According to a statement from newly formed collection agency Kramer, Meggison & Taylor LLC, the firm has “no association with Mann Bracken, and just, several lawyers who worked together in the past formed a new firm to resurrect their careers.” I also heard from another source that bacon is now good for you.
Whether you believe the statement or not, it is clear that Mann Bracken and its former owners may be responsible for serious violations. These violations were substantial enough for regulators from Maryland and Minnesota to shut the company down.
Mann Bracken is now in receivership, and receiver Cheryl E. Rose is pursuing additional claims against the firm. Rose stated that she is “pursuing litigation to see if there are parties that might be responsible for what happened to Mann Bracken.”
Mann Bracken was accused of widespread violations of the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act, of which many claims are still pending. The greatest wrongdoing was the assignment of its arbitration cases to a related firm. National Arbitration Forum (NAF) shared common ownership with Mann Bracken, creating a very clear conflict of interest. Accretive LLC was the owner of both Mann Bracken and NAF.
As a result, arbitration clients had no chance against the collector, since the arbitrator had clear financial incentives to side with Mann Bracken. Indeed, “in each and every case where a business entity brought a claim against a consumer and the matter was disposed of by hearing, the NAF arbitrator ruled in favor of the business entity — a 100% success rate.” This was the conclusion of the City Attorney for San Francisco, CA after reviewing records obtained from NAF.
In a number of states, default judgments awarded to Mann Bracken were reversed. New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo led the charge by throwing out nearly 100,000 judgments against New Yorkers by the firm.
Given the scope of violations against Mann Bracken, it is clear that Kramer, Meggison & Taylor LLC will not enjoy the same cozy relationship that it had with NAF. The scrutiny that this firm will have to overcome is far reaching. Even though Mann Bracken came crashing down, its shadow still lurks over the new firm.
Debtors should always do what they can to repay valid debts. That being said, no one deserves to be a victim of any firm that breaks the law.
Long is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a B.A. in Industrial Relations. He subsequently received his Certificate in Nonprofit Management from Duke University. His Certificate in Financial Planning was issued by Florida State University.
Long has achieved the Accredited Credit Counselor and Accredited Financial Counselor certifications through the Association for Financial Counseling, Planning and Education. Long originally achieved the Certified Credit Counselor designation through the National Institute for Financial Education.
In addition to years of nonprofit leadership, Long has been an innovator in the field of volunteer tax return preparation programs. He assists volunteer associations and nonprofit organizations who seek to integrate credit counseling and asset-building programs with free personal income tax preparation. His approach to using free credit reports as both an incentive and a screening tool for placement into asset-building programs has been shared with members of the National Community Tax Coalition, the EITC-Carolinas Initiative of MDC, Inc. and nonprofit groups across the Carolinas.
Long assists members of our armed forces in the Carolinas, Iowa, Rhode Island, Georgia and Germany with financial readiness. Please support our Soldiers, Marines, Airmen and Sailors!
Favorite quote:
"The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not."
Thomas Jefferson
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