I got the word a few days ago that gigantic debt collection law firm Mann Bracken was going under. Atlanta consumer lawyer Tim Cook says Mann Bracken’s lawyers are out of work and the phones are instructing callers to contact their creditors. Could it be?
It could. Mann Bracken has been under fire in Georgia, and its parent company, Axiant, took a big hit when the Minnesota Attorney General forced the National Arbitration Forum to stop handling consumer arbitrations. That is a lot of weight to carry, and I am not surprised to find out that Mann Bracken is the next casualty of the Axiant love triangle.
From the comments, here is my best advice if you had a debt with Mann Bracken:
Mann Bracken is a debt collection law firm. As far as I know, Mann Bracken does not purchase debts, it just collects debts that belong to its clients.
If Mann Bracken goes bankrupt, its clients do not lose the right to collect their debts, they just have to find another debt collector to do it.
If you had a debt with Mann Bracken, you should probably start by contacting the creditor. If you had reached a settlement with Mann Bracken, find out whether the creditor intends to honor that settlement. (Note: Making payments is not necessarily the same thing as settling your debt. A creditor must credit your account for any payments you make, regardless whether you have reached some kind of settlement.)
To find a consumer or bankruptcy lawyer, use the Caveat Emptor Consumer & Bankruptcy Lawyer Directory.
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I was on a MB payment plan for a MBNA account and like some of you my payment was not taken out for December. I called Bank of America (who now manages the MBNA account) and was told that the terms I made with MB will stay the same, but I will be making them to a different agency. They did not know who the new agency would be and said I would be contacted about setting up the payments witht he new group. They were aware of the situation and assured me that the payment not being taken out in December would not affect the payment plan I was on. Calling your creditor is right move.
They can contact me as all you get is passed around because no one ever seems to know anything. If they do, hope they do not hassle me as I have
a settlement amount in writing from MB which was $5172 of a $8388 which of
$1300 was fees and have paid all but $86 and have all receipts saying all the payments I made to them.
Guess they will have to contact me and hopefully, they dont hassle me as I have an amount from MB for a settlement in writing for $5172 from $8388 and $1300 of that was fees and have paid all but $86 and have all receipts where I made the payments over the last 5 months. Also, I have no numbers for direct merchants bank.
Dont have any numbers for direct merchant bank so guess they will have to contact me
I am so glad I read these comments because I was wondering why my payment for MB was never deducted from my account this past December. I was worried because I had reached a settlement with them as well. Like jell, I do noot have any numbers for my ssears direct merchants, guess they will have to contact me!
Mann Bracken is out of business but it still exists.
This week I am going to file lawsuits in Fairfax against Mann Bracken through their registered agent (serve them by the Secretary of the Commonwealth) and likewise against Chris Bracken at his home office in Atlanta.
Now I see why my attorney held the settlement check for over a week before disbursing funds to me. Guess it was a good thing we accepted their settlement offer when we did.
That may be part of it. Attorneys usually hold settlement checks for about 10 days to make sure they clear. Some states’ ethics rules require it, so as not to endanger other clients’ funds held in the same trust account.
Mann, Bracken has indeed gone out of business. I practice in Atlanta where MB is based and the State Bar directory shows new business addresses for the lawyers, and earlier this year a local TV station filed a report confirming Mann, Bracken’s demise. I posted a link to the TV station’s report on my blog at http://bit.ly/mbkaput.
Just thought I’d post an update. I had originally been paying an original creditor through Mann-Bracken and today I received a letter from the OC telling me to deal with Forster and Garbus.
I will be sending them a letter via CMRRR to make sure the new firm will continue to honor the court agreement I had settled with the OC. Of course, I still have copies of all of the paperwork, including records of all my payments.
We had some interesting run-ins with Mann Bracken here in PA as well; sinking ship…
I’ve been making payment to Mann Bracken for (over 3yrs on a 5 yr plan) and Dec Payment didn’t go through. Now another law firm is calling for the bal. They are telling me to settle now or further actions will be taken. Do I settle? or may arrangements? Is there anyone to talk to about this?
Jo: Have you contacted the original creditor?
so i got contacted by my new collector, zwicker and associates which has an entirely wrong balance of 400 bucks which with mann bracking it was at 333…..so i had made payment arrangements….yesterday i tried calling the girl i am supposed to be working with at someone else said she isnt at work but theyd take my payment…they effin told me it had now accrued interest and was 600 freaking flippin bucks?!?!?!?!?!?!? what the H do i do now? can i dispute this? i received a letter with them stating my balance was at the 400 balance….pls. let me know whatever you can! im so hot right now…:(
Who was Mann Bracken and Axiant collecting for???
Many creditors.
I received a letter from an attorneys office here in Houston yesterday, called them and that is when I found out about MB. My problem is, they say they have the December payment, will honor everything, but why am I just now being notified? Also, my January payment (via check from the bank) hasn’t been returned to my bank, and my February payment has already gone out, to MB in North Carolina. So where is everything going that is being mailed to MB??? I am not going to put 2 stop payments of 2 checks. UGH!
I had mailed the December payment to their office in North Carolina.I sent that certified mail.I never did get a receipt or anything like that from them.Since I had misplaced the stub since i do not believe in paying by check to these collection agencies I have to fill out some form to Moneygram.it just makes me wonder that if they knew that this was happening to them,why didn’t they notify us?And will everyone who didn’t get receipts from them as well get anything back?Also I had been making those payments because of some settlement agreement they offered me when they were Wolpoff &Abramson.So also what do I do if their client orders another collection agency after me?Please advise.
I was wondering why my payments hadnt been debited for Dec. and Jan. and now Feb. and tried calling MB today and was told the # was disconnected then seen online they went bankrupt…and I was doing this because I had a law firm call today wanting money from me or they were taking me to court and said nothing to me about MB out of business and tried saying I owed them $3000 which was my original balance with MB and on my last thank you for your payment letter my balance owed was $1200 and they were not willing to work with me and were demanding the $3000 or they would settle for $2500….thats CRAP!! But when I mentioned I had looked on the internet and seen MB out of business and I have all my repiepts for all my payments with the balance owed and I WOULD fight this and mentioned the MN att. general then they said they would pull my file and research it and look at all the notes….so they pretty much tried to screw me and hadnt even looked into my file and were just trying to collect the original balance!! BIG HEADACHE!!!!! They are calling me back Monday with an amount they will take!
I can’t beleive this, this might be a blessing in disguise. They have been taking monies from me for many years, i’ve lost count, but will be getting all my bank records, ASAP, does anyone has the old number for MB, just wanted to call myself, I can also look in my huge bill box. Well! let’s keep posting..i made a deal with MB, maybe i could figth this.
I had an account with Mann Bracken for my FIA/Bank of America account.
Yesterday I received a letter from the Stillman Law Offices located in West Bloomfield MI, stating that the matter has been recalled from Mann Bracken from the creditor and not to send any future payments to Mann Bracken. Stillman states for me to call them to reset any such arrangement that I had with Mann Bracken. I called Credit Solutions (they are handling my case) and they are trying to reach a settlement with them on my behalf.
You have to contact your creditor. I had 2 bank of america accounts with MB and both accounts was settle and the payment was took from MB. However, they didn’t report to credit breua that my accounts was settle by the full balance. So I called the BofA and the account manager told me to fax everything including the settlement letters from MB to investigate. I’m still waiting the result. MB is the messed. Does anyone have the same problem or same situation here?
I had made payments through MB for a $3600 debt from 8 yrs ago. I now have no clue who to contact to find out where it’s been sent. No one has sent me any notice via mail re: the amount owed.
Any advice on how to find out where my debt is?
The statement at the top of this page is not entirely factual. Mann-Bracken buys debt from creditors and if you try to contact the bank or creditor you WILL be turned away because they no longer have any of your information! If you reside in the state of Georgia, the best option is to contact the Governor’s Office Of Consumer Affairs. The GOCA will help you get the problem resolved in the best way possible. Weather that be writing off the debt and contacting credit agencies or finding someone who has bought the debt from Mann-Bracken and set you up a payment plan with them. However it is my understanding that they are in a pending federal lawsuit and can’t, at this point, sell any debts to other agencies. Hope this helps!
Michael
What evidence do you have that Mann Bracken buys debt?
Yes, I agree with Michael, who said Mann Bracken buys debt from creditors. After Mann Bracken collected almost three times the amount that was owed to my creditor, I had the auto payment stopped and tried to get intouch with the creditor for an reimbursment. The creditor did not know me or what I was talking about. They said my debt was written off years ago. But I think the company sold my debt to Mann Bracken and he made a huge profit of me and I am sure a lot others.
Vickie, what evidence do you have that Mann Bracken bought your debt?
From what I understand, in some cases Mann Bracken bought the debt, but in others they are acting as a representative for your original creditor. Mann Bracken has gone into receivership rather than bankruptcy and therefore all of the accounts are “up in the air” so to speak. I was told that “you may be contacted regarding your account” by several different sources. Everyone be careful, however!! There are many stories of companies calling individuals and saying that they own your account when they really do not! In fact, I’ve even read stories where people were called and told “this is regarding your Discover card account through Mann Bracken” when the person never even had a Discover card in the first place. The predators are abound!
Make sure if you are contacted that they send full proof that a) the account in question IS yours and b) that there is full proof of all charges, etc. that reflect that it is yours that you owe.
In most cases, if your account payments through Mann Bracken was started several years ago, the original creditor will not have any record of your account. The best thing to do at this point, which I’ve found, is to put the payments that you would have sent to MB into a separate account and hold onto it for right now until the receivership situation or your account situation is resolved. Also, keep in mind the statue of limitations for your respected state.
Vader, how did you come to that understanding? I have never seen a case where Mann Bracken bought a debt, although I have defended consumers in several debt collection lawsuits brought by Mann Bracken.
I am not saying it is impossible, just that nobody has ever shown me any evidence that Mann Bracken actually purchases debt.
Sam, your only responses have been to say “what evidence do you have”… I’ve done a lot of research online over the past several years pertaining to the situation that I had with Mann Bracken. As they bought/merged with identities such as Wolpoff & Abramson, cases of debts that were bought are then considered to be that of Mann Bracken due to the merger. Also, there have been cases that I’ve found via said research whereas the original creditors have written off the debts from their books, meanwhile Mann Bracken had continued collection and such payments have since shown up as reported on the credit reports.
Can you please show us some evidence to contradict the fact that Mann Bracken purchases debt other than “nobody has shown me evidence”. Please prove that Mann Bracken is not an entity that purchased debt.
[Legal question removed. -Ed.]
I am asking for evidence because I know Mann Bracken does not buy debts. I have been involved with a number of lawsuits brought by Mann Bracken, and I have never seen anything to indicate that they buy debts. What I have seen is chains of assignment, bills of sale, and statements showing who does own the debts. It has never been Wolpoff or Mann Bracken.
I have, however, seen a lot of uninformed people posting rumors online. I have never seen any evidence supporting those rumors, only more rumors.
I deleted your legal question because posting personal legal questions to a public website is a bad idea. Contact a lawyer in your state.
I too was dealing with Mann Bracken over the last couple of years. I had developed a relationship with one of their attorneys who was actually pretty nice and did help me to make a payment arrangement that was comfortable for me. When I got laid off my job, much like many other people, I explained the situation and she altered the payment arrangement to lower my payments to a new level I could handle under the new circumstances. Every time we made a change I asked her to send me a ltter to that effect, which she did. I wasn’t able to make payment for February and March but did want to catch up in April and upon calling the number I had for the attorney who handled my accounts it says there are circuit difficulties.
Now Im not sure whether or not I should send a payment, sometimes I mailed them in their self addressed envelopes or I made it through their website which was free.
After reading your comments on here Im wondering if the right thing to do is just wait for a letter or a phone call telling me who the new collecton agency will be. One of the accounts I had with them is almost paid off and another one has a larger balance. What’s your advice?
Mann Bracken collected too much money. They took money from two different sources which created an overpayment. I have been trying to resolve and now no one answers the phone. Is there a way to get my overpayment returned?
I paid Mann Bracken in 2006 for a debt. In 2010 after getting a new job, in the background check it came up there was a judgment against me in civil court. I couldn’t believe it. I had paid this debt in 2006 and have all the documents and cleared bank information. When I tried to send a certified package to them it was returned to me 4/29/2010 saying it was “Not Deliverable”. I have lost a good paying job and been unable to secure loans because of something on my credit report that shouldn’t be there. I wish there was a class action suit somewhere I could join. They have destroyed people’s lives.
My husband has had a wage garnishment on him for debt collection for Capital One through Wolpoff & Abramson then thru Mann Bracken. His employer told him that MB had not cashed any checks since December or January. When my husband called the Clerk of the Court here, he was told that the judgement was being dismissed b/c MB was out of business. We are waiting for the Dismissal Ruling documentation. So 1) Does his employer have to stop payment on all the checks from my husband’s wages? 2) Does the employer reimburse my husband for all those payments? 3) If a debt cannot be collected on after three years of no activity, do we wait 3 years from the time of the last collected payment and then consider it no longer collectable? Thank you.
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