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California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris on Thursday filed an enforcement action against JPMorgan Chase & Co. alleging that the bank engaged in fraudulent and unlawful debt-collection practices against tens of thousands of Californians.
The suit alleges that Chase engaged in widespread, illegal robo-signing, among other unlawful practices, to commit debt-collection abuses against approximately 100,000 California credit card borrowers over at least a three-year period.
“Chase abused the judicial process and engaged in serious misconduct against California credit card borrowers,” Attorney General Harris said. “This enforcement action seeks to hold Chase accountable for systematically using illegal tactics to flood California’s courts with specious lawsuits against consumers. My office will demand a permanent halt to these practices and redress for borrowers who have been harmed.”
From January 2008 through April 2011, Chase filed thousands of debt collection lawsuits every month in the State of California. On one day alone, Chase filed 469 such lawsuits in California.
The attorney general’s complaint against Chase alleges that, to maintain this pace, Chase employed unlawful practices as shortcuts to obtain judgments against California consumers with speed and ease that could not have been possible if Chase had adhered to the minimum substantive and procedural protections required by law.
“At nearly every stage of the collection process, Defendants cut corners in the name of speed, cost savings, and their own convenience, providing only the thinnest veneer of legitimacy to their lawsuits,” the complaint states.
Chase used California’s judicial system as a mill to obtain default judgments, the suit alleges, using illegal tactics to flood the state’s court system in order to secure default judgments and garnish wages from Californians.
The alleged misconduct includes:
- Robo-signing: Chase illegally robo-signed various litigation filings, including sworn documents, declarations, and verified complaints, without reviewing the relevant files or bank records or even reading the documents before signing.
- “Sewer Service”: Chase failed to properly serve notice of debt collection lawsuits against consumers while claiming they had been served as required by law. This practice, known as “sewer service,” deprives the consumer of any notice of the lawsuit.
- Filing irregularities: Chase haphazardly assembled its official legal filings. For example, Chase failed to redact consumers’ personal information in attachments to filings, potentially exposing them to identity theft and in violation of California law. In addition, when asking courts to enter default judgments against consumers, Chase consistently swore under penalty of perjury that the consumers were not on active military duty. In fact, Chase never checked. This deprived servicemembers of important legal protections to which they are entitled while on active duty.
The suit was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court. A copy of the complaint can be seen below.
Consumers who believe they have been victims of this misconduct may submit a complaint online at http://oag.ca.gov/consumers .
050913 California Attorney General Suit Against JPMorgan Chase
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The recent cloudy weather has brought little to no much-needed rain over the past several days – less than one-tenth of an inch was recorded where rain did fall – with blue skies and warmer weather returning by the weekend.
Forecasters with Western Weather Group Lake County predict that the last remnants of the low-pressure system that moved into Lake County last Saturday will finish moving through today, as skies begin to clear and temperatures trend back upward.
However, the weather today will remain unstable, with a slight chance of thunderstorms bringing trace amounts of rain to isolated areas, mainly in the afternoon and over higher elevations.
Daytime highs will be warmer than earlier in the week, ranging between the mid-70s to low-80s Thursday and will continue to warm throughout the weekend.
Sunny weather will return Friday through Sunday as high clouds move back as we head into Monday.
The forecast for Mother's Day – Sunday, May 12 – is expected to be pleasant and in the upper-80s to low-90s, with partly cloudy skies.
As next week begins, some clouds and cooler temperatures will remain on Monday as the next warming trend beginning on Tuesday.
Unseasonably warm weather returns to Lake County according to Western Weather Group by the middle of next week with gusty winds, with dry and very warm weather throughout the remainder of the week.
Email Terre Logsdon at
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – While encouraging wildfire preparedness this week, Cal Fire is also reminding residents of the dangers posed by arson.
Cal Fire has joined the United States Fire Administration in announcing the theme for the 2013 Arson Awareness Week: Reducing Residential Arson.
The goal for this year’s Arson Awareness Week, which takes place May 5-11, is to provide all residents with strategies to combat arson in their neighborhoods.
According to the USFA’s National Fire Incident Reporting System, during 2008-10, an estimated 16,800 intentionally set fires in residential buildings occur annually in the United States.
These fires result in an estimated 280 deaths, 775 injuries, and $593 million in property loss each year. The average dollar loss for an intentionally set fire in a residential building is $21,320.
The fatality rate for intentionally set residential fires was more than twice that of other residential building fires.
“Arson fires rob neighborhoods and communities of valuable assets such as lives, property and natural resources,” said Cal Fire Assistant Deputy Director Clare Frank. “Residents can do a lot to prevent arson by safeguarding their homes and keeping a watchful eye on their neighborhood.”
What can you do to prevent my home against arson?
- Illuminate exterior and entrances to your home. Install motion-activated lights on all sides of the house. These are relatively inexpensive.
- Clear all obstructions. Trim or remove brush that blocks the view of a home from the street.
- Install smoke alarms and fire sprinkler systems. The combination of smoke alarms and home fire sprinklers reduces the likelihood of death from a fire. This is the most effective fire loss prevention and reduction measurement.
- Keep doors and windows locked. A simple locked door could be the deterrent that saves a home from arson.
- Clean your yard. Remove excess of piles of leaves or vegetation and clean around your house and garage to remove unused paper, trash, cans of paint or other materials.
- Clean up vacant homes. Make sure to secure abandoned and vacant homes. Keep doors and windows locked or boarded up with plywood. Remove any abandoned vehicles. Make sure all utilities are disconnected.
Whether it is a wildland fire or a house fire, investigators need your help.
The public is encouraged to call the Cal Fire Arson Hotline, 1-800-468-4408, if suspicious activity is observed. Details, such as a description of suspicious people and vehicles are very helpful to investigators.
Rewards of up to $10,000 are available for information leading to an arrest and conviction of persons responsible for committing the crime of arson within state jurisdiction.
For more information and resources for the 2013 Arson Awareness Week campaign, visit www.usfa.fema.gov/aaw or visit Cal Fire’s Web site at www.fire.ca.gov .
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – Federal, state and local authorities are searching the North State for a Shingletown man alleged to have shot to death his wife and two children.
The Shasta County Sheriff's Office said the search is on for 45-year-old Shane Franklin Miller, who is on the run after his family was found murdered in their Alpine Way home in Shingletown on Tuesday night.
Officials said a nationwide manhunt bulletin has been issued for Miller, whose wife, 34-year-old Sandy Miller, and the couple's two daughters, 8-year-old Shelby and 4-year-old Shasta, suffered multiple gunshot wounds. The weapon so far has not been identified or located.
Humboldt County officials reported that Miller's gold 2010 Dodge pickup was found abandoned near Petrolia on Wednesday.
Miller is described as a white male with red hair and blue eyes. He is 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighs 200 pounds.
He is considered armed and dangerous, possibly having access to a cache of weapons. The public should not approach Miller; if he's seen, call 911.
SACRAMENTO – The state of California and the Obama administration agreed on Wednesday to a formal deadline of Oct. 1 for the release of the draft Bay Delta Conservation Plan and accompanying environmental documents for public review and comment.
The plan is meant to enable the state to make significant progress toward achieving the co-equal goals of securing California’s water supply and restoring the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta ecosystem.
“One calamitous storm or natural disaster – driven by climate change – could jeopardize the entire Delta, destroy its ecosystem and cut off water to 25 million Californians,” said Gov. Jerry Brown. “This agreement with our federal partners moves us another step closer to being more prepared for an uncertain future in California.”
Completion of the proposed plan and accompanying environmental impact report/environmental impact statement (EIR/EIS) is the culmination of more than six years of user-funded water planning and study.
After considering public comment, the state and federal agencies will complete the review process and determine the most appropriate ecosystem conservation and water conveyance plan for adoption and permitting.
“It’s important that we continue to take an open and transparent approach as we evaluate this proposal to strengthen California’s water security and restore the health of the Delta,” said U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell. “This is an aggressive deadline to issue the environmental analyses for public review and comment that will require a great deal of important work from both our state partners and the Administration. But with California’s water system at constant risk of failure, and the continuing impacts to imperiled fish, we can’t afford the dangers or costs of inaction.”
The Bay Delta Conservation Plan establishes a Habitat Conservation Plan and a Natural Community Conservation Plan to restore and manage the fragile Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta ecosystem, which is the main water supply conduit for 25 million people from Alameda County to San Diego County and large parts of California’s agricultural economy.
The Bay Delta Conservation Plan is part of larger state and federal efforts to bolster water conservation, storage and water sources to help meet the water needs of California.
In July of 2012, Gov. Brown and former Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced major refinements to the Bay Delta Conservation Plan and a renewed commitment to completing the project’s analysis and planning.
Since the beginning of the Brown administration, more than 300 Bay Delta Conservation Plan-related documents – draft plan elements, supporting analysis and stakeholder comments – have been made available to the public. In the past two months, several revised and updated chapters of the plan have been made public.
This week, state and federal agencies will provide a preliminary, consultant draft of the EIR/EIS in an unprecedented commitment to transparency.
For more information, visit www.BayDeltaConservationPlan.com .
LAKEPORT, Calif. – Supporters of the annual Relay for Life fundraiser are known to be pretty creative, and persistent, when it comes to raising funds for the effort to fight cancer.
Plastic flamingos and purple saddles have been known to show up in local yards, requiring a donation to the relay in order to send them on to their next stop.
Car washes, breakfasts, raffles and bake sales, and donations from local businesses, organization and individuals have helped raise funds for the event, which has continued to grow in size as it heads into its 12th year.
This year’s relay will take place beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 18, and continuing until the following day at the Don Owens Field at Clear Lake High School, 350 Lange St. in Lakeport.
Teams will walk the track for 24 hours, and cancer survivors will be honored, with a luminaria ceremony to honor those whose battles have ended.
In the final weeks before the relay, there have been a number of final fundraising events, including rummage sales, but a Clear Lake High School teacher is joining some students for a different approach.
John Moorhead, who teaches wood shop at the school, agreed to shave his head, beard and even his eyebrows if students raised $300.
At the start of the week, they were at the $200 mark, he said.
“A lot of kids at school are really getting behind it,” said Moorhead.
“Most of the students are very much in favor of me shaving my head, my beard and whatever else I want to throw in, just for the sheer joy of public humiliation,” he added.
Students Tyler Martin and Nate Powers also have agreed to shave their heads if they each raise $100, Moorhead said.
However, not everyone is behind Moorhead’s willingness to shave himself down to the point where, in his own estimation, he may look like a giant thumb.
In particular, his wife, Rose Davidson, has some reservations.
“She doesn’t want me to shave my beard off,” which Moorhead said he has had since 1988.
So in the Relay for Life spirit, Davidson is raising money to save the beard, said Moorhead, who conceded that since he hasn’t seen what’s under the beard in 25 years, it may be best to leave it.
While the beard may be spared, Moorhead, Martin and Powers are on track to shave their heads in the school’s quad on Wednesday.
Moorhead said he’s happy to do what he can to support Relay for Life.
“Everybody knows someone who has been affected by cancer,” he said.
Email Elizabeth Larson at