Standing up to injustice

These days it seems there's a scam around every corner.

Largely unregulated, consumer credit companies offer tempting ways to lower your payments and help you get out of debt. Sebring attorney Andres Oliveros knows their game well. He sees a couple of new clients a week complaining of being had.

In fact, Oliveros, 33, is currently working with Florida Rural Legal Services in Highlands County. On a pro bono basis, Oliveros gives free seminars on topics such as bankruptcy and consumer credit problems like the one mentioned above.

The first seminar was held on Nov. 2 and focused on bankruptcy. Oliveros explained the difference between Chapter 7 and Chapter 11 bankruptcy and helped consumers decide which type better met their needs.

"The major difference is that under Chapter 7 you get a full liquidation of all of your debts, usually without any further obligation to your creditors. It is a fresh start," he explained. "With a Chapter 13 you enter into an extended payment program and you have to pay back at least some of the amounts that you owe to most of your creditors." Oliveros said Chapter 13 might be a better choice for people who have more to lose or who need to be able to stay in their homes and are having problems making their mortgage payments.

Because the seminar was held on Election Day, Oliveros said that turnout was affected, but he hopes that some of the upcoming seminars, held at the Bert J. Harris Jr. Agricultural Center in Sebring, will be better attended. Upcoming topics will include consumer credit problems, family law, and some immigration issues, according to Oliveros.

A schedule can be found at www.frls.org and will also be advertised in the newspaper.

Consumer credit scams a worsening problem

Probably the worst consumer problem Oliveros sees is the plethora of scams around consumer credit consolidation. While companies abound that promise to consolidate and eliminate credit card and other debt, Oliveros has yet to find one that is legitimate.

"The public needs to be aware of the scams that are out there with these companies that claim to be able to wipe away your credit card debt for a small monthly payment, and how that can very quickly go awry," warned Oliveros. "That's something that I feel very passionate about because they are preying on people when they are at their weakest."

Oliveros explained that these companies usually ask clients to start making the minimum monthly payments to them that they would normally make directly to their creditors. "They have you sign a contract that's 10 pages long, all of it fine print, where essentially they are agreeing to just use their best efforts and not guaranteeing anything because they can't guarantee anything," he said.

What happens is, after several months of paying, the clients start to inquire about the progress. Oliveros said they typically get the runaround, with the company claiming to still be talking, to still be negotiating, and the clients are warned not to stop paying or the negotiations with their creditors will cease.

"Their marketing and publicity is something to be envied in terms of how slick it is and how broad it is put out over the media. There are many radio ads, many TV ads, and their websites are very, very polished and lead you to believe that it something that you can place your trust in," Oliveros said.

In the end, he said, the debtors end up having to go into bankruptcy anyway and the company has made plenty of money off of them.

Another huge problem he sees is the harassment some people are receiving from creditors, typically by phone, who use completely illegal tactics to try to get their debts paid. Oliveros said there are federal laws dictating when they can make phone calls, how often they can make calls, what they can say and who they can speak to.

Serving the Spanish-speaking community

As a Spanish-speaking attorney, Oliveros spends a lot of his private practice assisting the growing Hispanic population in Sebring. While he had an office in Tampa, Oliveros kept receiving referrals from his hometown of Sebring from Spanish-speaking clients who preferred to speak to an attorney in their own language, so he opened up his Sebring location a little over a year ago.

Besides bankruptcies and consumer credit litigation, Oliveros also does a lot of personal injury law and Social Security disability litigation. "I spend most of my time helping injured people," he said.

A native Spanish-speaker, Oliveros was raised in Sebring, but his parents are from Colombia. His father, a medical doctor, moved the family to Sebring in 1983 to fill a position as a nephrologist, and is still practicing medicine here.

From prosecution to personal injury

Before opening his private practice, however, Oliveros served as a prosecutor in the United States Marine Corps for four years. He served in Iraq in 2004 and prosecuted service members for violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, such as rape, drug abuse, larceny and assault.

While he enjoyed working within the Corps, Oliveros always knew that he wanted to start his own business. Three years ago he opened up his private practice in Tampa as a criminal defense attorney, but found it a tough business.

"With the economy, most folks were actually going with the public defender," Oliveros explained. "I began to get other opportunities to do personal injury through my relationships with other lawyers in Sebring and Tampa and medical offices whose patients needed good legal representation."

The accident cases dovetailed nicely with Social Security disability cases, since an accident case with a long-term injury often meant a need for social security benefits.

"We have had several Social Security cases where our clients have been waiting for benefits for months and usually for years and with worsening medical conditions, sometimes even with cancer, where they've been denied benefits not once but twice," said Oliveros wryly.

He went on, "In some of those cases we've had great success in getting people their benefits after a long, hard road. It's been in those cases where I've gotten the most personal satisfaction. People at their wits' end, usually losing their house, having to move in with a family member, just in worst possible condition you can imagine, and to be able to fight for them, go to a hearing and get the best outcome, to get their monthly as well as back pay for the whole time their application was pending is extremely, extremely rewarding. There's just not enough of those good news stories, unfortunately, these days."

But he'll take those good stories when he can get them because Oliveros recognizes his ties to his community and feels the need to give back.

"The time that I spent growing up here really has shaped my values more than I ever realized. I'm hoping specifically with Florida Rural Legal Services that I am able to provide knowledge and information to people who otherwise wouldn't have it."

Oliveros splits his time between his Tampa and Sebring offices and offers free 30-minute legal consultations. He can be reached at 314-8911.