FDCPA Defense

JANUARY 22, 2017

(This post is adopted from the materials presented at the CAI Law Seminar in Las Vegas, Nevada on January 20, 2017) Demystifying the FDCPA Class Action For HOA Attorneys Consumer attorneys have been filing FDCPA class actions against collection attorneys for decades, and the pace of those filings has increased sharply in the past ten years.

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FDCPA Defense

MAY 21, 2016

The CFPB has entered into consent orders with major creditors, debt buyers and law firms during the past year relating to key areas of their collection practices. The consent orders impose significant new requirements relating to data integrity, dispute handling, debt substantiation, debt sales, affidavit practices, and litigation practices.

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FDCPA Defense

DECEMBER 15, 2015

Collection attorneys who are nervous about the risks involved in handling consumer accounts can relax. The CFPB has devised an ideal litigation strategy for you to follow. Let’s take a closer look at what the Bureau wants you to do to make sure it dovetails with the CFPB’s consumer protection goals.

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FDCPA Defense

NOVEMBER 10, 2015

How can a collector accurately identify, track, and respond to consumer disputes when the FDCPA does not define what a “dispute” is? When Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart famously stated, “I know it when I see it,” in Jacobellis v. Ohio , 378 U.S. 184 (1964), he was not talking about consumer disputes.

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FDCPA Defense

MARCH 23, 2015

The FDCPA prohibits a collector from placing “any language or symbol” on a debt collection envelope, other than the collector’s address. That’s right, you read that sentence correctly – absolutely nothing can be safely placed on the envelope, except for the collector’s address.

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FDCPA Defense

NOVEMBER 11, 2014

Section 1692g of the FDCPA says collectors must provide notice to consumers within five days of the initial communication regarding the debt, stating the amount of the debt, the name of the current creditor, and explaining the consumer’s right to dispute the debt and to obtain verification.

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FDCPA Defense

MAY 27, 2014

The CFPB and the FTC have forcefully argued that debt collectors should make an affirmative disclosure to consumers when they are seeking to collect debts that cannot be judicially enforced, and that the failure to make this disclosure may violate the FDCPA. Does a consumer need to be “protected” from repaying his own debts?

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FDCPA Defense

MAY 6, 2014

The Bureau made this point crystal clear in the Bulletin that it issued in July 2013 entitled “ Representations Regarding Effect of Debt Payments on Credit Reports and Scores ” where it claimed that making such statements might amount to a deceptive act or practice in violation of the FDCPA and the Dodd-Frank Act.

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FDCPA Defense

AUGUST 22, 2016

When collectors get sued in an FDCPA action, they face a steep uphill battle.

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FDCPA Defense

MARCH 2, 2014

The Dodd-Frank Act gave the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) sweeping authority to prohibit the use of “unfair, deceptive or abusive” acts or practices (“UDAAPs”) in connection with the collection of consumer debts.

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FDCPA Defense

AUGUST 19, 2013

Beginning in 1995, when the Supreme Court issued Heintz v. Jenkins , 514 U.S. 291 (1995), lawyers have known that if they seek to collect consumer debts for clients – even when doing so through litigation – they might qualify as a "debt collector" under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 U.S.C.

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FDCPA Defense

JULY 20, 2013

On July 11, 2013, California passed the FairDebt Buying Practices Act , California Civil Code section 1788.50 in response to criticism that debt buyers did not have adequate documentation to support the collection lawsuits they were filing against California consumers.

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FDCPA Defense

FEBRUARY 5, 2013

The FTC recently released its 162-page report entitled " The Structure and Practices of the Debt Buying Industry " which describes a comprehensive study conducted by the FTC over a three-year period using data obtained from the nation’s largest debt buyers.

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FDCPA Defense

DECEMBER 12, 2012

The number of class actions filed against the credit and collection industry continues to rise, and FDCPA class actions remains a favorite among consumer attorneys. Although it is easy for a consumer to file a class action, getting a class certified is no walk in the park.

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FDCPA Defense

AUGUST 16, 2012

If you are a collection professional working for a creditor, debt buyer, collection agency or collection law firm, and you have not yet added the website for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to the favorites on your web browser, it is high time that you do so.

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FDCPA Defense

JUNE 9, 2012

But under what circumstances will the failure to report a dispute give rise to a violation of section 1692e(8) of the FDCPA? When a consumer disputes their debt, an accepted and conservative practice is for the data furnisher to promptly report the dispute to the consumer reporting agencies.

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FDCPA Defense

FEBRUARY 20, 2012

Does the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) have the power to tell debt collectors to turn over their attorney-client privileged communications? The answer may depend on who you ask.

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FDCPA Defense

JANUARY 28, 2012

Consumers and their attorneys are constantly seeking to expand the pool of potential FDCPA defendants using principles of vicarious liability. Even original creditors, who are not subject to the FDCPA, are being drawn into FDCPA litigation under various theories of recovery.

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