By S. Brandon Dimando
& Michael Barnes
Are you being contacted
by a collection agency because
you have not been making
payments to a creditor? Most
likely, they have negotiated
with another company or are
using an in-house affiliate
to attempt to get you to pay.
Third party collectors often
purchase your debt for less
than you owe or have made
an arrangement to work for the
creditor for a fee or percentage
of money collected. Another
reason a debt collector may
be contacting you is someone
has improperly used your
identity to obtain credit and
is committing identity theft.
What do you do?
Continue reading "IT'S THE LAW: Know How the Debt Collection Process Works" »

by S. Brandon Dimando
and Michael Barnes
The Credit Card Act of
2009 was passed by our government
last May. Eight months
later the major provisions will
be taking effect on February 22.
Read the paperwork you have
been getting from your credit
cards and investigate how this
law will impact you. The card
issuers have been preparing for
the new rules, most likely to
your disadvantage. Unless you
had a lot of free time to research
this law and understand how
the new system works, you
have some catch-up homework
to do.
Continue reading "IT’S THE LAW: New Credit Card Laws: The Good, Bad and Ugly" »
by Michael Barnes
Those of you who have been regular readers of
Key West The Newspaper will recall that for a period
of years I wrote a weekly column called “Barnes Law
Q & A”. Sometime ago the publisher of this paper
was good enough to let me take a break from my
writing. What you are reading should tell you that
my break is over.
I will be joined in the writing of these articles by
Brandon Dimando. Brandon has practiced law for
more than a decade and has been an Assistant City
Attorney for the City of Key West, a Public Defender
and is currently in private practice. Living here for
20 years, Brandon knows our town and the people
of Key West. I am happy that we can add his talent
to these articles.
by S. Brandon Dimando
If you think of attorneys and other professionals
as bad news, then it is time to reverse your stance
and start thinking of them as resources. For most
people, when lawyers get involved, they relate it to
awful experiences. Ironically, that’s often true because
they wait too long to get the lawyers involved.
Lawyers are typically thought of as people who tell
you what you can’t do, or if you can do something,
why it will cost a lot. In these tough times, we want
you to focus on how you can use your attorney as a
valuable resource instead of as an obstacle.

Continue reading "IT’S THE LAW" »
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