Fred Hanna, of Frederick J. Hanna & Associates, The self-proclaimed SUPERMAN of debt collection Fred Hanna, of Frederick J. Hanna & Associates Murrietta, Georgia

Some of the Hanna firm's employees found out about my litigation and came forward of their own accord and began to provide me with documents, e-mails, and other information which paint a frightening picture of this nationwide firm's illegal debt collection practices and other illegal business operations. 

On a side background note -- you may have heard of Mann Bracken; they were once the largest nationwide debt collection law firm in the United States until the Minnesota Attorney General discovered last summer that they shared joint ownership with the National Arbitration Forum ("NAF"), to whom Mann Bracken had channeled hundreds of thousands of its debt collection cases, and that the two companies actively conspired to conceal their affiliation. 

The Minnesota AG sued the NAF in July 2009, and the NAF agreed within days to cease all credit card arbitration (tens of thousands of pending cases).  This had the ancillary effect of putting Mann Bracken out of business. Mann Bracken admitted its debt collection business model was illegal. Some 60,000 of Mann Bracken's debt accounts were subsequently transferred to the Hanna firm early this year, where, not coincidentally, a number of Mann Bracken's attorneys found jobs after their former employer went kaput. 

It has become readily apparent from the information provided to me by the Hanna firm's employees that many of Mann Bracken's shocking, abusive debt collection practices continue with unabated gusto at the Hanna Firm.

According to what I have been provided by its employees, the Hanna firm regularly produces fraudulent affidavits to facilitate its debt collection proceedings, including in arbitration; the Hanna firm regularly and knowingly files other false and fraudulent documents in civil litigation and arbitration proceedings; and ignores state and federal debt collection statutes that it finds inconvenient or otherwise would cut into profits. 

These are not isolated incidents, nor are they small in number.  The Hanna firm files nearly 12,000 lawsuits as well as an equal number of garnishments a month all across the country, doing so without even having basic evidence on file to prove the debtors owe the money, and no attorneys even review these files before the lawsuits are commenced against these hapless consumers. 

In addition, none of the eight attorneys at a firm employing hundreds do not make the decision to sue, that decision is made by an Account Manager within the firm with no legal training.

Indeed, the non-lawyers are provided answers in advance of taking the annual compliance exams of the FDCPA/GLB/FCRA and etc. Hanna firm requires all of its non attorney staff to obtain an error free score of 100%. If that employee fails to score 100% even with the answers in hand, they are allowed to take it again, and again, conferring with co-workers, allowed to search the Internet, meet with supervisors to insure they achieve the demanded 100% scores.

Hanna attorney's signatures are regularly affixed to legal documents that the attorney has never even seen or signed. These documents are routinely notarized and signed at the same time by the same non-lawyer. 

Talk about automated debt collection lawsuits clogging the courts! One single attorney (of only the eight employed at the firm) signature allegedly appears to sign on more than 5000 of the referenced legal documents in a single week! He also attends trials and hearings, has meetings with Fred Hanna, et al.

Not incidentally, many of these same employees have also informed me that the work environment at the Hanna firm is toxic and that female employees are routinely subjected to sexual harassment, including unwanted sexual advances from the lawyers and debt collectors employed by the Hanna firm.  The employees production is tightly monitored by CVC cameras, stroke count keyboard software as well other systems designed to make sure the employees meet their numbers or they are terminated as well.

The abuse extends to employee production records that are manipulated by the office manager to show a lack of production to justify refusal of paid time off and other benefits or to apply discipline for those not in her favor, but such tactics are never employed against any of her family members working at the same firm. Nepotism is rampant. In short Fred Hanna seems to have created the modern day equivalent of debt collection sweatshop.

Fred Hanna is the self-styled, self-proclaimed SUPERMAN of debt collection. So focused on cultivating that image his personal office is decorated in the comic book hero colors of Gold, Purple, and Red. SUPERMAN figurines and paraphernalia abound within the enter confines of his office which is quite intimidating to people who work for him according to his employees.

According to his employees, each year on Halloween at the office party, he appears in a very tight fitting SUPERMAN costume, which according to women in his office nothing short of a display of his "manliness" leaving nothing to the imagination. According to his employees, there are innumerable photos taken during this annual event, with the young woman of Fred Hannas favor at that moment (over the years there have been several according to in office gossip,) using his clothing and id tags, "strategically placed as her revealing costume that evening, creating an image of discrimination, favoritism and sexism.

They also have informed me that Mr. Hanna sends out e-mails to his employees instructing them whom to vote for in elections in the State of Georgia, where the Hanna firm is domiciled, in order to drum up support for candidates whom Mr. Hanna believes are sympathetic to his debt collection business, a practice that is prohibited in the employees handbook, (the cover of which has an image that can only be of Holy Bible) a violator subject to summary termination.

Mr. Hanna is also apparently prone to violent tirades directed at employees who question his judgment or business practices, and has on several occasions thrown computers at employees and threatened them.  All of these business practices are conducted behind the cloak of Mr. Hanna's law license, which he and the other lawyers at his firm regularly hide behind in order to maintain the appearance of ethical behavior and to avoid the scrutiny that ordinary debt collection firms would normally receive. 

A number of these employees who initiated contact with me further informed me that many other employees wished to reveal information to me about the Hanna firm's illegal business practices and hostile work environment, but were terrified of retaliation and/or termination because of the Hanna firm's arbitrary and harsh practice of terminating employees without proper cause in order to bully employees into ignoring and/or cooperating with the firm's illegal business practices.  The Hanna firm is notorious in disputing each and every claim for unemployment benefits according to the employees that have come forward

This Press Release is not about my case or me nor should it be. While their information will obviously be valuable in my pending litigation, there is a larger moral issue here -- a huge company is raking in huge profits in an unconscionable fashion, damaging tens of thousands of consumers a month while exploiting and abusing its own employees in the process. 

I promised these employees I would do what I could to bring some public attention to their plight. Each might be willing to submit to an interview as long as they are hot in silhouette and their voices digitized so they cannot by identified by The Hanna Firm for fear of a ruthless retaliation against them.

Please let me know if you would like to review any of the information and/or documentation I have obtained, and let me know if you would like to discuss on the phone, (((phone number redacted))) or in the alternative, (((email redacted)))

Sincerely,