A recent vehicle repossession class action lawsuit filed in the Lycoming County Court of Common Pleas on behalf of Pennsylvania consumers, asserted that repossession notices sent by a Buy-Here, Pay-Here car dealership and its finance company violated the borrower’s consumer rights. The class action provided for debt forgiveness, credit report correction, and a cash award to all class members.
Cy Pres Award to North Penn Legal Services
Residual funds, which result from uncashed or non-distributable funds to class members, were awarded to North Penn Legal Services (NPLS), a provider of free civil legal assistance to low-income residents of Northeastern Pennsylvania. These funds are designated as cy pres.
NPLS strives to solve civil legal problems and empower vulnerable populations through professional legal representation, advocacy, and education.
NPLS will direct the cy pres funds to continue their work in assisting disadvantaged consumers in Northeastern Pennsylvania.
Pictured (l-r): Edward G. Schirra, CFO, and Lori Molloy, Esq. of North Penn Legal Services, and Andy Milz, Esq. of Flitter Milz, P.C.
Experienced Class Action Counsel
Flitter Milz, P.C. is a leading consumer protection law firm that pursues class action lawsuits to help people who have been victim to wrongful repossessions, credit report errors, solar panel financing fraud, unfair collection practices, or other types of consumer fraud. Flitter Milz has been recognized for the pursuit of high-profile cases, often involving complex consumer law issues, that have made law and benefited consumers nationwide. Pictured above: Attorneys Cary Flitter (center), Andy Milz (left), Jody López-Jacobs (right).
This past summer our attorneys visited Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey and Dover Air Force Base in Delaware to educate military lawyers (commonly known as Judge Advocates General or “JAGs”) about common scams targeting servicemembers and how consumer protection laws exist to give our men and women in uniform some measure of relief.
Young and impressionable servicemembers often become targets of scammers. Factors such as reliable pay checks and great military benefits, as well as being subject to sudden deployment and relocation, make servicemembers easy prey for payday lenders, buy-here-pay-here auto dealers, and sub-prime finance companies.
Fortunately, the “Military Lending Act” places caps on interest rates to be charged, mandates certain disclosures, and prohibits the use of arbitration clauses in credit agreements. A violating seller can face punitive damages and having to pay the servicemember’s attorney fees.
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Our firm gets a lot of calls from consumers who are senior citizens, or from their children, after they have realized that the “free” solar panel deal they were promised is nothing of the sort.
Every week, we hear similar complaints from consumers who met with a solar sales representative and felt taken. Statements such as the following may be deceptive or outright false:
Salespeople are likely to tout a 30% federal solar tax credit (for 2023). Consumers must be careful, this is not cash or a refund, but rather a tax credit to count against the taxes you pay. Some seniors pay only minimal taxes or no taxes at all (if, for instance, their sole income is Social Security) and may not benefit at all from this promised “government program.” Other times, the company keeps the tax credit for itself.
Salesmen also like to tout a “no cost installation” or “no upfront cost” because this makes it sound like the consumer is getting the solar panels for free. That is not the case. With programs like solar leases or power purchase agreements (PPAs), it is the solar company, not the consumer, who owns the panels that are installed on the roof.
While the solar company may not charge upfront for the panels and the installation, the consumer is bound to pay for the energy that’s produced by the panels at ever-increasing rates – sometimes for 25-years or more – forcing some elderly consumers to pay expensive rates until they’re over 100 years old. All the while, they are still obligated to pay their electric bill.
Solar sales can be expensive and burdensome to consumers. Solar salesmen know this, and that’s why they use electronically displayed and signed contract documents (instead of a paper contract that you hold and keep) with deceptive language to hide the agreement from elderly consumers by using a bum email address or making up an email address that only the sellers control.
The lender may attempt to collect the deficient balance from the borrower or assign the collection to an agency or collection law firm. If the debt is not collected, the lender may choose to file a lawsuit against the borrower.
Judgments are dangerous. The lender attempt collection of the judgment through bank attachment, seizure of property, or in many states, wage garnishment.
You might need to consider getting someone to cosign an auto loan if you are unable to qualify for the credit. Frequently, poor credit or lack of credit history, lack of income, or being able to make a down payment are reasons that a lender would require the borrower to get a cosigner. But co-signing holds a lot of responsibility…even if you’re doing it for a family member or close friend.
The co-signer’s good name and credit history provide additional assurance to the lender that the terms of the loan agreement will be honored with payments being made in full and on time.
Both the co-signer and primary borrower hold equal responsibility for the signed auto loan. When payments are late or missed, the lender has the right to repossess the vehicle. Credit reports for both the borrower and co-signer will list a negative payment history and the repossession.
The lender may contact the co-signer, and/or the primary borrower, after a vehicle has been repossessed. The bank, credit union or financial institution will look to the co-signer to bring the account current or satisfy the loan in full. Credit scores may drop as a result and impact existing credit, or make it difficult to obtain new credit for both the borrower and co-signer.
Scenarios involving mixed credit files are all too common today. A mixed credit file, or mis-merged file, can happen when your credit information is commingled with someone else’s on your credit report. For years, the credit bureaus have been told their methods of matching consumer data is fundamentally flawed, but the often-devastating errors keep happening.
Federal court in Philadelphia rules TransUnion must go to trial
Errors on your credit reports can derail your finances, and sometimes prevent you from obtaining the credit you may need. By checking your credit reports regularly with the three main bureaus — Transunion, Experian and Equifax — you can make sure negative entries and inaccurate listings don’t stand in your way of getting the car loan, mortgage, job or apartment you deserve. Take these steps to work towards your financial freedom.
Credit reports show the history of credit accounts and illustrate whether a consumer is a good credit risk. Consumers must review their reports for accuracy and take steps to correct inaccurate information. Common credit reporting problems are:
Maybe you aren’t completely sold on solar panels, and simply want more information about switching to solar power. Beware. At this point of the presentation, the salesperson may casually suggest that you submit an application, just to see whether or not you qualify for solar panels. You’ll be offered an iPad or tablet to sign, and be told not to worry because you’ll receive copies of all documents by email.
Placing your signature or initials on an iPad, tablet, or phone may seem easy. However, your electronic signature or initials may be copied and affixed to a contract or other forms that you did not intend.
Solar companies rely on financing to make solar panels available to consumers. Credit reports are accessed to evaluate a potential customer’s creditworthiness. The consumer must provide written permission for the solar company to obtain these reports.
Solar panels will be free.
Many times, the solar panel company may not want to sell you the panels. If you, the buyer, purchases the panels, you would receive the tax credit, not the solar company. If the solar company leases you panels and only promises to sell you the solar power, the solar sales company may receive the tax credit, not you, the homeowner.
Your Neighbors Are Doing It!
Flitter Milz is a nationally recognized consumer protection law firm that evaluates solar panel sales matters for potential violation of the consumer protection laws involving fraud, such as forged contracts, identity theft and credit reporting privacy violations. 
The jury verdict will compensate a group of 19 plaintiffs whose consumer protection rights were violated by repeated misrepresentations throughout FantaSea Resort’s routine, deceptive sales practices. The jury agreed that FantaSea’s tactics left consumers with timeshare purchases they couldn’t use as described, with payments and rising maintenance fees they couldn’t escape.
In trial, FantaSea Resorts admitted to making knowingly false statements to lure potential buyers into binding timeshare sales agreements through a sales process that violated the New Jersey Real Estate Timeshare Act (RETA). According to court documents, FantaSea intentionally withheld important sales documents from the buyers until after they had completed the transaction, contrary to what they are legally required to do.
What’s more, FantaSea’s timeshare sales were rigged so that timeshare owners would routinely pay more for a vacation stay than non-owners, according to court documents. In one case, over the length of the plaintiff’s 10-year mortgage, she would pay more than 
Flitter Milz, PC, with offices in PA, NJ, and NY, is a nationally recognized leader in consumer protection law, with over 30 years’ experience in the field. The firm represents victims of finance fraud, illegal vehicle repossessions, unfair debt collection practices, credit report errors, civil rights abuses, and other consumer protection matters in individual and class action cases. Pictured: Cary Flitter (center), Andy Milz (left), Jody López-Jacobs (right).
