(Courtesy of Stein & Stein) Stein & Stein LLP is a premier boutique New York and New Jersey collection law firm focusing on numerous aspects of creditors’ rights. Teaneck resident Ari Stein is the managing partner of the firm that was established by his parents over 40 years ago. The firm focuses exclusively on debt collection litigation and judgment enforcement for unsecured creditors of commercial and retail/consumer debt.
The firm provides service covering the entire States of New York and New Jersey. Its clients include many nationwide collection agencies, banks, credit unions, insurance carriers, state universities and colleges, utility companies, professional firms including medical providers, law, accounting and consulting firms, and all other types of sellers of goods and suppliers of services, including IT providers, landlords, freight shipping services and merchant cash advance companies, just to name a few.
In the collection industry fees are typically contingent upon collection, set at a fixed percentage rate upon monies collected. While most of Stein & Stein’s clients are large nationwide commercial and retail collection agencies, the firm also accepts claims directly placed by creditors, thus allowing creditors to skip the middlemen (collection agencies), thereby receiving more direct communication and better contingency rates than going through a collection agency.
Many creditors are unaware of the many federal, state and local laws governing the collection process and that’s why collection law has become so specialized in today’s world. This holds especially true with any type of consumer debt, as attorneys must be thoroughly well-versed in federal regulations strictly governing the collection of consumer debt including the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (FDCPA) and Consumer Protection Financial Bureau (CFPB).
Judgment creditors are also often unaware of how to enforce their judgment rights and that the primary means of judgment enforcement are typically income garnishments, business executions (sheriff’s sale of assets) and bank executions. Locating the judgment debtors’ assets and place of business or employment is often the most difficult task that requires professional resources and experience that only specialized collection law firms may provide. Besides the more obvious sources of information to collect judgments, collection professionals are often able to obtain credit information through bank subpoenas, information subpoenas, deposition of judgment debtors, and private asset tracing firms.
Stein & Stein recommends attempting enforcement of unsatisfied judgments every couple of years to determine if judgment debtors may have gained employment or received income or assets since the previous attempts at enforcement. As judgments remain in effect for 20 years in the States of New York and New Jersey, Stein & Stein also provides assistance to judgment creditors with enforcement of older unpaid judgments using its arsenal of collection resources.
To contact Ari Stein, email him at [email protected]. To learn more about the firm visit www.nycollectionlaw.com