ABOUT MR. BLAIR K. DRAZIC Esq.

Blair K. Drazic has been representing people victimized by unfair, inaccurate and
arbitrary credit reporting, predatory foreclosures and handling cases involving abusive, dishonest and illegal debt collection practices, and creditor or corporate abuse, since 1992, obtaining significant settlements and verdicts for many of his clients.

 

Prior to that, he served as an Assistant Public Defender in the City of St. Louis from 1975 to 1979, trying 9 murder trials. Since then, he practiced as a trial lawyer, primarily representing individuals against insurance companies that treated them unfairly, against credit bureaus and creditors for erroneous credit reporting and against debt collectors for violating the law while attempting to collect debts.

 

During his career he has tried over 100 cases to juries and has over 50 reported decisions among the state and federal appellate courts and the U.S. District Courts.

 

In 1995 he wrote Handling Credit Reporting Cases (Clark Boardman Callaghan
1995), one of the pioneering guides to other lawyers who wanted to handle credit
reporting problems for their clients. In 2004 he authored "Forgive us our Debts" a guide for consumers on navigating the credit system.

 

He is admitted to practice in Colorado, Missouri, the U.S.District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri and the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado. He has handled credit reporting or debt collection cases in the United States District Courts for the Eastern District of Missouri, the Southern District of Illinois, the District of Kansas, the District of Colorado, the Northern District of Ohio, the Southern District of Ohio and the Middle District of Alabama.

He has been a regular speaker on the topic of credit reporting cases on programs around the country for lawyers. He practices in Missouri and Colorado and maintains his office in Grand
Junction Colorado.
 

Credit Related Court Decisions:
His most significant federal court decisions on the issues of credit reporting and
debt collection have been the following:
Bruce v. First U.S.A. Bank, National Association, 103 F. Supp 2d 1135 (E.D. Mo.
2000). Believed to be the first decision in the country holding that furnishers of credit
information must conduct a “reasonable investigation” under the Fair Credit Reporting
Act upon receiving a consumer dispute from a credit reporting agency.
Lowe v. Surpas Resource Corporation, 253 F. Supp.2d 1209 (D. Kan. 2003)
Upholding rights of Kansas consumers who are the victims of abusive debt collection
practices to bring claims under Kansas law.
Murphy v. Midland Credit Management, Inc., 456 F.Supp.2d 1082, 1091 (E.D.
Mo. 2006). Upholding the right of credit reporting victims to have a jury determine
whether a credit reporting agency’s investigative practices were reasonable and whether
the credit bureau had willfully violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act, holding that
consumers with damaged credit need not prove a credit denial caused by the inaccurate
information to recover under the FCRA for emotional distress.
Zotta v. Nationscredit Financial Services Corp., 297 F.Supp.2d 1196 (E.D. Mo.,
2003). Rejected summary judgment on both willful and negligent noncompliance with 15
U.S.C. Sec. 1681s-2(b) for failing to check for its own documents when one likely would
have established the validity of the consumer’s credit bureau dispute.
Allen v. Experian Information Solutions, Inc., (S.D.Ill. 2006, Case No. 04-817-
WDS. Satisfying the stringent Seventh Circuit standard for emotional distress damages in
opposing summary judgment.
Fahey v. Experian Information Solutions, Inc., 571 F.Supp.2d 1082 (E.D. MO.
2008). Applied the “substantial factor” causation test to allow damages for a mortgage
denial wherein the denial contained a long list of unmet conditions.
Thomas v. Consumer Adjustment Company, Inc., Granted summary judgment for
plaintiff under Fair Debt Collection Practices Act finding that a call placed by a collector
to plaintiff’s home wherein the collector asked debtors girlfriend for a better number to
contact the debtor and that “It’s kind of important I get a hold of him” violated the
FDCPA as a matter of law.

Credit Related Jury Verdicts:
Zotta v. Nationscredit Financial Services Corp., (E.D. Mo., Case No. 4:02 CV
1650 DDN). $87,500.00 jury verdict wherein the jury was instructed to limit its damages
exclusively to emotional distress, A-1 Collections v. Bowen, (Mesa County, CO.), jury verdict of $160,000 for emotional distress (damages assessed by jury set aside by judge).

Credit Related Seminar Speaking Engagements:

 

Colorado Bar, 2021, Suits Against Creditors and Credit Bureaus for Improper Credit Reporting and privacy.

NACA NACA 2009 Fair Credit Reporting Act Conference, Chicago, IL
Washington University and & United States Arbitration and Mediation Midwest,
Best Practice Series, Current Issues in the Law and ADR, “Consumer Law” 2007
NACA 2007 Fair Credit Reporting Act Doing Well By Doing Good: Anatomy of
an FCRA Lawsuit, Denver, Colorado
NACA 6th Annual Conference on Fair Credit Reporting Act, 2006 Las Vegas
Nevada.
Missouri Bar, Consumer Law: Real Help for Real World Problems, 2006, Kansas
City and St. Louis. A Primer on Suits Against Creditors and Credit Bureaus for Improper
Reporting and Privacy.
NACA 4th Annual Conference on Fair Credit Reporting Act, Chicago, Illinois,
2004.
Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis: CLE Potpourri for the General
Practitioner, St. Louis, 2000, Credit Reporting.
Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis: CLE Potpourri for the General
Practitioner, St. Louis, 1999, Credit Reporting.
Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis: Credit Reports, St. Louis 1998.
Publications:
Handling Credit Reporting Cases (Clark Boardman Callaghan 1995)
Forgive Us Our Debts, (Consumer Advocate Press, 2004)
Education:
B.A. Ohio Northern University Ada, Ohio 1972
J.D. Ohio Northern University Ada, Ohio 1975
Bar Admissions:
Missouri and Colorado