The U.S. House of Representatives has introduced a bill, H.R. 1773, that seeks to amend the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). The proposed amendment would include a two-year bar on the collection of medical debts...more
As discussed here, in August 2020, a district court for the Middle District of Tennessee held that a medical provider’s third-party billing servicer did not qualify as a debt collector under the Fair Debt Collections...more
As discussed here, on September 8, 2022, an en banc panel of the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the district court’s decision that a debt collector’s outsourcing of its letter process to a third-party mail vendor...more
According to the district court for the District of Massachusetts, debt collectors may be found in violation of § 1692g(a)(3) of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) when sending debt collection letters requiring...more
Federal courts across the country continue to divest themselves of Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) cases following the Supreme Court’s salient Article III standing decision in TransUnion LLC v. Ramirez. The...more
Creditors and debt collectors may rest assured that they are not violating the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) when sending debt-collection communications prior to any knowledge of a debtor’s bankruptcy filing. In...more
May a debt collector incur liability under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) by seeking to collect a debt under a state court judgment later determined to be void? Not according to the Third Circuit Court of...more
On January 11, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced it reached a settlement with law firm Forster & Garbus, LLP in its lawsuit over alleged illegal debt collection practices. Specifically, the CFPB...more
On January 4, the District Court of New Jersey dismissed a Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) complaint against an unlicensed debt collector for lack of standing. In Valentine v. Unifund CCR, LLC, et al., the court...more
On Dec. 15, 2022, the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council’s (FFIEC) Task Force on Consumer Compliance adopted revised examination procedures for the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and its...more
A recent opinion issued by the Tenth Circuit serves as further confirmation that plaintiffs bringing Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) claims in federal court must allege sufficient concrete injury — tangible or...more
The standard courts should use to determine whether an alleged Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) violation is material remains unsettled. According to a recent Tenth Circuit decision, however, the standard should be...more
In a much anticipated decision released September 8, an en banc panel of the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the district court’s decision that a debt collector’s outsourcing of its letter process to a third-party...more
“Convenience” fees charged to consumers for the use of certain debt payment options have come under increased scrutiny, as regulators have sought to limit charges and other back-end fees that may come as a surprise to...more
On June 29, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) issued an advisory opinion focused on consumer debt collectors and the convenience fees they charge for some payments, such as online or by phone....more
The filing lawsuits under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) increased dramatically in the first month of 2022 when compared...more
On February 22, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals held oral argument in Hunstein v. Preferred Collection and Management Services Inc. (Case Number 19-14434). Almost a year ago, on April 21, 2021, the Court of Appeals...more