Monday, November 02, 2009
FDCPA Expert Witnesses in short supply, where do you apply?
According to WebRecon's tracking of FDCPA and other credit related lawsuits we're on pace to hit over 8,500 such suits in 2009. Does that mean the demand for qualified credit expert witnesses is going to increase?
I can tell you that not only is the demand increasing for qualified credit experts but it should remain strong going into 2010. For example, take me. I started the year with 12 cases under my belt. I'm now on my 41st case and it's just the beginning of November.
The demand for the FDCPA expert witness and the FCRA expert witness seems to have increased as the number of cases has increased and that makes perfect sense. The problem is the number of credit witnesses hasn't really increased at the same pace. The same cast of underqualified characters still seems to be mopping up most of the plaintiff's credit expert witness work. There are some opportunities for credit professionals to become a credit expert witness by attending trainings with someone like me but those trainings are few and far between and won't yield enough credit witnesses to fill the demand.
I fear that in 2010 we'll end up with another 8,500 FDCPA lawsuits, FCRA lawsuits or otherwise credit damage lawsuits and only a few dozen really good credit experts to act as expert witnesses. This is not good news for debt buyers, collection agencies, lenders, credit bureaus and consumers. Everyone deserves a strong credit expert witness, regardless of the side they represent. There just aren't that many of us out there. To find a good one you can go to any of these sites...
This article should not be interpreted as legal advice or testimony. It does not represent any conclusive opinion of the author or any of the credit experts from ExpertCreditWitness.com.
Comments:
John, you bring up a good point. Although the solutions to our current housing, banking, and lending needs may not be an easy one to "fix" the problem is not that complex. Real estate values increased at an unrealistic pace and that combined with loose lending criteria and we had the perfect storm. It wasn't too long ago that you could purchase a 4 unit investment property with a 620 FICO score, NO money down, NO income documentation, and NO asset documentation. Anybody want to guess how well those portfolios have performed? So now we've got hundreds and thousands of mortgage loans that aren't performing and the balance sheets of the banks have been devastated and now since the banks are in trouble they go from handing out money for free to the wrong people to holding on to what they have left for dear life...and then to plug holes in their balance sheets they start taking away credit lines from consumers at an alarming rate, and so on and so on. Credit scores go down for many people who DID NOT overleverage themselves because the credit lines that are lowered and closed by the banks are normally from the "other folks" who didn't over-leverage themselves. Wow. Anyways, I say all that to say that not only are you correct about the need for people who understand credit and lending to help the legal community as expert credit witnesses but I also think that this is just the beginning. This could be a problem that is just getting started and if there is one area where people are truly mis-informed it's about credit. I suspect you'll be swamped with work for many years to come John.
I’m a recent attendee of your credit expert witness training. I’ve been involved in and with credit for over 25 years and for the last several years I’ve owned and operated a successful consumer credit consulting business. When I learned about your training session I jumped at the opportunity. I’m looking forward to using my knowledge and experience in the credit industry to provide litigation support to attorneys whose clients are involved in credit related disputes. I expect to be very busy. Thank you.
Great article John. Not only is there a need for credit expert witnesses during a pending lawsuit, such experts should also be counseled with prior to actually filing a complaint. I recently spoke with an attorney that is counsel on a high profile case claiming credit damages. Had the attorney counseled with a credit expert prior to filing the complaint, he would have been able to draft a more thorough complaint and back of the credit damages he is claiming. Additionally, the attorney would have known to pull a credit report prior to actually filing. So, not only is there a market for credit expert witnesses after a lawsuit has been filed, but also before. For an attorney's perspective on credit and credit witnesses see http://www.fcracreditexpert.com
John, I agree that the total number of credit related lawsuits will continue to grow. In my opinion, many of the credit problems consumers are having in today's credit crunch will turn into lawsuits years down the road. I recently started offering myself as an expert credit witness. I have had countless examples in my professional career where people were proclaiming some of the most off the wall stories on credit scoring. I had an example just last month where a collector told me that if my client paid off their collection, their FICO score would instantly go up to 800. The saddest part of this is I really believe she thought she was telling the truth. I have yet to see a 487 mid score go to 800 by paying one small collection, lol. I have over 20 years experience in the mortgage and credit business and I have reviewed over 15,000 tri merged credit reports. I believe my experience of dealing directly with the consumer will prove to be my best asset as an expert witness. I have a full understanding of FICO, FCRA, FACTA, FDCPA and mortgage underwriting. Maybe I will see you in court one day! Expert Credit Witness
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