a purported identity theft, the ...

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Imprisoned Beam Subject of Federal Lawsuit by Former Tenant

February 28, 2012 – 5:28 pm
The Shippensburg News-Chronicle By Dale Heberlig, Managing Editor Published: February 27, 2012 Man claims Beam made derogatory and inaccurate credit reports While attorneys for convicted tax-evader Troy Beam continue to argue that their client has undergone a "transformation" and should receive a light sentence for his federal felony convictions, a new civil suit filed in federal court attacks Beam's credibility.

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