The New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) announced last week that it had entered into consent judgments with Webcollex LLC d/b/a CKS Financial (CKS) and National Credit Adjusters (NCA) for allegedly violating the...more
The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 (Act) amended the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) to remove the prior express consent requirement for calls ''made solely to collect a debt owed to or guaranteed by the United...more
5/13/2016
/ ATDS ,
Banking Sector ,
Bipartisan Budget ,
Cell Phones ,
Comment Period ,
Debt Collection ,
FCC ,
Federal Loans ,
Mortgages ,
NPRM ,
Prior Express Consent ,
TCPA
The new Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) exemption for calls made to cellular numbers to collect debts owed to or guaranteed by the United States applies retroactively to calls made before the exemption's effective...more
4/18/2016
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Bipartisan Budget ,
Cell Phones ,
Debt Collection ,
Exemptions ,
FCC ,
Federal Loans ,
Federal Student Loans ,
Popular ,
Retroactive Application ,
TCPA
When a consumer's current balance will increase over time due to interest and late fees, a debt collection notice must disclose this information, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has ruled. In Avila v....more
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently published a reminder to debt collectors of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) compliance risks that are created by the use of social media or text messages in connection...more
4/1/2016
/ Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) ,
Cell Phones ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Debt Collection ,
Debt Collectors ,
Facebook ,
FDCPA ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Popular ,
Risk Management ,
Social Media ,
TCPA ,
Text Messages
A recent letter from Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Tom Wheeler describes the regulations being considered by the FCC for implementing new Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) exemptions for calls made...more
3/16/2016
/ Auto-Dialed Calls ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Debt Collection ,
Exemptions ,
FCC ,
IRS ,
NPRM ,
Popular ,
Prior Express Consent ,
Robocalling ,
TCPA
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) received more than 3 million consumer complaints in 2015 with debt collection topping the list, according to its newly released Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book. The annual report, which...more
A creditor that received a consumer's cell phone number through an intermediary had the consumer's ''prior express consent'' under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) to receive calls from a debt collector, the U.S....more
2/29/2016
/ Auto-Dialed Calls ,
Cell Phones ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Debt Collection ,
FCC ,
Health Care Providers ,
Popular ,
Prior Express Consent ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Summary Judgment ,
TCPA
A debt collector did not violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) by leaving a voicemail message on a cell phone shared by the debtor with her boyfriend because it was not reasonably foreseeable that he would...more
The Maryland Court of Appeals, the state’s highest appellate court, last week agreed to review an October 2015 Maryland Court of Special Appeals (MCSA) decision that illustrated how the bank partner structure used by many...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit recently ruled that a plaintiff’s allegation that an affiant had falsely attested to having personal knowledge of the facts alleged in a debt collection complaint was...more
A federal district court in New York 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 an internal tracking...more
Prior to the amendment, these calls would have been prohibited absent the recipient’s prior express consent if placed to a cellular telephone and if they were made by an automatic telephone dialing system or included an...more
A voicemail message should not be considered a “communication” that is actionable under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has ruled, unless the message at least...more
The New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) has amended several provisions of its Third-Party Debt Collector and Debt Buyer Regulations and issued additional guidance in the form of new frequently asked questions...more
New York City can regulate the conduct of attorneys engaged in debt collection, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has ruled. In Eric M. Berman, P.C. and Lacy Katzen, LLP v. City of New York, et al., the...more
A federal court in Pennsylvania has ruled that a debt collector violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) by sending a collection letter in an envelope that allegedly revealed a barcode in which the plaintiff’s...more
In Miljkovic v Shafritz & Dinkin, 2015 WL 3956570, a panel of the 11th Circuit held that representations made by an attorney in required court filings during the course of debt collection litigation can be actionable under...more
The Maryland Court of Special Appeals recently declined to adopt the “meaningful attorney involvement” standard for Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) claims based on alleged insufficient attorney involvement in debt...more
As previously reported, the Federal Communications Commission recently approved a Declaratory Ruling and Order (the Order) addressing a number of petitions that requested the FCC clarify its interpretations of the Telephone...more
7/14/2015
/ Auto-Dialed Calls ,
Collection Agencies ,
Debt Collection ,
Declaratory Rulings ,
Exemptions ,
FCC ,
Financial Institutions ,
Healthcare ,
Prior Express Consent ,
Revocation ,
TCPA ,
Telemarketing ,
Text Messages
Last week, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine issued a press release announcing the results of a multi-state investigation into the three national credit reporting agencies (CRAs) - Equifax Information Services LLC, Experian...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently ruled that a debt collection letter seeking prejudgment interest on the debt did not violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) or California’s Rosenthal...more
At a recent DBA International Symposium on New York State’s debt collection rules and regulations, New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) Executive Deputy Superintendent Joy Feigenbaum clarified certain provisions in...more
The New York Attorney General and Federal Trade Commission recently announced they had filed two joint federal court lawsuits against debt collectors in the Western District of New York. The Attorney General and FTC are...more
A New York federal district court recently issued a strong denunciation of the practice of debtors attempting to induce debt collectors into committing violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). Finding...more