The early bird gets the worm. Do your homework upon receiving notice of a bankruptcy filing, and review the account. Initial questions include: Is your debt secured or unsecured? What is the outstanding debt owed? Are there...more
In this series, we look at how various payment rights are treated in bankruptcy. A summary like this could not possibly address every right that might arise in any given bankruptcy case. We have omitted several of the...more
The saga of ITT Educational Services, Inc. appears to be drawing closer to an end, with ITT’s bankruptcy trustee and attorneys for former ITT students entering into a proposed class action settlement that would permanently...more
In Midland Funding, LLC v. Johnson, No. 16-348, 2017 BL 161314 (U.S. May 15, 2017), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a credit collection agency does not violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ("FDCPA") when it files...more
The Supreme Court recently issued two rulings interpreting various sections of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) in favor of creditors and certain debt buyers. The FDCPA protects debtors from unfair collection...more
On May 15, 2017, the Supreme Court issued a 5-3 decision holding that it is not a violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”) to file a proof of claim in bankruptcy related to a debt for which the statute of...more
In a 5-3 decision written by Justice Stephen G. Breyer last week, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the Eleventh Circuit erred when it found that Midland Funding, one of the nation’s largest purchasers of...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 United States Supreme Court recently held in Midland Funding, LLC v. Johnson, 581 U.S. ___ (2017) that filing a proof of claim that is obviously time-barred in a Chapter 13 debtor’s bankruptcy case is not a violation of...more
On Monday, May 15, 2017, the Supreme Court put to rest a theory of liability under the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (FDCPA or Act) that had a major impact not only upon the credit and collection industry, but...more
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision today in Midland Funding, LLC v. Johnson, 581 U.S. ___, No. 16-348, draws attention in passing to a peculiar feature of Wisconsin law on the effect of statutes of limitations. The 5-3...more
In Midland Funding, LLC v. Johnson, the U.S. Supreme Court held that a debt collector does not run afoul of the FDCPA by filing a proof of claim in bankruptcy on a stale debt. In its 5-3 decision, the Court sided with the...more
Midland Funding, LLC v. Johnson, (May 15, 2017). Yesterday, the Supreme Court reversed the Eleventh Circuit’s holding in Midland Funding v. Johnson in a 5-3 split. Their decision resolves a circuit split as to whether...more
On May 15, 2017, the United States Supreme Court issued its decision in Midland Funding, LLC v. Johnson, 581 U.S. ___ (2017) in which it held that filing an “obviously time-barred” proof of claim in a bankruptcy proceeding...more
We all remember The Devil and Daniel Webster – the Devil comes to collect a seven year old debt (secured by Jabez Stone’s soul), only to be foiled by the great trial lawyer Daniel Webster – thanks to a skilled litigator, 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
Whether it’s a conscious decision or an inadvertent mistake, creditors sometimes try to recover on an old claim that is no longer enforceable by law. A debt collection lawsuit filed by a creditor can be dismissed if the...more
In Dubois v. Atlas Acquisitions LLC, Case No. 15-1945 (4th Cir. Aug. 25, 2016), the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals held in a 2-1 decision that filing proofs of claim on time-barred debts does not violate the Fair Debt...more
On August 25, 2016, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals issued its opinion in Dubois v. Atlas Acquisitions LLC, (In re Dubois), No. 15-1945 (4th Cir. Aug. 25, 2016) and joined a majority of other circuits holding that the...more
Eighth Circuit Holds That Filing Accurate Proof of Claim on Time-Barred Debt Does Not Violate the FDCPA - Nelson v. Midland Credit Mgmt., Inc., No. 15-2984, 2016 WL 3672073 *1 (8th Cir. July 11, 2016) - On July 11,...more
Few issues involving the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) are more hotly contested than whether filing a proof of claim on a time-barred debt violates the FDCPA. In bankruptcy, creditors have a right to file proofs...more
From the moment it was published in July 2014, Crawford v. LVNV Funding, LLC, 758 F.3d 1254 (11th Cir. 2014)—the first reported appellate decision holding that a plaintiff may state a claim under the Fair Debt Collection...more
The language of Bankruptcy Code § 501(a) is as broad as it is simple. "A creditor or an indenture trustee may file a proof of claim." The Bankruptcy Code's definition of "claim" only broadens § 501(a)'s scope: a "claim" means...more
In Jenkins v. Midland Credit Management, Inc., the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Alabama held that the filing of a proof of claim based on a time-barred debt cannot give rise to a claim for damages under...more