debt collection

Subscribe to debt collection via RSS

We discuss a range of practical issues related to the rule’s rapidly-approaching effective date, including: the prospects for further CFPB rulemaking or guidance; the aspects of the rule that should be prioritized by third-party collectors and debt buyers; the rule’s impact on creditors (for internal collections and third-party collector/debt buyer oversight), state law considerations, and steps being taken to mitigate risk; and greatest risks for third-party collectors and creditors once the rule is effective.… Continue Reading

The California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) recently issued an Invitation for Comments on the Proposed Second Rulemaking under the Debt Collection Licensing Act.  The Invitation for Comments seeks further information on topics relating to the scope of certain definitional terms, the types of information required on annual reports, and surety bond amounts.… Continue Reading

We look at the practices found to be unlawful by CFPB examiners in these markets, discuss what the findings signal for future scrutiny of these markets by the “new CFPB”, and share practical takeaways for companies operating in these markets.  Issues highlighted in our conversation include the CFPB’s findings regarding “unreliable furnishers,” furnisher handling of “frivolous or irrelevant” disputes, interest accrual on debts in collection, and mortgage servicer consideration of private mortgage insurance termination dates when estimating disbursements in an annual escrow analysis.… Continue Reading

To the surprise of the debt collection industry, the CFPB announced this past Friday afternoon that its final debt collection rule (Parts I and II) will take effect on November 30, 2021 as originally scheduled.

Many in the industry were expecting the CFPB to extend the effective date to January 29, 2022, consistent with its April 2021 proposal.  … Continue Reading

State legislatures in New Mexico and Nevada enacted laws this session targeting medical debt collections. Both laws have been signed by the states’ Governors and take effect July 1, 2021.

New Mexico Patients Debt Collection Practices Act 

The New Mexico Patients Debt Collection Practices Act places a number of requirements on health care facilities and debt collectors and buyers.… Continue Reading

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has ruled that a debt collector did not violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act by sending the plaintiff a settlement offer that did not disclose that his balance could increase due to interest and fees. 

In Cortez v. Forster & Garbus, LLP, the debt collector sent a collection notice to the plaintiff offering various options for settling his account for less than the full balance owed if he made the payments indicated by the dates specified in the notice.… Continue Reading

On behalf of our client RevSpring, Inc., Ballard Spahr has filed an amicus brief in support of the petition for rehearing en banc filed in the Eleventh Circuit by the defendant in Hunstein v. Preferred Collection and Management Services.  In that case, a unanimous Eleventh Circuit panel reversed the lower court’s dismissal of the plaintiff’s FDCPA claim, instead ruling that the plaintiff stated a claim by alleging that a debt collector’s transmittal of the plaintiff’s personal information to the vendor it used to generate and send collection letters “constituted a communication ‘in connection with the collection of any debt’ within the meaning of [FDCPA Section 1692c(b)].” … Continue Reading

Recently, the CFPB and New York Attorney General filed a Complaint against Douglas MacKinnon and members of his immediate family to unwind the allegedly fraudulent conveyance of MacKinnon’s $1.6 million home made shortly after he learned his business practices were the subject of CFPB and NYAG investigations.

This Complaint follows a 2019 consent decree, in which MacKinnon was one of three defendants who had entered a stipulated final judgment with the CFPB and NYAG. … Continue Reading

On April 23, 2021, the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (“DFPI”) issued proposed regulations to implement the Debt Collection Licensing Act (“DCLA”).

Debt collector licenses are required beginning on January 1, 2022 but a debt collector that applies for a license before that date can continue to operate while the application is pending. … Continue Reading