THE BRACHFELD & ASSOCIATES SCAM CONTINUES…

March 2009 – Bud Hibbs © Consumer Justice –Voice of the American Consumer

California debt collection attorney Erica Lynn Brachfeld-Shubin continues to represent to consumers that she is a Texas attorney, when she is not. Erica is still sending out letters asking for money under the name of:

Law Offices of Brachfeld & Associates

800 West Sam Houston Parkway South

Suite #200

Houston, TX, 77042

The State Bar of Texas has no listing for an attorney named Erica Brachfeld:

Or the business name they use

Erica Lynn Brachfeld-Shubin has been lying to and misrepresenting debts to consumers for what appears to be several years. A closer look into her background may reveal where she learned how to lie, mislead and apparently, taking is money that she is not entitled.

               It seems that Erica’s father was an attorney until he got caught stealing money from a client. and was ordered by the Bar to take the professional responsibility exam -- and he took it, but he COULD NOT PASS, so they stripped him of his license until he passes.  I am not making this up; he could not pass the professional responsibility exam.  Now he runs his daughter's debt collection firm. Who better to teach collectors how to steal than a former thief.

California Bar Journal Discipline Summaries

Summaries from the California Bar Journal are based on discipline orders but are not the official records. Not all discipline actions have associated CBJ summaries. Copies of official attorney discipline records are available upon request.

September 15, 2002

MARTIN STEVEN BRACHFELD, 64,  #8154, of Westlake Village was suspended for three months, stayed, placed on one year of probation and was ordered to take the MPRE within one year. The order took effect Sept. 19, 2002.

Brachfeld's law firm obtained a judgment of $300,000 against a mortgage account holder on behalf of a bank. The bank agreed that if the account holder paid $1,000 a month, or if he paid $150,000, the bank would file a satisfaction of judgment.

Brachfeld collected the payments and gave the bank nearly $19,000 over a two-year period. However, without the bank's approval, he then agreed to settle the account for $32,000. Without informing the bank, he filed papers with the court to satisfy the judgment.

He stipulated that he did not keep his client informed of significant developments in its case.

In mitigation, Brachfeld has no prior record of discipline and he cooperated with the bar's investigation. Three months prior to the misconduct, he completed a year and a half of rehabilitation from a near fatal automobile accident, which left him in a coma for two weeks. He fractured his skull and broke his spine, pelvis and both legs. Brachfeld lived in a rehabilitation facility during his recovery.

A recent visitor to their office stated: “There is a large room crammed with cubicles -- about twenty all total.  At the end of the room is a white board on which a supervisor post the names and numbers (dollar totals) of the collectors who are performing best that day.  Therefore, the collectors are under pressure from each other -- and Erica and her Dad -- to really hammer the people they call.  It's utterly barbaric.”

Still with Collect America

               It appears that Erica and Marty Brachfeld still hold a Collect America franchise (Aka/CACH/CACV) but will file lawsuits for almost anyone willing to write them a check, such as Arrow Financial. They face many lawsuits for allowing their employees to pose as attorneys, District Attorney’s, Attorney’s General and other law enforcement. In viewing all the garbage that comes out of this debt collection dumpster it appears to be just a matter of time until both Erica and her father start dealing with criminal charges, rather than civil one’s. They appear to be a crime wave that will surely end in possible jail times for their blatant disregard of the law and consumer rights.

               Erica and her spouse live in Malibu where he is an architect. Having viewed his website I wondered if he was aware of the depth of illegal activities perpetrated by his wife and father-in-law. There is the potential that she too could lose her law license as well as face financial ruin from the mounting lawsuits filed against her organization. It is important that consumers report their illegal activities to the CA & TX State Bars as well as the Federal Trade Commission for possible actions. It is always in your best interest to tape Brachfeld collector calls (where legal) to aide in bring charges or lawsuits against those employees who break the law.

               Erica & Marty Brachfeld has little or no idea of the events and circumstances contained in the lawsuits that they file. They are a paper mill that produces bogus documents as fast as can be printed. It is a known fact that hiring an attorney and fighting them will cost a fraction of what they will get in a lawsuit. Do NOT allow them to obtain a default judgment, respond to their suits, challenge every single claim they make. Record their collector’s calls, especially those posing as lawyers. Texas residents should file ethics complaints with the State Bar of Texas. It appears they are practicing law here without a license.

http://www.texasbar.com/Template.cfm?Section=Filing_a_Grievance&Template=/TaggedPage/TaggedPageDisplay.cfm&TPLID=36&ContentID=3837

Scamming the American Consumer

               There is no other way to describe Erica Lynn Brachfeld-Shubin and Martin S. Brachfeld (former disbarred and disgraced attorney) along with their bottom feeder, junk debt collection agencies; Brachfeld & Associates, Meridian Management and Minority Legal Management than a massive scam of the American Consumer. It is my opinion, based on the hundreds of emails I have received, court cases filed and negative information about these organizations that no one should be paying them anything. It may be in consumers’s best interest to make them prove every claim they make in court filings including the bogus affidavits filed with purchased debt claims. The lawyers they use usually have little or no knowledge of what they are actually filing and most may not want to get involved in protracted litigation. Everyone should be aware that Brachfeld is a junk debt collector/buyer with no knowledge of your accounts except what she reads off a computer screen after purchasing charged off debts. Desperate collectors base her entire operations on bogus filing, lies, and perjured documents and threats. No one should be paying on this fraud. Let us bring Erica and Marty Brachfeld to justice, hold them accountable for their actions. America is tired of being ripped-off by these con artists; Marty is proof that once a thief, always a thief. Erica is NOT a lawyer in Texas. C’mon America, stop paying, start suing and filing complaints with the state bars, the attorney general and FTC. Let’s get rid of this trash and put them in a cell where they belong.

If you need a referral to a consumer attorney, contact us: cap@budhibbs.com