Matthew S. Kirkpatrick

I was working construction in early 2000, when I applied for a home improvement loan and learned someone in Idaho had used my name and social security number to run up $250,000 in bad checks and fraudulent credit card charges.  We filed police reports, filled out forms, and provided all the information the credit bureaus and the FTC told us were needed to clear my name.  But Equifax and others blatantly broke the law for years by ignoring my disputes and including the identity thief’s fraudulent debts on my credit report.  Banks looked at me like I was going to rob them and I couldn't get a loan to finish the home addition our growing family needed.  I went to law school in the fall of 2004 in order to protect my family and others from getting trapped in similar situations.

After seven years with the complex litigation practice groups at Lane Powell PC and Foster Pepper/Roberts Kaplan LLP, I founded Kirkpatrick Law in Portland, Oregon, to fight illegal conduct by credit bureaus, debt collectors, car dealerships, lenders, insurers, and other irresponsible businesses.

The need for more consumer protection is clear.  The Oregon Department of Justice’s Consumer Hotline receives tens of thousands of calls every year with questions or complaints about illegal business conduct.[1]  Yet “the amount of consumer fraud in the state far exceeds the Department of Justice’s ability to investigate and prosecute it[.]”[2]  As my own experience shows, these companies hold great power over our everyday lives and, all too often, make business decisions that sacrifice our well-being to improve their bottom lines.  I am a dedicated ally here to help consumers fight back and enforce their legal rights.

For more information, visit the Kirkpatrick Law website at www.MKirkpatrickLaw.com or call 503-901-8739. 

[1] Oregon Department of Justice website, http://www.doj.state.or.us/divisions/pages/civil_enforcement_index.aspx(last accessed April 21, 2106).

[2] Vasquez-Lopez v. Beneficial Oregon, Inc., 210 Or App 553, 571, 152 P3d 940 (2007).