Pro Bono News

Only Line of Defense: In confusing world of civil debt proceedings, volunteer attorneys pick up the slack

Wednesday, August 02, 2017

Only Line of Defense: In confusing world of civil debt proceedings, volunteer attorneys pick up the slack

 

"...For most defendants, it's the only time they will consult a lawyer about their case—the debts are often too small to justify hiring an attorney, and few could afford one anyway. Debt buyers bring small claims cases to District Court by the thousands, clogging the court system. Many cases are auto-generated from reams of bulk-bought debt data that, despite federal penalties by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, are still prone to errors. It's errors like these that MVLS are here to find, in addition to smoothing out the patterns they see again and again: defendants who don't recognize the third-party creditor suing them, misunderstandings about the court process, or confusion around shared responsibility of a co-signed debt."

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