Houston, TX – Lone Star Legal Aid has been given a $5,000 Cy Pres award resulting from a federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) class action Karni Law Firm, P.C. brought against Cavalry Portfolio Services, LLC and its lawyers Rausch, Sturm, Israel, Enerson, & Hornik for misrepresentations made during the course of collecting judgment debt.
The original dunning letters sent to the class members sought to collect a debt allegedly owed to “Please refer to the original judgment of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.” For the members of the class, no judgment was taken. 134 Texas consumers did not receive a key disclosure required under the FDCPA, the name of the current (collecting) creditor, Cavalry Portfolio Services, LLC.
The settlement resulted in the Defendants paying each class member $100.00, as well as attorneys fees. When class action checks are not cashed by the class members, the money that is left over, the “cy pres” funds, are donated to a charitable cause. According to Karni Law Firm’s Dana Karni, “The Court agreed that Lone Star Legal Aid is a worthy recipient of the cy pres award for all of the work they do on behalf of low-income individuals.”
Lone Star Legal Aid is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit law firm focused on advocacy on behalf of low-income and underserved populations. Lone Star Legal Aid serves the millions of people at 125% of federal poverty guidelines that reside in 72 counties in the eastern and Gulf Coast regions of Texas, and 4 counties of southwest Arkansas. Lone Star Legal Aid focuses its resources on maintaining, enhancing, and protecting income and economic stability; preserving housing; improving outcomes for children; establishing and sustaining family safety and stability, health and wellbeing; and assisting populations with special vulnerabilities, like those who have disabilities, or who are elderly, homeless, or have limited English language skills. To learn more about Lone Star Legal Aid, and how to apply for legal services, visit our website at www.lonestarlegal.org.
Media contact: Clarissa Ayala, cayala@lonestarlegal.org.
