Consumer Finance Monitor Podcast Episode: Recent Federal and State Debt Collection Developments
The Court of Appeals of Indiana recently upheld a lower court’s decision that a debt buyer who purchased a portfolio of defaulted student loans and placed an account with a collection agency qualifies as a “debt collector”...more
On November 20, a judge for the Southern District of New York granted a motion to dismiss a Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) class-action holding that a simple lack of a date on a model validation notice did not...more
On November 22, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision finding that the plaintiff lacked Article III standing in a putative class action brought under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA)....more
In Brown v. MRS BPO, LLC, the Northern District of Illinois, acting on its own motion, granted summary judgment in favor of the defense on claims asserting violations of the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (FDCPA)....more
On November 9, a magistrate judge in the Northern District of Georgia issued a Report & Recommendation to grant a motion to dismiss because the plaintiff’s Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) claims were time-barred...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued a summary order affirming a district court’s holding that an emailed response to the plaintiff’s email did not constitute an “initial communication” under the Fair Debt...more
Last week, a district court in Nevada held that an undated, model form debt validation notice does not violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). In Bergida v. PlusFour, Inc., the defendant sent a debt validation...more
A New York federal district court has denied a motion to dismiss the lawsuit filed in January 2022 by the CFPB against three companies that purchase portfolios of defaulted debts (Corporate Defendants) and three individuals...more
On August 22, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York refused to dismiss CFPA and FDCPA claims brought by the CFPB that alleged violations related to misrepresentations made to debtors by debt collectors....more
On August 1, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit upheld a trial court’s order granting summary judgment in favor of a debt buyer holding that claim preclusion barred the plaintiff’s claims brought under the Fair...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has ruled that a plaintiff in a putative class action had standing to assert FDCPA claims against the purchaser of her debt and the purchaser’s servicer based on the $3.95 she...more
On April 26, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) issued an advisory opinion reminding the industry that a debt collector who brings or threatens to bring a foreclosure action to collect a time-barred...more
In Palacio v. Med. Fin. Sols., No. 21 CV 1288 (N.D. Ill. June 14, 2022), the court granted summary judgment in favor of the defendant, finding that it did not qualify as a “debt collector” under the Fair Debt Collections...more
On January 10, 2022, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) filed a complaint in federal district court against three affiliated debt-buying businesses and the individuals who founded and operated them for "knowingly...more
The CFPB filed a complaint earlier this week in a New York federal district court against three companies that purchase defaulted debts (Corporate Defendants) and three individuals who are owners and/or officers of the...more
On November 17, a majority of the active judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit issued an order sua sponte to rehear Hunstein v. Preferred Collection and Management Services, Inc., en banc. The order...more
Last week, the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) brought its first enforcement action against a debt collector and debt buyer for violating the state’s Consumer Financial Protection Law...more
Yesterday, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion in Hunstein v. Preferred Collection and Management Services, Inc., -- F.3d --, 2021 WL 1556069 (Apr. 21, 2021), which almost immediately set off alarms in the...more
Earlier this month, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a consent order against a New Jersey debt buyer accused of threatening and suing consumers to collect debts in states where it did not have a legally...more
The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals held that the actions of a debt collector are not necessarily imputed to a debt buyer. This holding reversed the Western District of Arkansas District Court, which held that the actions of...more
On October 5, 2020, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida denied a debt collector’s motion for summary judgment, holding that a letter which provides notice of a change in debt ownership and requests...more
The plaintiff incurred a debt to a medical provider who placed the debt with a debt collector. The collection letter from the debt collector included a request for repayment of principal and interest. The plaintiff filed a...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled in McAdory v M.N.S. Associates, LLC and DNF Associates, LLC, in a 2-1 decision, that companies that engage third parties to collect consumer debts they acquired when the...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed the district court’s judgment on the pleadings in favor of the defendants (a debt buyer and a collection agency) in a putative class action that alleged the...more
Last week, the CFPB announced that that it had entered into a consent order with an Illinois-based debt collection company. According to the settlement, the company’s business consists primarily of purchasing and then...more