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I often have prospective clients come in to my office to see me, that have hired a Debt Management Service to help them manage, pay and/or "settle" their debts, particularly credit card debts. Needless to say, the people that come in to see me about bankruptcy or non-bankruptcy alternatives that I offer, have not had satisfactory experiences with their debt management services. Some of them have paid them many thousands of dollars, and finally realize that they may have to file bankruptcy anyway.
In fact, it's common for these services to not even be operating legally in Texas. In Texas, debt management or debt "pooling" services are regulated by the Texas Debtor Assistance Law, which is Chapter 394 of the Texas Finance Code. The Texas Finance Code is at http://tlo2.tlc.state.tx.us/statutes/fi.toc.htm.
These services must be registered with the Texas Consumer Credit Commissioner in order to be operating legally. A list of those services that are registered are on the web site of the Texas Consumer Credit Commissioner at http://www.occc.state.tx.us/pages/searches.html. Click on "List of Debt Management Services Providers" to see if your service is listed.
If your debt management service is not listed on that page, or if they have violated other provisions of the act, you may have a right to recover from them: (1) all the money you've paid them; (2) any actual damages you've suffered as well as punitive damages; (3) attorney fees for enforcing your rights; and (4) injunctive relief (a court order stopping them from continuing to operate illegally).
Is Your Debt Management Service Operating Legally? |
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J. Thomas Black and Associates specialties include: texas bankruptcy law, attorney debt settlement in texas, houston tax attorney, bankruptcy attorney in houston texas, bankruptcy attorney in texas, bankruptcy attorney houston tx, bankruptcy attorney houston texas, bankruptcy attorney texas, bankruptcy in texas, bankruptcy lawyer in houston, bankruptcy lawyer in houston texas, bankruptcy lawyer in texas, bankruptcy houston texas, chapter 13 bankruptcy in texas, credit repair houston texas, debt consolidation using a lawyer in houston texas, file bankruptcy in texas, personal bankruptcy in texas, houston bankruptcy attorney, houston bankruptcy lawyer, houston credit repair attorney, houston texas bankruptcy lawyer, tax attorney in houston, tax attorney houston texas, tax lawyer houston, texas bankruptcy filing, texas bankruptcy law firm, texas bankruptcy lawyer, texas chapter 7 bankruptcy, texas tax lawyer, and filing bankruptcy in texas. Contact J. Thomas Black, Houston Texas Bankruptcy Lawyers. |