News & Stuff

10/12/2022 Earlier this month, Pink Energy, formerly known as Power Home Solar, filed for bankruptcy leaving thousands of customers with nonfunctioning/faulty systems and loans often approaching $100,000. We are currently putting together a special workgroup to handle these complex cases. Our goal is to set up a system that handles the cases efficiently productively, and at an affordable cost, and with open client communication channels during the whole process. We are trying to get the bones of the process going within the next few weeks and refine it as we go, meanwhile taking care of as many people as we can.  IF YOU HAVE A PINK ENERGY CASE, PLEASE FILL OUT THE QUICKK CONTACT FORM ON THIS PAGE.  

2/20/2022  We have seen an increase in collection activity by Nextgear Capital, Inc. on old judgments, and they are collecting a few of them in the states where the debtors live. If you get called by a Nextgear collection representative, I urge you not to give out information about your finances. They may use that information to target you for extra attention. If you need help with a Nextgear case that has gone to judgment, even if you didn't use us before, please call us.  

2/14/2022. NEW NAME - SAME PEOPLE. After handling most of their cases together since 2017, Steve Hofer and Keith Hagan have made their partnership official and founded the new firm, Hofer Hagan LLP. Operations formerly run under the Consumer Law office of Steve Hofer, and Hagan Law Office LLC are moving to the new firm.  

5/14/2020 DUE TO THE COVID-19 CRISIS, I have suspended taking most offensive consumer cases.  I am still taking debt defense cases on a case-by-case basis.  

4/20/2020 Were you directed to this site by dealerfloorplandefense.com? You've come to the right place. Dealerfloorplandefense is a new domain for us, and we will be focusing our efforts to provide information about our defense of cases brought by Nextgear Capital and Automotive Finance Corporation and other floorplan lenders when we get that website put together. In the meantime, there is information about Nextgear defense efforts in our blog at https://claosb.blogspot.com/.  

3/3/2018  We are starting to get new reports of collection activity on pension assignments assigned to VFG, Voyager Financial Group. It's not clear to me whether VFG is still in business, but it appears that some pensioners are receiving collection communications from the people who bought the pension assignments. In most cases, these contracts are illegal, and the pensioners have a defense to payment.  Contact us if you have an issue with a pension assignment company.   

1/3/2018 Lately we have been doing a lot of defense work defending dealers in lawsuits by Nextgear Capital, Inc. If you or your dealerships (outside of Indiana only) has been sued by Nextgear, please call us. If Nextgear tries to talk you out of hiring an attorney: consider why they might be making that recommendation. 

1/3/2018 We are looking for cases involving companies which are accessing your credit reports without your authorization. Perhaps it involves a "hard pull" relating to a claimed application for credit. This type does affect your credit score. It could also involve a "soft pull".  "Soft pulls" don't show up in reports to third parties and don't affect your credit score, but these companies do get access to your entire file and are supposed to only access your file for limited purposes such as monitoring an existing account.  (There are a few other authorized purposes.)  

10/30/2017 For going on two years, attorney Keith Hagan and I have been battling cases involving dead companies collecting money from unsuspecting consumers. We have become aware of cases in Missouri, California and Hawaii where people are trying to renew judgments held by dead companies.  The following dead companies have been identified. Great Seneca Financial Corporation, Platinum Financial Services Corporation, Monarch Capital Corporation, Colonial Credit Corporation, Centurion Capital Corporation, Sage Financial Corporation and Hawker Financial Corporation. If you have a judgment against you by any of these companies, please contact our office no matter where you live.

10/14/2017 Attorney Steve Hofer was invited to be a panelist in a consumer program hosted by Pro Publica concerning Consumer Debt and Consumer Bankruptcies. 

2/5/2016 Consumer Law Office of Steve Hofer announces a new special investigation project targeting fraud and deceptive business practices in the credit card processing and credit card processing equipment industries.  If you are a victim of these practices, please contact our office.

12/20/2015  Attorney Steve Hofer has been named Indiana State Chairperson for the National Association of Consumer Advocates.  The National Association of Consumer Advocates is the premier organization for consumer attorneys in the United States. 

12/3/2014  Attorney Steve Hofer was interviewed as a consumer expert in connection with an investigative report by WISH-TV 8, the CBS station in Indianapolis. Here is the link to the story.

http://wishtv.com/2014/11/20/coupon-confusion-could-cost-customers-cash/

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