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The Help List!

THE LEGAL AND GOVERNMENT SERVICE RESOURCE LIST

1. Telephone Harassment By Bill Collectors — Follow these four steps and you can stop the harassment immediately:
   1. Answer the phone and get the bill collector's personal name, the bill collector's company name, the bill collector's company phone number, the bill collector's company address, and the account number for the debt you owe. After you get that information, say the following to the bill collector: "I demand that you, your company, and anyone connected directly or indirectly with you or your company immediately stop all attempts to reach me at any telephone number." (Once you say that, do not argue with the bill collector. Instead, just quickly hang up the phone.)
   2. Write a letter to that bill collector stating the following:
      I demand that you, your company, and anyone connected directly or indirectly with you or your company immediately stop all attempts to reach me at any telephone number. (Make sure you keep two copies of that letter, and send the original by certified, return-receipt postage so that you can get the green U. S. postal card back in order to have proof that the company actually received your letter.)
   3. Call the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Consumer Protection Agency at 215-560-2414, and tell the agency that you want to file a complaint against the bill collector's company. The agency will mail a complaint form to you. When you receive that form, write all of the information you have regarding the dates and times that the bill collector's company called you and regarding what was said to you or on your voice mail/answering machine during each of those calls. Attach a copy of your letter to that form. (Make sure you keep a copy of that form.)
   4. If the bill collector's company calls you after it has received your certified, return-receipt letter, make sure you document each call by using your voice mail/answering machine and/or your caller I.D. If you do not have a voice mail/answering machine, make sure you write the date and time of those calls. Report all of this to the Attorney General's Office, and the bill collector's company might be ordered to pay you!
2. Attorney General's Consumer Protection Agency 215-560-2414
   If you are a consumer (which means that you paid for a product or some service) and you did not get what you paid for, you can call the Attorney General's Consumer Protection Agency to seek a refund of your money.
3. Legal Assistance for the Indigent
   (This is for certain persons who cannot afford to pay legal fees.)
   Civil Cases- Philadelphia Volunteers For The Indigent 215-523-9550
   Civil Cases- Community Legal Services 215-981-3700
   Criminal Cases- Defender Association 215-568-3190
4. Unemployment Compensation 215-557-0848
5. Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission 215-560-2496
   This is for racial, religious, or sexual discrimination cases (including employment matters).
6. Medicare 800-MEDICARE
7. Predatory Lending 215-324-5000
8. Senior Law Center 215-988-1244
9. Education Law Center 215-238-6970
10. Disabilities Law Center 215-238-8070
11. Identification Theft Center 858-693-7935
12. Parking Tickets Resolution
    • Legal Help: www.parkingticket.com
    • Administrative Help: Frank DeAngelis 215-683-9614
13. Banking Complaints 800-PABANKS
14. Civil Rights Assistance (Including Police Brutality)
    • ACLU 215-592-1513
    • Police Advisory Commission 215-686-3991
    • Police Internal Affairs 215-685-5010
15. Mayor's Action Center 215-686-3000
16. Telemarketer's "Do Not Call Lists":
    • Pennsylvania 888-777-3406
    • National 888-382-1222
17. Telemarketers "Stop List"
    Direct Marketing Association
    P.O. Box 9014
    Farmingdale, NY 11735-9014
18. Junk Mail "Stop List"
    Direct Marketing Association
    P.O. Box 9008
    Farmingdale, NY 11735-9008
19. The Charles W. Bowser Lawyer Referral Service 215-790-2170
20. Computer/Internet/E-Mail Problems - John Davis 215-769-5973