Memphis Area Legal Services, Inc.

MALS may be able to help if:

You have a problem with a consumer contract (such as a car purchase or car repair, home repair or remodeling, warranty or extended service contract or other major item or service) with damage to you of more than $1,000, involving any of the following:

• the dealer falsified information on your credit application
• you were asked to complete multiple credit applications
• there were changes in the terms of your purchase after delivery of the product or service (ex. you were later told your credit was refused and you need to return the product  or sign a different agreement)
• there was a violation of an oral or written warranty
• there was misrepresentation about the condition of the product or the quality of the service (ex. you were falsely told the engine in a car was just replaced or the transmission fully checked out, etc.)
• you are being sued for a deficiency but did not get notice of disposition or did not get explanation of deficiency
• the Retail Installment Sales Contract numbers are not calculated correctly or include items you did not agree to purchase
• there were misrepresentations to get you to cosign for the purchase
• an As-Is product you purchased failed within 48 hours of the sale AND needed major repairs
• you received false claims that you had won a prize
• you have given money to a business in exchange for a service that you did not receive at all
• a business has violated a written agreement to provide goods or services to you

You have a credit or collections issue involving any of the following:

• a title loan, payday loan, or tax refund anticipation loan
• a creditor has been contacting you and has done any of the following:  a) threatened arrest; b) misrepresented the legal process for collection (ex. you were told they could go to court and get an automatic garnishment); c) contacted you after you told them to stop, especially if you told them, in writing, to stop; d) caused you to lose your job; e) agreed to settle the debt but keeps bothering you even though you paid the settlement amount; f) took a post-dated check and failed to notify you before cashing it; or g) made some other actual misrepresentation about the debt
• you are a victim of unlawful discrimination in a credit transaction
• you are a victim of identity theft
• your home was foreclosed and you have a mortgage deficiency in an amount greater than 20% of the amount  owed on the mortgage at the time of foreclosure
• you are being sued for a debt that you do not owe
• there is a lapse of 6 years or more between the last payment and the filing of a suit against you (or it has been more than 6 years since the last payment and no suit has been filed).
• the cost of the item purchased was more than $500 and there is a lapse of 4 years or more between the last payment and the filing of a suit against you (or it has been more than 4 years since the last payment and no suit has been filed).
• you can document payments that were made but not credited to the account
• your wages were garnished without a judgment against you
• you have a judgment against you and you need advice on filing exemptions and slow pay motions
• a creditor has taken adverse action against you based on an inaccurate credit report

You have a utilities problem involving any of the following:

• you are being charged for services incurred in someone else’s name
• you need services due to poor health
• you have requested a hearing with MLGW and have been refused
• MLGW is charging you for services for the wrong address

You have a problem with a student loan involving any of the following:

• the loan shows your correct social security number but not your correct name, and you did not sign for it
• the loan shows your correct name but not your correct social security number, and you did not sign for it
• the loan shows your correct name and correct social security number but you did not sign for it
• you are permanently and totally disabled
• you did not complete the school and either:  a) the school closed while you were attending; or b) the school closed within 90 days after you withdrew from the school
• you received a loan for a period of enrollment at a school that you did not attend or withdrew during the period covered by the loan
• the school was required to make a refund but failed to do so
• either you did not have a high school diploma or GED at the time you borrowed the money; OR the school did not determine your ability to benefit in accordance with federal regulations in effect at the time you were enrolled; OR you did not complete a remedial education course or obtain a GED
• You, at the time you enrolled at the school and borrowed, had a physical or mental condition, a criminal record, or other status, because of which State law would prohibit you from being employed in the field for which the training was designed to prepare you
• you were under the legal age when you borrowed
• you included the loan in a bankruptcy and successfully completed the bankruptcy
• you can document that you made payments toward the loan and they were not credited
• Money was withheld from your social security benefits, other federal benefits, or tax refund to pay toward the loan AND it is causing financial hardship
• your tax refund was taken to pay toward your spouse’s loan
• the person for which the loan was made is now deceased