Shuster & Saben, LLC has filed a lawsuit on behalf of a Miami-Dade county homeowner against the Florida Default Law Group. The lawsuit alleges that the Florida Default Law Group violated the homeowners rights under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). The lawsuit was filed in county court for Miami-Dade County. This case is believed to be the first lawsuit filed against Florida Default Law Group filed in a Miami-Dade county court. The basis of the lawsuit is the practice of Florida Default Group of sending letters to homeowner, prior to foreclosure litigation, in envelopes bearing the words “Florida Default Law Group, P.L.” The lawsuit alleges this practice violates the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act because the firm name “Florida Default Law Group” identifies that the firm is a debt collector. One of the purposes of the FDCPA is to protect the privacy interests of debtors by making collection companies send bill collection letters in envelopes that do not identify the company as a bill collector.
Shuster & Saben anticipates filing additional lawsuits on behalf of injured consumers in Dade, Broward, Collier, Palm Beach, St. Lucie and Brevard counties. Shuster & Saben's handling of this case is on a pure contingency (no recovery - no fee) basis. For more information about Shuster & Saben, please see our website: www.attorneyforeclosuredefense.com
Monday, June 29, 2009
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Court Discovers 15,000 unserved foreclosures
On the cover of today’s Daily Business Review is an article which reports that Miami-Dade chief administrative judge, Jennifer D. Bailey has discovered that there are 15,000 foreclosure cases filed in 2009 in which the lender has not served the defendant homeowner. Service of Process is the act of having a process server or sheriff physically hand deliver a copy of the lawsuit to the Defendant (in foreclosure cases the primary defendant is the homeowner). A plaintiff (in foreclosure cases the lender) has 120 days to serve the Defendant. If the Plaintiff serves the Defendant after 120 days without getting an extension of time, in advance, from the Court, the service of process is invalid and the case is subject to dismissal.
We recommend that if a homeowner is served with a foreclosure complaint the homeowner check the Court docket to determine when the case was filed and check to see if service was completed within 120 days.
Shuster and Saben is a five attorney litigation law firm that defends homeowners in foreclose and seek monetary damages for victims of predatory lending and other mortgage law violations. We are available for free consultation at our offices in Miami and Plantation and have freelance paralegals to meet with homeowners in Lee, Collier, and Brevard county. Homeowners with questions can reach our foreclosure defense department at foreclosuredefenselaw@gmail.com
We recommend that if a homeowner is served with a foreclosure complaint the homeowner check the Court docket to determine when the case was filed and check to see if service was completed within 120 days.
Shuster and Saben is a five attorney litigation law firm that defends homeowners in foreclose and seek monetary damages for victims of predatory lending and other mortgage law violations. We are available for free consultation at our offices in Miami and Plantation and have freelance paralegals to meet with homeowners in Lee, Collier, and Brevard county. Homeowners with questions can reach our foreclosure defense department at foreclosuredefenselaw@gmail.com
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Florida Default Law Group Sued for violation of Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
A Class Action lawsuit for alleged violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act has been filed against the Florida Default Law Group, P.L. in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida.
The class action was filed by attorney James E Kallaher, of the Law Office of Bohdan Neswiacheny of Orange Park, Florida. At issue in the lawsuit is the practice of the Florida Default Law Group to send letters to consumers who were behind on their mortgages in envelopes upon which a return address bearing the words “Florida Default Law Group, P.L." was printed.
The purpose of the The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) is to insure that debt collectors refrain from using abusive debt collection practices. The specific statute alleged to be violated is 15 USC 1692(f)(8) which prohibits:
“Using any language or symbol, other than the debt collector’s address, on any envelope when communicating with a consumer by use of the mails or by telegram, except that a debt collector may use his business name if such name does not indicate that he is in the debt collection business.”
The lawsuit, in our opinion correctly asserts that the business name “Florida Default Law Group” is a business name that indicates the company is in the debt collection business.
Under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, any individual who has been a victim of a violation of the act is entitled to both their actual damages and such additional damages as awarded by the Court not to exceed $1,000.00.
Our law firm is in the process of filing individual law suits for clients the firm is defending in foreclosure actions in Dade and Broward County. These actions will be filed on as individual cases in county court. We anticipate that our first law suits will be filed later this week. A copy of the class action complaint is available on-line at http://thetruthaboutloanmodification.wordpress.com/files/2009/09/florida-default-class-action-complaint.pdf
Any consumer who has questions about whether their rights have been violated may contact our firm at foreclosuredefenselaw@gmail.com
Consumers who believe that the Florida Default Law Group has were sent an envelope with the words “Florida Default Law Group” on the envelope should be aware that any lawsuit brought to recover damages under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act must be filed within ONE YEAR of the alleged violation.
For more information about Shuster & Saben, LLC
please see our website.
The class action was filed by attorney James E Kallaher, of the Law Office of Bohdan Neswiacheny of Orange Park, Florida. At issue in the lawsuit is the practice of the Florida Default Law Group to send letters to consumers who were behind on their mortgages in envelopes upon which a return address bearing the words “Florida Default Law Group, P.L." was printed.
The purpose of the The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) is to insure that debt collectors refrain from using abusive debt collection practices. The specific statute alleged to be violated is 15 USC 1692(f)(8) which prohibits:
“Using any language or symbol, other than the debt collector’s address, on any envelope when communicating with a consumer by use of the mails or by telegram, except that a debt collector may use his business name if such name does not indicate that he is in the debt collection business.”
The lawsuit, in our opinion correctly asserts that the business name “Florida Default Law Group” is a business name that indicates the company is in the debt collection business.
Under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, any individual who has been a victim of a violation of the act is entitled to both their actual damages and such additional damages as awarded by the Court not to exceed $1,000.00.
Our law firm is in the process of filing individual law suits for clients the firm is defending in foreclosure actions in Dade and Broward County. These actions will be filed on as individual cases in county court. We anticipate that our first law suits will be filed later this week. A copy of the class action complaint is available on-line at http://thetruthaboutloanmodification.wordpress.com/files/2009/09/florida-default-class-action-complaint.pdf
Any consumer who has questions about whether their rights have been violated may contact our firm at foreclosuredefenselaw@gmail.com
Consumers who believe that the Florida Default Law Group has were sent an envelope with the words “Florida Default Law Group” on the envelope should be aware that any lawsuit brought to recover damages under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act must be filed within ONE YEAR of the alleged violation.
For more information about Shuster & Saben, LLC
please see our website.
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