The harassing company pays our fees.
Lang, Richert & Patch or LRP is a full-service law firm based in Fresno, CA that specializes in litigating third-party debt. LRP has received complaints alleging violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), including attempting to collect debts not owed and threatening to take actions that cannot legally be taken. If you have been contacted by Lang, Richert & Patch, make sure you understand your rights before responding.
According to the Better Business Bureau (BBB), Lang, Richert & Patch was founded in 1963 and incorporated in 1979. The BBB established LRP’s profile page in 1997. LRP is listed as a corporation and a law firm. Buzzfile estimates LRP’s annual revenue at $7.2 millionand the size of its headquarters staff at 50 employees.
According to its website, Lang, Richert & Patch “has developed an outstanding reputation in the community for high quality, results-oriented legal services.” LRP “works to fulfill the full range of its clients’ needs – legal, financial, and personal.” LRP“attorneys keep clients fully informed of case progress with reports, copies of pertinent documents, and prompt responses to inquiries.”
Unlike many debt collection law firms, LRP does not specialize exclusively in third-party debt collection. LRP’s “clients include nationally recognized companies, including lenders, construction firms, and realty development companies. In the public sector, … clients include hospitals, universities, and schools.”
Lang, Richert & Patch has a long list of practice areas, including agricultural law; commercial and business litigation; commercial finance construction; corporate and business; educational law; employment and labor law; estate planning and probate; financial services litigation; general litigation; insolvency and bankruptcy; insurance law and litigation; personal injury, products liability, and wrongful death; real estate; tax law; and wage and hour law.
Their Financial Services Litigation page includes a link to their Creditor’s Rights page, where site visitors can find information about their debt collection practices. This page states that LRP “prides itself on its aggressive tactics, pressing forward when other collection agencies and law firms would still be making time-consuming phone calls and writing ineffective letters.” Despite the legal necessity of “adhering to the requirements of the FDCPA and California debt collection statutes,” LRP’s “strategy is to immediately pursue litigation to final judgment…by vigorously pursuing the right of creditors to make sure their collection clients receive the maximum recovery from individuals and businesses indebted to them.”
Lang, Richert & Patch offers a range of debt collection services. Pre-suit collection services include “analysis, demand letters, and aggressive and effective pre-suit collection efforts, … promissory notes, and stipulated judgments.” Collection litigation services include“lawsuit preparation and filing, pre-trial motions, pre-judgment discovery, summary judgment, default judgments, and trial.” Post-judgement collection remedies include“liens, writ executions, wage garnishments, bank levies, replevins, and repossessions.”
Who are we? We are Lemberg Law, a Consumer Law Firm
Lemberg Law is a consumer law firm helping victims of collection harassment and abuse. We are ranked A+ by the BBB. We’ve helped more than 15,000 consumers stop harassment and recover money from debt collectors. Harassed? Abused? Misled by a collector? Call our Helpline today! There is no charge unless we win.
Neither the BBB nor the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has closed any complaints against Lang, Richert & Patch. Justia lists more than 8 cases of civil litigation involving LRP, but most of them are in practice areas other than third-party debt collection. The Lender Complaints website lists 5 complaints against Lang, Richert & Patch, dating back to November 2013.
Absolutely. Here are some Sample Cases against Lang, Richert & Patch.
Complaint information aboutLang, Richert & Patch is difficult to locate; however, there are documented cases of consumers who have sought legal assistance after receiving collection notices from LRP. In 2015, a complainant had acquired $17,000 in credit card debt with Citibank, but when she lost her job, she was unable to continue making payments. After ignoring calls and letters from collection agencies, her account was assigned to Lang, Richert & Patch for collection. LRP sent her a legal notice that she had 30 days to respond either by making payment arrangements or by appearing in court. The complainant considered offering LRP $1,000 as a down payment, and then making payment arrangements to satisfy their demands, but Lender Complaints advised her that making arrangements to pay “150.00 a month after the initial down payment may not be enough to prevent them from filing a lawsuit in order to guarantee payments each month, or as a means to try to collect more than 150.00.” Instead, the complainant was advised to keep her money because LRP“will be more than happy to accept your $1,000 down payment, followed by either suing you anyway, or asking you to sign a consent to judgment in short order.”
In another case, a complainant in 2015 indicated that he had “just received an Earnings Withholding Order from the court garnishing about 25% of each paycheck starting with his next paycheck.”Lang, Richert & Patch order was for “an amount of around 15k, 40% to 50% more than what the complainant initially owed” on a credit card bill resulting from unemployment due to layoffs. According to the complainant, the garnishment order “was entered… after the 4 years statute of limitation in CA… and without prior notice…with all the notices and mails…sent to the complainant’s previous residence.”
In both cases, the complainants were advised to hire a consumer protection attorney.
Lang, Richert & Patch
Fig Garden Financial Center
5200 North Palm Avenue, Fourth Floor
Fresno, California 93704
Telephone: (559) 228-6700
Website: http://www.lrplaw.net/
Federal laws protect you. The Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (FDCPA) regulates the behavior of collection agencies by prohibiting actions such as the use of abusive or threatening language; harassment; or the use of false or misleading information to collect a debt. The FCRA regulates how collection agencies and creditors report delinquent debts to credit reporting agencies. Additional consumer protection laws include the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA).
But here’s the rub: If you want to enforce your rights, or recover money for violations — you need to sue. These laws provide individuals like you with a means to seek monetary damages in court. For example, the FDCPA allows consumers who have been violated to recover damages of up to $1,000, plus attorney fees and court costs.
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Sergei Lemberg is an attorney focusing on consumer law, class actions related to automotive issues, and personal injury litigation. With nearly two decades of experience, his areas of practice include Lemon Law (vehicle defects), Debt Collection Harassment, TCPA (illegal robocalls and texts), Fair Credit Reporting Act, Overtime claims, Personal Injury cases, and Class Actions. He has consistently been recognized as the nation's "most active consumer attorney." In 2020, Mr. Lemberg represented Noah Duguid before the United States Supreme Court in the landmark case Duguid v. Facebook. He is also the author of "Defanging Debt Collectors," a guide that empowers consumers to fight back against debt collectors and prevail, as well as "Lemon Law 101: The Laws That Lemon Dealers Don't Want You to Know."
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