Kansas Credit Attorney Association
Friday, May 05, 2006
2004 Consumer Protection Report Released
The Kansas Attorney General released their 2004 Consumer Protection Report on Monday, May 1, 2006. The full text of the Report (as well as 1999 - 2003) are available here.
The Report is notable for several details:
1) Complaints against collectors rank fourth among all complaints received by Mr. Kline's office with 214 filed in 2004;
2) Of those 214 complaints, only 142 were assigned to special agents reflecting the apparent truth to Mr. Kline's statement that "many complaints stated little more than the obvious - that calls from debt collectors are unwanted.";
3) In 2003, Mr. Kline reported that 156 collector complaints were assigned to special agents indicating moderate improvement between 2003 and 2004;
4) 54 complaints closed in 2004 because the respondant could not be found - a dramatic drop from the 209 closed for that reason in 2003; and
5) Mr. Kline filed suit against two collectors, Lucas Bishop and Brock Ratzlaff, and an agency, NCA, Corp. though no details of the violations were provided.
The complaints closed because the respondant could not be found are of profound interest in light of Mr. Kline's introduction of House Bill 2837 on February 7, 2006.
One goal of HB 2837 was to make it easier to locate debt collectors against whom complaints were filed by requiring anyone collecting a debt to be registered with the Secretary of State.
However, the 2004 report shows only 54 complaints (all complaints, not just collector-related) were closed because the respondant could not be found.
It is unclear how many of those 54 missing respondants were collectors or how many would have been located by registry with the Secretary of State.
posted by Larry Zimmerman 11:48 AM
Monday, April 04, 2005
SB 296
Would increase filing fees in Limited Actions and Civil for case filings to fund a base pay increase for judges. The bill passed out of the Senate Ways and Means Committee the week of March 28.
posted by Larry Zimmerman 2:44 PM
Thursday, February 19, 2004
SB 437
Would increase the limit on a Small Claims filing from $1,800 to $5,000 and allow the judicial administrator of the courts to raise the limit every three years to an average of the prior three years' all-items consumer price index as published by the United States Department of Labor.
posted by Larry Zimmerman 10:42 AM
HB 2678
Would increase the limit on a Small Claims filing from $1,800 to $4,000.
posted by Larry Zimmerman 10:40 AM
HB 2846
Would impose a $5.00 charge on all attorneys each time they file a civil action. Funds collected will be paid into the "lengthy trial fund."
posted by Larry Zimmerman 10:34 AM
SB 420
Would allow either party in litigation to make an offer of judgment prior to trial in Chapter 60.
posted by Larry Zimmerman 10:30 AM
HB 2817
Would impose liability for retailers who "double-bill" a consumer in a credit or debit sale and fail to correct that billing.
posted by Larry Zimmerman 10:29 AM
HB 2838
Would impose notice and billing requirements on credit card issuers where two interest rates apply to an outstanding credit card bill.
posted by Larry Zimmerman 10:28 AM
HB 2635
Would alter notice procedures and requirements with respect to insufficient funds checks in consumer credit sales and consumer loans.
posted by Larry Zimmerman 10:27 AM
HB 2165
Introduced by Rep. Goering, House Judiciary Committee. Would remove the language "...or in payment for a preexisting debt..." from K.S.A. 60-2610(h).
posted by Larry Zimmerman 10:26 AM
HB 2495
Would remove the requirement of one judge per county and allow the Supreme Court to reassign judges based on caseload.
posted by Larry Zimmerman 10:24 AM
HB 2565
Introduced at the request of a Garden City attorney. Would eliminate the restricted mail requirement for notices pursuant to K.S.A. 60-2611 and make changes to K.S.A. 60-2610 with regards to settlements prior to dispositional hearings.
posted by Larry Zimmerman 10:23 AM
HB 2808
Introduced by Rep. Patterson on behalf of Judge Woodworth of Johnson County. Would eliminate the statutory requirement for defendants to file a written answer within 10 days of the answer hearing in Chapter 61 cases.
posted by Larry Zimmerman 10:21 AM
HB 2655
Introduced by Rep. Jack, House Judiciary Committee, on behalf of Judge Fleming of Labette County. Would provide judge discretion to allow amendment or withdrawal of answers to requests for admission at any point in litigation in Chapter 61 cases.
posted by Larry Zimmerman 10:19 AM
SB 298
Introduced by Sen. Vratil, Senate Judiciary Committee. Would impose a $5.00 docket fee on garnishments.
posted by Larry Zimmerman 10:17 AM
SB 423
Would repeal the prohibition on the use of wage garnishment in collection of assigned accounts.
posted by Larry Zimmerman 10:15 AM
HB 2293
Introduced at the request of the Kansas Sheriffs' Association on behalf of the Sedgwick County Sheriff. Would allow the Sheriffs to charge $10.00 and mileage for service of process on most documents.
posted by Larry Zimmerman 10:13 AM
Contact K C A A
Kansas Credit Attorney Association
Billy Newman, President
