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March 19th, 2024
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USA State Attorney General Offices

The state attorney general can advice you how to proceed in all matters of law, tell you what paperwork you need, help you find affordable representation, give you statutes, cite legal precedences pertinent to your state, get you in touch with the consumer protection agency.

It is wise for people to give their attorney general's office a call whenever they don't know the answer to a legal question, especially about state banking laws, divorce, bankruptcy and what action to take if a creditor does not treat you fairly. These offices exists to advise the public.

State Attorney General Phone

Alabama: Bill Pryor (R) (334) 242-7300
State House, 11 S. Union St. Montgomery, AL 36130
http://www.ago.state.al.us

Alaska: Gregg Renkes (907) 465-3500
P.O.Box 110300, Diamond Courthouse, Juneau, AK 99811-0300
http://www.law.state.ak.us

American Samoa: Fiti Sunia (684) 633-4163
P.O.Box 7, Pago Pago, AS 96799
http://www.samoanet.com/asg/asgdla97.html

Arizona: Janet Napolitano (D) (602) 542-4266
1275 W. Washington St., Phoenix, AZ 85007
http://www.attorneygeneral.state.az.us

Arkansas: Mark Lunsford Pryor (D) (800) 482-8982
200 Tower Bldg., 323 Center St., Little Rock, AR 72201-2610
http://www.ag.state.ar.us

California: Bill Lockyer (D) (916) 445-9555
1300 I St., Ste. 1740, Sacramento, CA 95814
http://caag.state.ca.us

Colorado: Ken Salazar (D) (303) 866-4500
Dept. of Law, 1525 Sherman St., Denver, CO 80203
http://www.ago.state.co.us

Connecticut: Richard Blumenthal (D) (860) 808-5318
55 Elm St., Hartford, CT 06141-0120
http://www.cslib.org/attygenl/

Delaware: M. Jane Brady (R) (302) 577-8338
Carvel State Office Bldg., 820 N. French St., Wilmington, DE 19801
http://www.state.de.us/attgen

District of Columbia: Arabella W. Teal (interim) (D) (202) 724-1305
Office of the Corporation Counsel, 441 4th St., NW, Washington, DC 20001
http://occ.dc.gov

Florida: Richard Doran (R) (850) 487-1963
The Capitol, PL 01, Tallahassee, FL 32399-1050
http://legal.firn.edu

Georgia: Thurbert E. Baker (D) (404) 656-3300
40 Capitol Square, SW, Atlanta, GA 30334-1300
http://ganet.org/ago/

Guam: Robert Kono (acting) (671) 475-3409
Judicial Center Bldg., Ste. 2-200E, 120 W. O'Brien Dr., Hagatna, Guam 96910
http://www.justice.gov.gu/dol/agadm1.htm

Hawaii: Thomas R. Keller (Interim) (808) 587-3100
425 Queen St., Honolulu, HI 96813
http://www.state.hi.us/ag/index.html

Idaho: Alan G. Lance (R) (208) 334-2400
Statehouse, Boise, ID 83720-1000
http://www2.state.id.us/ag/

Illinois: Jim Ryan (R) (312) 854-2503
James R. Thompson Ctr., 100 W. Randolph St., Chicago, IL 60601
http://www.ag.state.il.us

Indiana: Steve Carter (R) (317) 232-6201
Indiana Government Center South - 5th Floor, 402 West Washington Street, Indianapolis, IN 46204
http://www.in.gov/attorneygeneral/

Iowa: Tom Miller (D) (515) 281-5164
Hoover State Office Bldg., 1305 E. Walnut, Des Moines, IA 50319
http://www.IowaAttorneyGeneral.org

Kansas: Carla J. Stovall (R) (785) 296-2215
120 S.W. 10th Ave., 2nd Fl., Topeka, KS 66612-1597
http://www.ink.org/public/ksag

Kentucky: Albert Benjamin Chandler III (D) (502) 696-5300
State Capitol, Rm. 116, Frankfort, KY 40601
http://www.law.state.ky.us

Louisiana: Richard P. Ieyoub (D) (225) 342-7013
Dept. of Justice, P.O.Box 94095, Baton Rouge, LA 70804-4095
http://www.ag.state.la.us/

Maine: G. Steven Rowe (D) (207) 626-8800
State House Station 6, Augusta, ME 04333
http://www.state.me.us/ag

Maryland: J. Joseph Curran Jr. (D) (410) 576-6300
200 St. Paul Place, Baltimore, MD 21202-2202
http://www.oag.state.md.us

Massachusetts: Tom Reilly (D) (617) 727-2200
1 Ashburton Place, Boston, MA 02108-1698
http://www.ago.state.ma.us

Michigan: Jennifer Granholm (D) (517) 373-1110
P.O.Box 30212, 525 W. Ottawa St., Lansing, MI 48909-0212
http://www.ag.state.mi.us

Minnesota: Mike Hatch (D) (651) 296-3353
State Capitol, Ste. 102, St. Paul, MN 55155
http://www.ag.state.mn.us

Mississippi: Mike Moore (D) (601) 359-3680
Dept. of Justice, P.O.Box 220, Jackson, MS 39205-0220
http://www.ago.state.ms.us

Missouri: Jeremiah W. Nixon (D) (573) 751-3321
Supreme Ct. Bldg., 207 W. High St., Jefferson City, MO 65101
http://www.ago.state.mo.us

Montana: Mike McGrath (D) (406) 444-2026
Justice Bldg., 215 N. Sanders, Helena, MT 59620-1401
http://doj.state.mt.us/

Nebraska: Don Stenberg (R) (402) 471-2682
State Capitol, P.O.Box 98920, Lincoln, NE 68509-8920
http://www.nol.org/home/ago

Nevada: Frankie Sue Del Papa (D) (775) 684-1100
Old Supreme Ct. Bldg., 100 N. Carson St., Carson City, NV 89701
http://ag.state.nv.us/

New Hampshire: Philip T. McLaughlin (D) (603) 271-3658
State House Annex, 25 Capitol St., Concord, NH 03301-6397
http://www.state.nh.us/nhdoj

New Jersey: David Samson (609) 292-8740
Richard J. Hughes Justice Complex, 25 Market St., CN 080, Trenton, NJ 08625
http://www.state.nj.us/lps/

New Mexico: Patricia A. Madrid (D) (505) 827-6000
P.O. Drawer 1508, Sante Fe, NM 87504-1508
http://www.ago.state.nm.us

New York: Eliot Spitzer (D) (518) 474-7330
Dept. of Law - The Capitol, 2nd fl., Albany, NY 12224
http://www.oag.state.ny.us

North Carolina: Roy Cooper (D) (919) 716-6400
Dept. of Justice, P.O.Box 629, Raleigh, NC 27602-0629
http://www.jus.state.nc.us

North Dakota: Wayne Stenehjem (R) (701) 328-2210
State Capitol, 600 E. Boulevard Ave., Bismarck, ND 58505-0040
http://www.ag.state.nd.us

Northern Mariana Islands: Robert Tenorio Torres (670) 664-2341
2nd Floor, Honorable Juan A. Sablan Memorial Bldg, Capitol Hill, Saipan, MP 96950

Ohio: Betty D. Montgomery (R) (614) 466-4320
State Office Tower, 30 E. Broad St., Columbus, OH 43266-0410
http://www.ag.state.oh.us

Oklahoma: W. A. Drew Edmondson (D) (405) 521-3921
State Capitol, Rm. 112, 2300 N. Lincoln Blvd., Oklahoma City, OK 73105
http://www.oag.state.ok.us

Oregon: Hardy Myers (D) (503) 378-4732
Justice Bldg., 1162 Court St., NE, Salem, OR 97301
http://www.doj.state.or.us

Pennsylvania: Mike Fisher (R) (717) 787-3391
Strawberry Square, Harrisburg, PA 17120
http://www.attorneygeneral.gov

Puerto Rico: Anabelle Rodriguez (D) (787) 721 7700
P.O.Box 9020192, San Juan, PR 00902-0192
http://www.justicia.gobierno.pr

Rhode Island: Sheldon Whitehouse (D) (401) 274-4400
150 S. Main St., Providence, RI 02903
http://www.riag.state.ri.us

South Carolina: Charlie Condon (R) (803) 734-4399
Rembert C. Dennis Office Bldg., P.O.Box 11549, Columbia, SC 29211-1549
http://www.scattorneygeneral.org

South Dakota: Mark Barnett (R) (605) 773-3215
500 E. Capitol, Pierre, SD 57501-5070
http://www.state.sd.us/attorney/attorney.html

Tennessee: Paul G. Summers (D) (615) 741-5860
500 Charlotte Ave., Nashville, TN 37243
http://www.attorneygeneral.state.tn.us

Texas: Greg Abbott (R) (512) 463-2100
Capitol Station, P.O.Box 12548, Austin, TX 78711-2548
http://www.oag.state.tx.us

Utah: Mark Shurtleff (R) (801) 538-9600
State Capitol, Rm. 236, Salt Lake City, UT 84114-0810
http://attorneygeneral.utah.gov/

Vermont: William H. Sorrell (D) (802) 828-3173
109 State St., Montpelier, VT 05609-1001
http://www.state.vt.us/atg

Virgin Islands: Iver A. Stridiron (D) (340) 774-5666
Dept. of Justice, G.E.R.S. Complex 48B-50C Kronprinsdens Gade, St. Thomas, VI 00802

Virginia: Jerry Kilgore (R) (804) 786-2071
900 E. Main St., Richmond, VA 23219
http://www.oag.state.va.us

Washington: Christine O. Gregoire (D) (360) 753-6200
P.O.Box 40100, 1125 Washington St., SE, Olympia, WA 98504-0100
http://www.wa.gov/ago

West Virginia: Darrell Vivian McGraw Jr. (D) (304) 558-2021
State Capitol, 1900 Kanawha Blvd. , E., Charleston, WV 25305
http://www.state.wv.us/wvag

Wisconsin: James E. Doyle (D) (608) 266-1221
State Capitol, Ste. 114 E., P.O.Box 7857, Madison, WI 53707-7857
http://www.doj.state.wi.us

Wyoming: Hoke MacMillan (R) (307) 777-7841
State Capitol Bldg., Cheyenne, WY 82002
http://attorneygeneral.state.wy.us

Source: http://www.naag.org/

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Bankruptcy Judges Warn Young Consumers about Credit Card Debt

Overwhelming credit card debt often afflicts young consumers, but federal bankruptcy judges are trying to provide a cure.

"Many of the debtors who come into bankruptcy court admit that if someone had warned them about the pitfalls, they would not be in that predicament," said Chief Bankruptcy Judge John Ninfo of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of New York.

"We live in a competitive society. Many young people grow up thinking they can afford something if they can just charge it on their credit card," he said. "Often they spend because everyone else is spending."

Bankruptcy Judge R. Thomas Stinnett, who chairs the Public Education Committee of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges (NCBJ), agrees, and notes that college students often are solicited by credit card companies during registration.

More than half of today's college freshmen owe over $1,500 in credit card debt. A survey by an educational lending company also indicates that the balance will more than double by the time those students are seniors. And the interest charged for credit card debt typically is far higher than that for student loans.

"We can complain about the marketing tactics of credit card companies. However, people ultimately have to be responsible for their decisions," Stinnett said.

To help foster such responsibility, the NCBJ sponsors an outreach project to inform high school and college students about the consequences of excessive debt and irresponsible credit card use.

The project, funded by the judges' group's Endowment for Education, gets technical support from students at Chattanooga State Technical Community College in Tennessee. The project has developed an interactive, 10-minute video, "Bankruptcy: Don't Let It Happen to You," available at webctdev.chatta-noogastate.edu/bankruptcy/index800.htm. There are links to other educational sites.

Jean Dunn, a family and consumer science teacher at a Chattanooga middle school, uses the NCBJ video in her Teen Living course for eighth-graders.

"Typically, very few of the students are savvy about credit-related issues coming into the class. The NCBJ program issues a cautionary word about credit cards," she said.

Students who have seen the program apparently take it to heart during in-class budget-management exercises. "I've noticed that students avoid opening a credit card account even when that is one of the options presented," Dunn said.

Ninfo partnered with a county bar association's bankruptcy committee to launch a Credit Abuse Resistance Education (CARE) program that encourages middle school, high school and college students to have a budget, differentiate between needs and wants, own only one credit card, and be committed to paying off the balance each month.

"Although we're not teachers, we do the best we can when we meet students in the classroom," Ninfo said.

The effort's success caused Chief Judge John Walker of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to encourage other courts in the circuit to start CARE programs.

"Many young people are caught up in our consumptive society and have poor financial role models. As a result, they easily blur the lines between ‘needs' and ‘wants,'" Walker said.

"It is especially troubling that more and more young people are falling victim to credit card abuse and turning to bankruptcy as a means to relieve their oppressive debts," he added.

In Connecticut, Chief Bankruptcy Judge Albert Dabrowski has adopted the CARE program with help from county and city bar associations. He hopes to have the program in high schools around the state by spring.

"We have been encouraged by our initial contacts with education leaders in our communities, and expect to receive a formal endorsement from the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents," Dabrowski said. "There is a great need for this type of education program for young people in Connecticut before they leave home for college, or enter the work force."

Judge Marjorie Rendell (3rd Cir.), chair of the Judicial Conference's Committee on the Administration of the Bankruptcy System, said, "It is admirable that bankruptcy judges who see the ruinous effects of credit misuse are educating the public and are responding to the needs of young people. It is important to reach this next generation of consumers early."

James McKenna, a teacher at Monroe Community College in Rochester, N.Y., said he decided to invite Ninfo to speak to his students after his own 14-year-old son received a pre-approved offer of a $100,000 line of credit.

McKenna, who lectures on addictions, said, "Because the school is concerned about students' overall development, warning them of the addictive potential of compulsive spending is an important part of my course."

Shelly Palmer, one of McKenna's students, said Ninfo's presentation inspired her to pay off two credit cards and cancel three others. "Now, if I don't have money to pay cash for an item," Palmer said, "I don't buy it."

Article Source: www.uscourts.gov




Debt Adjustment Companies

Personal debt can easily get out of hand, and sometimes outside help seems the only answer. The services of debt adjustment companies exist to fill this need. One of the ways they help you manage your debt is through credit counseling: giving practical and legal financial advice regarding the use of credit. They can also renegotiate the terms of your credit agreements and arrange to pay off your debts.

Recent federal legislation, effective as of October 2005, requires that individuals considering filing for bankruptcy protection first undergo some form of credit counseling so that they will be aware of all their options. Sometimes, however, it’s difficult to know which are the good and truly “nonprofit” counseling agencies and which are just out to collect fees from as many people as they can sign up to their debt-repayment plans. The latter may give poor advice, charge excessive fees or steer you to loans or other financial services that are very profitable for them.

Fortunately, Georgia law regulates the activities of debt adjustment companies. (The federal bankruptcy law also assigns some oversight of their qualifications to the U.S. Trustee Program of the United States Department of Justice.) Under Georgia’s Debt Adjustment Act (O.C.G.A. Section 18-5-1 et seq.), a debt adjuster may not charge you a fee of more than 7.5 percent of the amount you pay monthly for distribution to your creditors. In addition, this law requires that:

All funds received from a debtor, minus authorized fees, are disbursed to creditors within 30 days of receiving them. A separate trust account is maintained for your funds, along with certain insurance coverage, and audited annually. Copies of these audits and insurance policies are filed annually with the Governor’s Office of Consumer Affairs. Severe monetary penalties can result if a company does not comply with these requirements, which is a misdemeanor as well as a violation of the Georgia Fair Business Practices Act. Please report any violations to the Governor’s Office of Consumer Affairs.

You, the consumer, also have the right to file a private legal action against a debt adjustment company that has overcharged you or mishandled your account in violation of the above provisions [O.C.G.A. Sections 18-5-2 and 18-5-3.2(a)]. Not only is the company obligated to refund all fees, charges or contributions you have paid, but through this action you may seek an additional restitution of $5,000 (O.C.G.A. Section 18-5-4). A private attorney can assist in filing the action on your behalf.

Note that there are certain circumstances where the Debt Adjustment Act does not apply. These include services offered by institutions such as the Federal National Mortgage Association, banks, trust companies, savings and loan associations, credit unions, the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Also exempt are the practice of law, industrial loans and individuals seeking debt recovery in personal situations.

Article Source: www.georgia.gov
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