CREDIT ONE BANK, LVNV FUNDING, AND the "SHERMAN FINANCIAL GROUP"

[Guest notsherman]

Both Credit One Bank and LVNV Funding are situated in Las Vegas, Nevada.  Credit One Bank has an address of 585 Pilot Rd, Las Vegas, NV 89119.  Meanwhile, LVNV Funding is situated at 625 Pilot Road, Suite 3, Las Vegas, NV 89119.  Both companies are wholly owned subsidiaries of the "Sherman Financial Group."

 

Credit One Bank sells its defaulted accounts to LVNV, which is right next door.  Does that smack of antitrust violations?  Is it a violation of the Sherman Act? (Which deters monopolies and antitrust issues), and is controlled by the FTC and the Department of Justice (in Criminal Matters).

 

The "Sherman Group" holds all of the companies, including the Bank of Marin, AKA, Credit One Bank, the subprime credit card issuer.

 

If you are caught up in this scheme, you can report it to the Fair Trade Commission at:

 

Office of Policy and Coordination
Room 7117
Bureau of Competition
Federal Trade Commission
601 New Jersey Ave, NW
Washington, D.C. 20580

[email protected]

 

[elite1331]

How does it smack of an antitrust violation? Outline your thoughts as the above is vague.

[Clydesmom]

How does it smack of an antitrust violation? Outline your thoughts as the above is vague.

 

It isn't.  They posted this on the other board as well.  I will copy and paste my reply here:

 

It isn't a monopoly.  A monopoly is when one business controls 100% of the market.  An example of a monopoly is the city providing your water service.  You have only one option to get it and that is it.

The credit industry is an example of an oligolopoly.  There are a small number of creditors controlling a majority share of the market.  It is similar to a monopoly but does not violate anti-trust laws.  The Sherman Group selling debts to agencies they own does not violate anti-trust laws because there are THOUSANDS of JDBs in this country.  Is there an oligolopoly in the JDB industry?  Sure.  A small number of the total businesses control the majority of the market but because the Sherman Group is not controlling 100% of the market it is not a monopoly. 

 

It is a waste of time trying to pursue anti-trust litigation or claims against the Sherman Group.  While they are large and do have a big percentage of the credit and collections industry they are not the only player and it isn't a monopoly in violation of anti-trust laws.

[ArtVandelay]

LVNV is actually based in Greenville, SC. They also have a few other of their PO Boxes(I mean companies) based in SC. The do this because SC is a very "collector" friendly state. They have Credit One in NV to take advantage of favorable banking laws. 

 

They are known for going after consumers with more than one of their "companies" for the same debt. They pass "accounts" from company to company while adding interest and/or fees in order to intimidate and confuse consumers. Why worry about the FTC when you have the FDCPA? 

[BV80]

@ArtVandelay

 

SC is creditor friendly as far as a lack of collection case law.  However, we have a 3-year SOL, no wage garnishment, pretty generous bk exemptions that apply to judgments, and judgments last 10 years, but can not be renewed.  If you don't have property on which a judgment can be enforced, a judgment creditor is pretty much up a creek.

[ArtVandelay]

@ArtVandelay

 

SC is creditor friendly as far as a lack of collection case law.  However, we have a 3-year SOL, no wage garnishment, pretty generous bk exemptions that apply to judgments, and judgments last 10 years, but can not be renewed.  If you don't have property on which a judgment can be enforced, a judgment creditor is pretty much up a creek.

 

Sorry about the way I worded that. I was not referring to the consumer/debtor laws of S.C.,which are not bad, but meaning it was a "friendly" state to operate from. Kind of like why so many of the credit card companies are incorporated in DE. For some reason LVNV has found S.C. as a great place to hide and I do mean hide. (personal experience )

 

S.C. also has long been a one of the best states for personal loan type businesses, which is why so many of the large ones are based there. After a quick Google search it looks like some of the laws controlling these businesses have been tightened up recently. I know not too long ago they were getting a couple hundred percent on personal loans by working in fees and renewals. Unfortunately my state is not far behind.

[Credithis]

LVNV Corp HQ is in Charleston, SC. They were never designed to get DV letters, that is why it is so Nice to send them there!!! It actually caused a major problem for them. This is why I recommend users send their DV cmrr to Charleston vs. Greenville. They cannot refuse them as LVNV has insisted in the past they need to be 'served' there if you sue them.

 

I Like pissing them off!!!

[BV80]

@ArtVandelay

 

No need to apologize.  I assumed you were referring to SC's lack of collection case law. 

[tantan1968]

My partner had a Credit One credit card several years ago. Thanks to being demoted from full time to part time status at his job back in 2011 he could no longer pay on the card. Now he is getting calls from MIDLAND about his old Credit One card. Now if Credit One is associated with LVNV why is Midland involved ??  For the record his balance as of today is just over $500.

[elite1331]

They are associated in that they are owned by the same parent company. LVNV and Credit One may both be subsidiaries, but that doesn't mean they necessarily must have an exclusive relationship.

[ArtVandelay]

My partner had a Credit One credit card several years ago. Thanks to being demoted from full time to part time status at his job back in 2011 he could no longer pay on the card. Now he is getting calls from MIDLAND about his old Credit One card. Now if Credit One is associated with LVNV why is Midland involved ??  For the record his balance as of today is just over $500.

 

More than likely Midland has it because The Sherman Companies (LVNV) have given up on it. They usually pass the Credit One accounts around internally before they sell them to an outsider. Its always possible LVNV needed to raise some quick cash and dumped a load of their less desirable accounts on the open market. 

In my opinion he is probably lucky if he needs to fight this one. Its extremely doubtful Midland will have any documents on this account. I could be wrong, but an account valued at $10.00 - $15.00 is not going to have much of a warranty!