The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has ruled that the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) does not require a debt collector to disclose the possible tax consequences of a debtor’s acceptance of a...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
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit recently ruled that foreclosure complaints can be the basis of Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) claims. This decision continues the Third Circuit's expansive...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
The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania recently ruled that a debt collector did not violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) because it failed to identify itself at the beginning of a...more
The New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) published its final debt collection regulations on December 3, 2014, following an extensive rulemaking period. The regulations impose requirements on third-party debt...more
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York recently ruled that a voicemail message containing the caller’s name and identifying the caller as a debt collector with “an important message” was not a...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit held that a collection letter sent by an attorney violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) because it would lead a “hypothetical unsophisticated consumer” to...more
In a precedential opinion rendered last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit held that the disclosure of a consumer’s account number through the transparent window of a debt collector’s envelope violates...more
The CFPB, together with the FTC, has filed an amicus brief in Hernandez v. Williams, Zinman & Parham, P.C., a Fair Debt Collection Practices Act case on appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. ...more
The debt collection industry continues to be a major focus of the Federal Trade Commission’s enforcement efforts, as shown by the agency’s decision to simultaneously announce two settlements last week with Tennessee and New...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit recently articulated a standard for verifying a debt under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) in Haddad v. Alexander, Zelmanski, Danner & Fioritto, PLLC. The FDCPA...more
The Federal Trade Commission recently announced a consent order with a subprime auto lender for alleged violations of the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTC Act), the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), and the Fair...more
The FTC wants the debt collection industry to know that it does not intend to take a backseat to the CFPB when it comes to FDCPA enforcement. In announcing the release of its annual summary of debt collection activities, the...more
A collection letter violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) because it stated that the debtor could only dispute the debt in writing, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has ruled. The Fourth...more
In a per curiam decision last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit suggested that percentage-based debt collection fees are permissible under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) if they are...more
Last month, the CFPB, jointly with the FTC, filed an amicus brief in Sykes v. Mel S. Harris and Associates LLC, a Fair Debt Collection Practices Act case on appeal to the Second Circuit. This represents the third FDCPA case...more
The CFPB recently filed its first amicus brief in a Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) case. This brief, like the amicus brief the CFPB filed in August 2013 in the Seventh Circuit in a Fair Debt Collection Practices Act case,...more
The Federal Trade Commission recently announced that it had settled a case representing its first action challenging a debt collector’s use of text messages.
In its complaint, the FTC alleged that the defendant debt...more
A new amicus brief filing by the CFPB recently appeared on the CFPB’s amicus program webpage. On August 14, 2013, the CFPB, jointly with the FTC, filed an amicus brief in Delgado v. Capital Management Services, LP, et al., a...more
The New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) has proposed new regulations that would impose significant disclosure and other requirements on persons engaged in the collection of consumer debts....more
Collection documentation and medical debts proved to be the focus of much of yesterday’s Senate Banking Committee hearing on the debt industry. The witnesses were Corey Stone, CFPB Assistant Director, Office of Deposits,...more
Last week, the CFPB issued five action letters for consumers to use as debt collection tools. Now that we have had an opportunity to look more closely at the letters, it is apparent that the letters will cause headaches not...more