Recently, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a lawsuit brought against a foreclosure firm—Reimer, Arnovitz, Chernek & Jeffrey (the Reimer firm)—under the Fair Debt Collection Practices...more
In a 7-4 en banc decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruled that the bona fide error defense in the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) did not protect a debt collector who complied with...more
Democratic Senator Mark Warner has introduced a bill, S.1642, that would override the Second Circuit’s decision in Madden v. Midland Funding. (In Madden, the Second Circuit ruled that a nonbank that purchases loans from a...more
8/1/2017
/ Banking Sector ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Debt Buyers ,
Debt Collection ,
Interest Rates ,
Madden v Midland Funding ,
National Bank Act ,
OCC ,
Proposed Legislation ,
True Lender ,
Valid When Made Doctrine
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit recently affirmed the dismissal of a lawsuit brought against Midland Funding, LLC (Midland), and its collection law firm under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA)....more
The West Virginia Supreme Court recently ruled in favor of a debt collector in an action alleging a violation of West Virginia’s Consumer Credit and Protection Act. In its June 12 decision, the court held that call volume,...more
The U.S. Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that a purchaser of defaulted debt did not qualify as a debt collector under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) because it did not collect debts "due another", but...more
Governor John Hickenlooper recently signed a bill extending until September 1, 2028, the Colorado Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (CFDCPA), which prohibits harassment, misleading, and unfair practices in the collection of...more
A federal district court in New Jersey dismissed a putative class-action lawsuit against Total Card, Inc. (TCI), a South Dakota-based debt collector. The plaintiff alleged that TCI violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices...more
Filing a proof of claim in a debtor's Chapter 13 bankruptcy case on a debt that is "obviously time barred" does not violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in a 5-3 decision....more
The second presentation of the 22nd Annual Consumer Financial Services Institute, sponsored by the Practising Law Institute, will take place in Chicago on May 4-5, 2017. I am co-chairing the event, as I have for the past 21...more
4/17/2017
/ Class Action ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Data Security ,
Debt Collection ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Fair Lending ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Mortgages ,
Regulatory Standards ,
TCPA
On March 30, Director Cordray gave his annual speech to the United States Chamber of Commerce’s 11th Annual Capital Markets Summit. His prepared remarks focused on the CFPB’s role in adopting regulations....more
A collection letter potentially violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) because a box the plaintiff could check to indicate she disputed the validity of the debt was accompanied by a statement that a reason...more
A collection letter potentially violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) because a box that the plaintiff could check to indicate that she disputed the validity of the debt was accompanied by a statement that a...more
A law firm's letter, warning that a lien would be recorded against a woman's home if she failed to pay her annual homeowners association fees, is not exempt from the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) as an attempt to...more
The 22nd Annual Consumer Financial Services Institute, sponsored by the Practising Law Institute, will take place on March 27-28, 2017 in New York City (and by live webcast and groupcast in Atlanta; Philadelphia, Pittsburgh,...more
1/24/2017
/ Banking Sector ,
Class Action ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Security ,
Debt Collection ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Fair Lending ,
Mortgages ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
TCPA ,
Trump Administration
A federal district court in Florida has ruled that a debt collector did not violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) by sending a collection letter in an envelope that allegedly revealed a barcode in which the...more
A debt collector did not violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) by filing proofs of claim in bankruptcy cases on debts that were time-barred by Maryland’s statute of limitations (SOL), a divided U.S. Court of...more
9/12/2016
/ Bankruptcy Code ,
Chapter 13 ,
Consumer Bankruptcy ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Debt Buyers ,
Debt Collection ,
FDCPA ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Proof of Claims ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Time-Barred Debt
A plaintiff did not have Article III standing to assert claims under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) for alleged autodialed calls made to her without her consent, a California federal district court recently...more
9/7/2016
/ Article III ,
ATDS ,
Auto-Dialed Calls ,
Banking Sector ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Debt Collection ,
Debt Collectors ,
Invasion of Privacy ,
Prior Express Consent ,
Robocalling ,
Spokeo v Robins ,
Standing ,
TCPA
A plaintiff did not have Article III standing to assert claims under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) for alleged autodialed calls made to her without her consent, a California federal district court recently...more
8/22/2016
/ Article III ,
Auto-Dialed Calls ,
Banking Sector ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Debt Collection ,
Dismissals ,
Injury-in-Fact ,
Popular ,
Prior Express Consent ,
Robocalling ,
Standing ,
TCPA
A debt collection law firm did not violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) by leaving a voicemail message for the plaintiff that identified the law firm but did not expressly state that the law firm was a debt...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has vacated the district court's decision in Bock v. Pressler & Pressler, LLP in which the district court ruled that a debt collection law firm violated the Fair Debt Collection...more
8/5/2016
/ Appeals ,
Article III ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Debt Collection ,
Debt Collectors ,
FDCPA ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Injury-in-Fact ,
Spokeo v Robins ,
Standing ,
Statutory Damages
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has moved a step closer to issuing a debt collection rule by releasing an outline of the proposals it is considering in preparation for convening a small business review panel....more
8/1/2016
/ Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Debt Buyers ,
Debt Collection ,
Debt Collectors ,
Dodd-Frank ,
FDCPA ,
Financial Institutions ,
SBREFA ,
Small Business ,
Third-Party Service Provider ,
Time-Barred Debt
The Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) Bureau of Consumer Protection issued a Staff Comment on June 16, 2016, supporting several of the Federal Communication Commission's (FCC) proposed regulations implementing amendments to...more
In a new white paper, ACA International, a trade association for members of the credit and collection industry, argues that the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) must be modernized to accurately reflect the current...more
In St. John v. Cach, LLC, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recently issued an opinion holding that the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) does not prohibit debt collectors from filing collection...more