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Television Interviews

Newspaper & Magazine Interviews

Radio

Articles by Sonya Smith-Valentine

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TELEVISION

March 29, 2010

Sonya A. Smith-Valentine was interviewed by Liz Crenshaw, Consumer Reporter, NBC News Channel 4 - Washington for a story about dealing with debt.  Click here to for the full story and to watch the video.

November 21, 2008

Sonya A. Smith-Valentine was interviewed by ABC News Channel 7 - Washington for a story about debt collection harassment.  Click here to for the full story and to watch the video.

May 15, 2008

Sonya A. Smith-Valentine was interviewed by Liz Crenshaw, Consumer Reporter, NBC News Channel 4 - Washington for a story about debt collector dos and don'ts.  Click here to for the full story and to watch the video.

March 11, 2008

Sonya A. Smith-Valentine was interviewed by Law School for the Public - Montgomery Community Television on debtor's rights.

August 27, 2007

Sonya A. Smith-Valentine was interviewed by Liz Crenshaw, Consumer Reporter, NBC News Channel 4 - Washington for a story about debt collectors trying to collect debts that don't belong to the consumer.  Click here to for the full story and to watch the video.

June 29, 2006

Sonya A. Smith-Valentine was included in a story on CBS News - Channel 2 - Pittsburgh, PA on debt collection agents  going to extremes to collect on debt. 

February 13, 2006

Sonya A. Smith-Valentine was quoted in a story about identity theft insurance on NBC News Channel 5 -  Salt Lake City.  Click here to read the full story.

January 18, 2006

Sonya A. Smith-Valentine was interviewed by Liz Crenshaw, Consumer Reporter, NBC News Channel 4 - Washington for a story on identity theft insurance.  Click here for the full story and to watch the video.

December 5, 2005

Sonya A. Smith-Valentine was included in a story on CBS News - Channel 2 - New York on debt collection agents becoming more vicious than ever. Click here for the full story and to watch the video.

November 21, 2005

Sonya A. Smith-Valentine was interviewed by NBC News  Channel 11 - Baltimore as a part of Maryland's Attorney General Joseph Curran’s forum on identity theft.  Click here for the full story and to watch the video.

July 27, 2005

Sonya A. Smith-Valentine was included in a story on NBC News Channel 7 - Boston about bogus bills and collection harassment. 

May 3, 2005

Sonya A. Smith-Valentine was interviewed by Liz Crenshaw, Consumer Reporter, NBC News Channel 4 - Washington for a story on zombie debt collectors and debt collection harassment.  Click here for the full story and to watch the video.

July 8, 2004

Sonya A. Smith-Valentine was interviewed by CBS News WJZ-TV Channel 13 - Baltimore as a part of Maryland's Attorney General Joseph Curran’s campaign to educate consumers on how to prevent identity theft. 

NEWSPAPER & MAGAZINE

December 2010

Sonya A. Smith-Valentine was quoted in Heart & Soul Magazine for a story on boosting your credit score.  Click here to read the full article.

October 2010

Sonya A. Smith-Valentine was quoted in the Baltimore Sun Newspaper for a story about debt collectors and social media.  Click here to read the full article.

April 2010

Sonya A. Smith-Valentine was quoted in Black Enterprise for a story on identity theft.  Click here to read the full article.

March 2010

Sonya A. Smith-Valentine was quoted in the Baltimore Sun Newspaper/Allbusiness.com for a story about aggressive debt collection.  Click here to read the full article.

January 2010

Sonya A. Smith-Valentine was quoted in the Baltimore Sun Newspaper for a story about debt collection calls.  Click here to read the full article.

January 2010

Sonya A. Smith-Valentine was quoted in Black Enterprise for a story on identity theft by family members.  Click here to read the full article.

November 2009

Sonya A. Smith-Valentine was quoted in Black Enterprise Magazine for a story about ways to prevent employee theft.  Click here to read the full article.

October/November 2009

Sonya A. Smith-Valentine was quoted in Heart & Soul Magazine for a story on 15 Smart Money Moves for Women.

February 2009

Sonya A. Smith-Valentine was quoted in Black Enterprise Magazine for a story about a court-ordered change in the way the credit bureaus have to report bankruptcies on credit reports.  Click here to read the full article.

December 19, 2008

Sonya A. Smith-Valentine was quoted in Southern Maryland Online for a story about the increase in scams and crimes in Maryland due to the economy.  Click here to read the full article.

August 25, 2008

Sonya A. Smith-Valentine was quoted in the Maryland Daily Record Newspaper for a story about lawyers choosing which clients to keep.  Click here to read the full article.

June/July 2008

Sonya A. Smith-Valentine was quoted in Heart & Soul Magazine for a story about illness induced bankruptcy.

March 2, 2008

Sonya A. Smith-Valentine was quoted in the Maryland Daily Record Newspaper for a story about consumer arbitration. Click here to read the full article.

May 6, 2007

Sonya A. Smith-Valentine was quoted in the Baltimore Sun Newspaper in an article entitled "Debt That Won't Die" regarding harassment by debt collectors on old debt. Click here to read the full article.

December 31, 2006

Sonya A. Smith-Valentine was quoted in the Baltimore Sun Newspaper in an article entitled "Money Mastery Start With Young" regarding how financial experts learned about money. Click here to read the full article.

November 6, 2006

Sonya A. Smith-Valentine was quoted in an article in the Delmarva Daily Times on identity theft. 

September 28, 2005

Sonya A. Smith-Valentine was quoted in the USA Today Newspaper in an article on the difficulty of fixing mistakes in credit reports.  Click here to read the full article.

July 29, 2005

Sonya A. Smith-Valentine was quoted in the Washington Post Newspaper in an article on the increase in consumer complaints about the tactics used by debt collectors.  Click here to read the full article.

July 9, 2004

Sonya A. Smith-Valentine was quoted in the Herald Mail Newspaper in an article on Maryland's Attorney General Joseph Curran's campaign to educate consumers on how to prevent identity theft.

 June 27, 2004

Sonya A. Smith-Valentine was quoted in the Baltimore Sun Newspaper in an article on the need to review your credit report once a year.  Click here to read the full article.

October 27, 2003

Sonya A. Smith-Valentine was interviewed by the Maryland Daily Record Newspaper for a story on how consumers are fighting back against DirecTV’s negative campaign into alleged piracy by consumers.  Click here to read the full article.

RADIO

August 18, 2009

Sonya A. Smith-Valentine appeared on the CyberHood Watch Blog Talk Radio for a discussion on identity theft and internet issues for children.  Click here to listen to the interview.

2005

Sonya A. Smith-Valentine was a year-long co-host of "Consumer Corner" on Joe's Justice Radio Program.  Consumer Corner discussed legal issues of interest to consumers and aired once a month on Joe's Justice on WOL 1450 AM in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.

February 15, 2004

Sonya A. Smith-Valentine appeared on the Greater Washington Urban League’s “On Track” Public Affairs Radio Program - WPGC 95.5 FM & 1580 AM - for a discussion on bankruptcy issues.

ARTICLES BY SONYA SMITH-VALENTINE

Winter 2009

Sonya A. Smith-Valentine's article entitled "When Debt Collectors Call" was published in the Winter 2009 ABA General Practice, Solo & Small Firm eNewsletter.  Click here to read the full article.

February 2009

Sonya A. Smith-Valentine's article entitled "Court Ruling: Credit Bureaus Must Revamp Their Bankruptcy Reporting" was published in the February 2009 Maryland State Bar Association's Bar Bulletin newspaper.  Click here to read the full article.

January 2008

Sonya A. Smith-Valentine's article entitled "Preventing Credit Damage in Divorce" was published in the January 2008 Prince George's County Bar Association News Journal.  Click here to read the full article.

November 2007

Sonya A. Smith-Valentine's article entitled "It's Not Identity Theft: When Credit Reports Behave Badly" was published in the November 2007 Maryland State Bar Association's Bar Bulletin newspaper.  Click here to read the full article.

April 2006

Sonya A. Smith-Valentine's article entitled "Collection Attorneys Beware of New FDCPA Rulings" was published in the April 2006 Maryland State Bar Association's Bar Bulletin newspaper. Click here to read the full article.

April 2005

Sonya A. Smith-Valentine's article entitled "Bankruptcy = Fresh Start?  Maybe Not!" was published in the April 2005 Maryland State Bar Association's Bar Bulletin newspaper.  Click here to read the full article.

October 2004

Sonya A. Smith-Valentine's article entitled "When Debt Collectors Call" was published in the October 2004 Maryland State Bar Association's Bar Bulletin newspaper.  Click here to read the full article.

OTHER

March 4, 2009

Sonya A. Smith-Valentine presented testimony before the Maryland State House Committee on Economic Matters on a bill which would amend the Maryland Consumer Protection Act to include statutory damages and allow for treble damages when a company intentionally violates the Consumer Protection Act. 

March 1, 2006

Sonya A. Smith-Valentine presented testimony before the Maryland State House Committee on Economic Matters on a bill which would allow consumers to freeze their credit reports and help stem the tide of identity theft. 

February 8, 2006

Sonya A. Smith-Valentine was included and quoted in the Report on the Maryland Attorney General's Identity Theft Forum which was held in November 2005.  Click here to read the full report. 

Winter 2005

Sonya A. Smith-Valentine was quoted in the American Bar Association - Commission on Racial & Ethnic Diversity's Newsletter in an article on the growth of minority attorneys in consumer law.  Click here to read the full article.