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.