My father gets free publicity: From the Dallas Observer (for all debtors)

[Suji to Seoul]

I remember the first time he tasted blood in the water. The article is a little wrong. He is also an Enrolled Agent in the IRS, a tax accountant that specializes only CPE in taxation matters. Never been audited and has lost one of the 345 Offers In Compromises he has dealt with the IRS on.

My father and I have not really seen eye-to-eye my entire life, but distance (being in China) and age have mellowed out and grown the relationship. He will be coming, with my mother, for a visit in June and will be retiring in Kunming with me.

Please read the Article.

Unlike his neighbors' homes, Craig Cunningham's house in Northeast Dallas looks abandoned. The grass is dried out. The concrete slab under the front door is lopsided and cracked. The green exterior has faded to a toxic-looking shade. Yellow Pages pile up near the front door, and the black mailbox is stuffed full. Maybe the home has been foreclosed on. That wouldn't be a surprise in this economy.

But no, that's not the case. Inside, the 29-year-old Cunningham hunkers his 6-foot-2-inch frame on a dumpy couch. His heavy arms extend from his sides, palms up, so two Chihuahuas, Angel and Chuay, can curl under them. Although it's 10 a.m. on a weekday, he's wearing slippers.

He leans forward to lift some paperwork out of a plastic tub on the coffee table. The phone rings, and he answers with a soft voice. It's just a friend, and soon he hangs up. He's waiting for a particular type of phone call—one from a representative of a debt collection agency or a credit card company, whom he'll try to ensnare like a Venus fly trap. It's not unlikely that Cunningham's next call will be from a bill collector, since he's between jobs—except for being in the Army Reserve—and owes $100,000 in debts.

While most Americans with unpaid bills dread the collector's call, Cunningham sees them as lucrative opportunities. Many collection and credit card companies, intentionally or not, violate little-known consumer rights laws, and Cunningham's favorite pastime is catching them doing so and then suing them. In fact, it's a profitable side job.

http://www.dallasobserver.com/2010-01-21/news/better-off-deadbeat-craig-cunningham-has-a-simple-solution-for-getting-bill-collectors-off-his-back-he-sues-them/

Here is the website my father started. www.debtorboards.com

We need to push this. In this meltdown, consumers need an advocate. My father is it. Please push this as much as possible. The book goes to paper copies in July.

[Hannah Bell]

1. k/r. but how is your father 29, & you living on your own overseas?

[dmr]

2. No, his dad is the one running 'debtorboards' & is writing a book

I was confused at first too. The OP wasn't clear.

:hi:

[Hannah Bell]

3. thanks.

[blondeatlast]

6. Thanks, I was seriously scratching my head! nt

[Suji to Seoul]

5. Sorry. . .my father is Steven, the older guy. Not the guy in Texas, but the one in Phoenix.

Who I have not seen in three years and has dropped an enormous amount of weight.

[ima_sinnic]

4. great resource

I spent two years cleaning up my credit and paying down debt, and educating myself on various tricks and tools for dealing with credit bureaus and creditors, so at the moment I'm in pretty good shape, but I will be sharing the link to debtorboards on boards that discuss credit, and with friends/relatives who could use it. Wish I'd seen it sooner.

[Roland99]

7. creditboards.com is another good site for learning your rights as a debtor

and how to keep your credit report clean and accurate.

[Greyhound]

8. Good for him and the work. K&R.