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 February 7, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit affirmed the district court’s Order granting a motion for judgment on the pleadings and holding that a charged-off loan made by a lender licensed under the...more
The debt purchaser in In re McIntosh argued that because it was enforcing a debt that was not listed correctly on the debtor’s bankruptcy schedules, it was entitled to assume the debt had not been discharged. The U.S....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
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
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
Earlier this year, a district court for the Middle District of Florida upheld a jury award of $225,000 in punitive damages in a debt collection case finding the defendant’s conduct “reprehensible” based on the physical harm...more
The Utah court of appeals has recently affirmed the dismissal of a plaintiff’s suit against a debt buyer based on its alleged failure to register as a collection agency prior to filing collection lawsuits. The court’s...more
Recently, the New Jersey appellate division held that a debt purchaser is not liable under the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act (NJ Fraud Act) for failing to obtain a license under the New Jersey Consumer Finance Licensing Act...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
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
On February 27, the Wyoming governor signed HB 284, which requires debt buyers to be licensed as “collection agencies” beginning July 1. Under the act, a collection agency now includes any person who operates as a debt buyer,...more
More than a year ago on April 21, 2021, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion in Hunstein v. Preferred Collection and Management Services Inc. that rocked the world of the debt collection industry, and the...more
California had been one of 16 states that did not require licensing of debt collectors. That changed last year with the enactment of the Debt Collection Licensing Act. 2020 Cal. Stats. ch. 163 (SB 908). The law takes...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
California had been one of 16 states that did not require licensing of debt collectors. That changed last year with the enactment of the Debt Collection Licensing Act. 2020 Cal. Stats. ch. 163 (SB 908). The DCLA will...more
With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, credit card companies may face increased scrutiny, as Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Acting Director Dave Uejio recently stated that "credit reports play a huge role in...more
State legislatures in New Mexico and Nevada enacted laws this session targeting medical debt collections. Both laws have been signed by the states’ Governors and take effect July 1, 2021. ...more
Last month, the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) published proposed regulations under the Debt Collection Licensing Act (DCLA). The regulations largely address procedural matters related to obtaining a...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
On April 6, 2021, the Pennsylvania Attorney General (Pennsylvania AG) announced that it reached an agreement with a Texas-based debt buyer concerning a portfolio of student loan debt it purchased from a now-defunct for-profit...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