Debt Collection

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Earlier this month, in Buchholz v. Meyer Njus Tanick, P.A., the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed a district court’s decision that a plaintiff who alleged that the defendant had violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”), failed to allege a concrete injury in fact sufficient to confer Article III…

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed the district court’s judgment on the pleadings in favor of the defendants (a debt buyer and a collection agency) in a putative class action that alleged the defendants had violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act by sending the named plaintiff a collection letter identifying…

In an 8-1 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in Rotkiske v. Klemm that the FDCPA’s one-year statute of limitations (SOL) runs from the date of the alleged violation and not from a consumer’s discovery of the violation.  The decision resolves a circuit split, with the Third Circuit having taken the position adopted by…

In this podcast, we are joined by Scott Ferris, CEO of Attunely, a provider of machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) technology to the debt collection industry.  We look at how changes in consumer behavior have impacted collections, technology’s role in collections, state law’s/GDPR’s impact on ML/AI and compliance strategies, how ML/AI can improve…

Ballard Spahr partner Stefanie Jackman, who leads the firm’s Debt Collection Team, has been appointed to the new Legal Advisory Board (LAB) that the Consumer Relation Consortium (CRC) is launching in 2020.  The LAB is an exclusive group of not more than ten outside counsel with expertise in the accounts receivable industry who have each…

Last week, California Governor Newsom signed into law AB 539, which makes significant amendments to the California Financing Law (CFL), and SB 616, which creates a new exemption from levy for deposit account funds.

The Governor signed AB 539 on October 10.  Most importantly, the CFL amendments limit the rate of interest that…

On October 4, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law Assembly Bill 1313, which prohibits postsecondary schools from withholding transcripts as a debt collection tool.  The law is effective January 1, 2020.

The bill adds new Title 1.6C.7, the “Educational Debt Collection Practices Act,” to Part 4 of Division 3 of the California Civil…

On September 25, 2019, the CFPB filed a lawsuit in federal district court in Maryland against Maryland-based debt collector FCO Holding, Inc. (“FCO”), its various subsidiaries and Michael E. Sobota, the CEO, president, director, and owner of FCO. According to the lawsuit, FCO and Sobota operate the largest debt-collection company in the multi-unit housing industry,…

The House Financial Services Committee will hold a hearing entitled “Examining Legislation to Protect Consumers and Small Business Owners from Abusive Debt Collection Practices,” on Thursday, September 26, 2019, at 10:00 a.m.  The hearing will also be live streamed.

The following witnesses are scheduled to testify:

  • Rev. Dr. Cassandra Gould, Pastor, Quinn Chapel A.M.E. Church

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The CFPB has released the Summer 2019 edition of its Supervisory Highlights.  The report discusses the Bureau’s examination findings in the areas of automobile loan originations, credit card account management, debt collection, furnishing, and mortgage originations.

Key findings include the following:

Auto loan originations.  Auto lenders were found to have engaged in an abusive…