On July 24, Oregon Governor Tina Kotek signed House Bill 3865 (HB 3865) into law, introducing significant changes to the regulation of telephone solicitations within the state. This new legislation narrows the permissible...more
8/1/2025
/ Consumer Privacy Rights ,
Debt Collectors ,
Financial Services Industry ,
New Legislation ,
Opt-Outs ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Robocalling ,
State and Local Government ,
State Privacy Laws ,
Telecommunications ,
Telemarketing ,
Telephone Privacy Protection Acts ,
Text Messages ,
Unsolicited Phone Calls
On February 27, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) successfully obtained a temporary restraining order against Blackrock Services, Inc. and its associated entities and individuals. The court order aims to halt the defendants’...more
3/12/2025
/ BlackRock ,
Consumer Fraud ,
Debt Collectors ,
Enforcement Actions ,
FDCPA ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FTC Act ,
Gramm-Leach-Blilely Act ,
Misrepresentation ,
Restraining Orders ,
Statutory Violations ,
TRO ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
This week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit issued a decision reversing a summary judgment order in a Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) case. The court found that there were genuine issues of...more
1/31/2025
/ Appeals ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Debt Collection ,
Debt Collectors ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
FDCPA ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Summary Judgment ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
On December 10, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it is distributing more than $540,000 in refunds to victims of an abusive debt collector group. The debt collectors allegedly threatened consumers with...more
Earlier this month, we discussed the lawsuit filed by ACA International, LLC and Collection Bureau Services, Inc. in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB...more
Join Chris Willis and his colleague Stefanie Jackman as they delve into the recent amendments to New York City's debt collection rules. In this episode of The Consumer Finance Podcast, they discuss the significant changes,...more
On November 13, Representative Gary J. Palmer (R-AL) introduced House Joint Resolution 220, which seeks congressional disapproval of an advisory opinion published by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau)...more
In our previous post, we discussed the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection’s (NYC DCWP) decision to delay the enforcement of the amended debt collection rules from December 1, 2024, to April 1, 2025....more
Late last month, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed suit against Global Circulation, Inc. (GCI) and its owner for engaging in deceptive and abusive debt collection practices. According to the FTC, the Georgia-based debt...more
On November 1, the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (NYC DCWP) announced that the effective date for the amended debt collection rules has been officially moved to April 1, 2025....more
This week, we discussed the constitutional legal challenge against New York City’s recently amended debt collection rules, which were scheduled to go into effect on December 1, 2024. These rules would stringently regulate...more
10/23/2024
/ City of New York ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Debt Collection ,
Debt Collectors ,
FDCPA ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Local Ordinance ,
New Rules ,
Preemption ,
Regulatory Requirements
New York City’s recently amended debt collection rules — scheduled to go into effect on December 1, 2024 and which would stringently regulate various debt collection activities by debt collectors operating in the city — have...more
10/22/2024
/ City of New York ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Debt Collection ,
Debt Collectors ,
FDCPA ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
First Amendment ,
Fourteenth Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Local Ordinance ,
New Rules ,
Preemption ,
Regulatory Requirements
On October 1, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) issued an advisory opinion aimed at debt collectors and emphasizing their obligations under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and Regulation...more
10/4/2024
/ Advisory Opinions ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Consumer Reporting Agencies ,
Creditors ,
Debt Collection ,
Debt Collectors ,
FDCPA ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Healthcare ,
Medical Debt ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulation F ,
Regulation V
On September 24, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law a package of consumer protection laws, with three bills aimed directly at collection practices. These new laws introduce significant changes in the areas of...more
On September 9, the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada granted summary judgment in favor of a debt collector in a case involving alleged violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and the...more
A U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Missouri recently dismissed a lawsuit under the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (FDCPA), finding that two letters sent to the plaintiffs’ attorney did not constitute...more
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama recently issued a decision in a Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) case highlighting the importance of clear and unambiguous communication in debt...more
In the case of In re: McIntosh, a debt purchaser’s assertion that it was entitled to enforce a debt not correctly listed on the debtor’s bankruptcy schedules was met with significant pushback from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court...more
6/7/2024
/ Bankruptcy Code ,
Bankruptcy Court ,
Chapter 7 ,
Consumer Bankruptcy ,
Creditors ,
Debt ,
Debt Buyers ,
Debt Collectors ,
Debtors ,
Due Diligence ,
Financial Services Industry
On May 16, the Illinois legislature passed Senate Bill (SB) 2933. The bill amends the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act making it unlawful for a consumer reporting agency (CRA) to create a consumer...more
In March, a district court in the Eastern District of California followed other courts holding that an undated, model form debt validation notice does not violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). Specifically,...more
The California Senate Banking and Financial Institutions Committee is currently considering Senate Bill (SB) 1286, which would expand the scope of the Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (RFDCPA) to also prohibit...more
4/10/2024
/ California ,
Debt ,
Debt Collection ,
Debt Collectors ,
FDCPA ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Small Business ,
The Rosenthal Act
In Scott v. Collecto, Inc., the plaintiff filed a complaint in state court alleging a violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and common law negligence based on the defendant’s use of a letter vendor to...more
A U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Florida recently granted a motion for summary judgment filed by debt collector, I.C. Systems, finding that the plaintiff failed to provide any evidence of an inadequate...more
Join us for an enlightening episode of The Consumer Finance Podcast, where we dissect the intricate world of debt collection, reflecting on the past year and forecasting future trends. This episode, hosted by Chris Willis,...more
On January 2, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) filed an amicus curiae brief urging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit to reverse a district court’s decision finding that a debt collector lacked the...more
1/23/2024
/ Amicus Briefs ,
Automatic Stay ,
Bankruptcy Code ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Creditors ,
Debt ,
Debt Collection ,
Debt Collectors ,
FDCPA ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Scienter ,
Statutory Violations