Move over, Tax Day!  This year, April 15 falls on a Saturday so the IRS moved the tax filing deadline to April 18.  What will you do with all that extra time?  Don’t worry, Visa’s got you covered.

Visa recently notified its business network that new rules for debt repayment are coming on April 15, 2023. … Continue Reading

In an unpublished opinion, a New Jersey federal district court has ruled that a plaintiff did not have Article III standing to assert a claim under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act based solely on her receipt of an allegedly misleading collection letter.

In Valentine v Unifund CCR, LLC; Distressed Asset Portfolio III, et al.Continue Reading

Yesterday, the FDIC announced a settlement with Umpqua Bank that involved collection practices connected with commercial equipment financing offered by the bank’s wholly-owned subsidiary.  The stipulated Order to Pay Civil Money Penalty requires the bank to pay a $1.8 million CMP.

The practices that the FDIC found to violate Section 5 of the FTC Act consisted of:

  • Charging various undisclosed collection fees to borrowers whose accounts were past due, such as collection call and letter fees and third-party collection fees.
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The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether the Telephone Consumer Protection Act’s exception from its automated call restriction for calls to collect government debts violates the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.  The Court also agreed to decide whether the proper remedy for any constitutional violation is to sever the exception from the remainder of the TCPA.… Continue Reading

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 both the original creditor and the debt buyer.… Continue Reading

The CFPB announced that it has entered into a consent order with Security Group Inc. and its subsidiaries (Security Group) to settle an administrative enforcement action that charged the companies with having engaged in unlawful debt collection and credit reporting practices.  The consent order requires Security Group to pay a civil money penalty of $5 million.… Continue Reading

The National Consumer Law Center is urging the CFPB to ban the collection of debts on which the statute of limitations has run.

The recommendation is made in a new NCLC report titled “Zombie Debt: What the CFPB Should Do about Attempts to Collect Old Debt.”  The NCLC argues that “in light of the serious harm to consumers caused by time-barred collections, we urge the CFPB to prohibit all collections of time-barred debt-whether through litigation or non-litigation means-as unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices.” … Continue Reading