Mann Bracken, LLC, one of the nation's titans of debt collection, filed thousands of arbitration complaints against Pennsylvania consumers in the (now-defunct) National Arbitration Forum ("NAF"). But, Pennsylvania's laws regarding consumer arbitration say Mann Bracken couldn't do so without first obtaining the consumer's consent or waiver.  Of course, they didn't do that. 

Mann Bracken then sent collection letters to these consumers enclosing the NAF complaint and saying failure to pay the alleged debt could result in a binding judgment against them. On December 22, 2009, a federal court said Mann Bracken's threat based on bogus NAF arbitration awards constitutes a violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Holmes v. Mann Bracken.  

Delores Holmes received this collection communication from Mann Bracken and was a defendant named in a sham NAF complaint filed by the debt collector.  She retained our firm to help her.  By fighting Mann Bracken and its deceptive practices as a class representative, Delores helped every Pennsylvania consumer by sending a message to debt collectors that they must follow the law when it comes to consumer arbitration - a process where the deck is almost always stacked in the creditor or debt collector's favor. As many visitors to this website know, Mann Bracken and NAF have been linked to arbitration abuses in the past.  From now on, debt collectors abuse Pennsylvania's consumer arbitration rules at the risk of FDCPA liability.