One to Keep an Eye On up in Michigan

The Katz & Katz "law firm" scam in Michigan has caught the eye of at least one other judge who apparently doesn’t like the status quo.

Turns out Katz and Katz got caught pulling one of the typical bogus-notification schemes against alleged debtors, then walking away with uncontested judgments when the defendant didn’t show up to a hearing they didn’t even know was taking place. Howard Katz is facing 300+ criminal contempt charges for getting caught filing bogus documents in the 25th District court (in nearby Lincoln Park).

To his credit, Judge Stephen Cooper (46th District over in Southfield) has now turned to the Michigan District Judges Association and pointed out that things weren’t fair for average people. (DUH!) Like anyone who's observed these schemes in action, he’s seen things like multiple suits against the same party for the same alleged debt or the typical trick of going after people who have no connection to the debt. And he apparently has “serious concerns…about the validity” of some of the filings the scammers try to pass through the system - and there are about 500 per month in Southfield alone. Cooper's clerk refused to accept 75 cases and tossed them back into Katz's lap when the scammer said he wouldn't try to justify the inexplicable fees and charges he had piled on, so there's going to be more court action on that front.

The good news is Cooper's apparently not the only one who thinks the stench is getting too strong. If he gets enough support from his fellow jurists and can get the State Supreme Court to make some changes, some of the more blatant collection scams might be harder to pull off - at least in Michigan.

The bad news is the Echeneidae Collectoris will eventually try to find other ways around any new rules that are implemented unless the fines and penalties actually put a few of them out of business and some law licenses get pulled.

The Honorable Judge Roy Bean