Should Consumer Debt Advice Come From A Lawyer? A Non-Profit Organization ‘Hopes’ To Offer A Helping Hand

Consumer debt is one of the growing concerns in the U.S. Unfortunately, it goes unnoticed among lawsuit professionals and lawyers. Once debt collectors sue Americans against consumer debts, they simply can not fight back because they are not educated enough to fight the case. Since they can not retain a lawyer, they fail to respond to the case. Consequently, they lose the consumer debt case by default.

Victoria / Pexels / Most Americans can not respond to consumer debt suits, and they lose the case by default.

However, a pastor in the Bronx, Udo Okon, tries to offer a helping hand to such Americans who can not fight back consumer debt cases. “We have a lot of congregants who have been sued for consumer debts,” says the pastor. “When I ask them, they tell me they can not respond to the case. They do not have the capabilities. As a result, they give up.” Furthermore, the pastor goes on to say that as the consumers fail to respond to the case, they lose the case by default. Consequently, their credit is destroyed. And they can not do much about it.

Thus, Pastor Udo Okon tries to offer a helping hand to his congregants who can not fight back the consumer debt suit. For that, he aims to head over to a training program offered by Upsolve – a non-profit organization. “I am looking to become a volunteer counselor of such congregants who can not fight back the lawsuits. Upsolve has a program that will walk these individuals through the process of fighting lawsuits like consumer debts.”

Sora / Pexels / A pastor hopes to be a volunteer counselor for those who can not fight consumer debt lawsuits.

Is it Legal For A Non-Professional to Offer Legal Advice?

Unfortunately, most states in the U.S., like New York, do not allow individuals to offer legal advice. Unless you are a certified lawyer, you can not help or guide with any lawsuits. This makes the volunteer task of the pastor difficult.

Pavel / Pexels / In most states of the US, including New York, offering legal advice and guidance in fighting lawsuits is considered practicing law.

Thus, the rule makes it mandatory that if you are giving legal advice, you have to be either a practicing lawyer or a certified professional. Nevertheless, the pastor heading to court to solve this catch.

On Monday, pastor Udo Okon files a case against this law along with Upsolve. “We have already headed to court to retrieve this unjust rule,” says the pastor. “If this is legalised, we will see the problems of average Americans in a good shape – through financial litercay.” He is optimistic that if nonlawyers are allowed to give legal advice and guidelines on fighting lawsuits, millions of Americans will benefit from it. The pastor went on to say: “If we look at the stats, millions of Americans are sued for consumer debt every year. And 90% of them are not represented by a lawyer in court. Consequently, they lose the case by default.”

The pastor calls it a “grave injustice to the basic rights of all U.S citizens.” he hopes that the court will make a sensible decision for the better good of Americans. In turn, Upsolve will train all Americans on the procedures for critical lawsuits like consumer debt.