FDCPA Defense

AUGUST 19, 2013

Beginning in 1995, when the Supreme Court issued Heintz v. Jenkins , 514 U.S. 291 (1995), lawyers have known that if they seek to collect consumer debts for clients – even when doing so through litigation – they might qualify as a "debt collector" under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 U.S.C.

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FDCPA Defense

MARCH 2, 2014

The Dodd-Frank Act gave the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) sweeping authority to prohibit the use of “unfair, deceptive or abusive” acts or practices (“UDAAPs”) in connection with the collection of consumer debts.

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FDCPA Defense

MAY 6, 2014

The Bureau made this point crystal clear in the Bulletin that it issued in July 2013 entitled “ Representations Regarding Effect of Debt Payments on Credit Reports and Scores ” where it claimed that making such statements might amount to a deceptive act or practice in violation of the FDCPA and the Dodd-Frank Act.

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FDCPA Defense

MAY 27, 2014

The CFPB and the FTC have forcefully argued that debt collectors should make an affirmative disclosure to consumers when they are seeking to collect debts that cannot be judicially enforced, and that the failure to make this disclosure may violate the FDCPA. Does a consumer need to be “protected” from repaying his own debts?

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FDCPA Defense

NOVEMBER 11, 2014

Section 1692g of the FDCPA says collectors must provide notice to consumers within five days of the initial communication regarding the debt, stating the amount of the debt, the name of the current creditor, and explaining the consumer’s right to dispute the debt and to obtain verification.

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FDCPA Defense

MARCH 23, 2015

The FDCPA prohibits a collector from placing “any language or symbol” on a debt collection envelope, other than the collector’s address. That’s right, you read that sentence correctly – absolutely nothing can be safely placed on the envelope, except for the collector’s address.

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FDCPA Defense

NOVEMBER 10, 2015

How can a collector accurately identify, track, and respond to consumer disputes when the FDCPA does not define what a “dispute” is? When Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart famously stated, “I know it when I see it,” in Jacobellis v. Ohio , 378 U.S. 184 (1964), he was not talking about consumer disputes.

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FDCPA Defense

DECEMBER 15, 2015

Collection attorneys who are nervous about the risks involved in handling consumer accounts can relax. The CFPB has devised an ideal litigation strategy for you to follow. Let’s take a closer look at what the Bureau wants you to do to make sure it dovetails with the CFPB’s consumer protection goals.

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FDCPA Defense

MAY 21, 2016

The CFPB has entered into consent orders with major creditors, debt buyers and law firms during the past year relating to key areas of their collection practices. The consent orders impose significant new requirements relating to data integrity, dispute handling, debt substantiation, debt sales, affidavit practices, and litigation practices.

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FDCPA Defense

AUGUST 22, 2016

When collectors get sued in an FDCPA action, they face a steep uphill battle.

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FDCPA Defense

JANUARY 22, 2017

(This post is adopted from the materials presented at the CAI Law Seminar in Las Vegas, Nevada on January 20, 2017) Demystifying the FDCPA Class Action For HOA Attorneys Consumer attorneys have been filing FDCPA class actions against collection attorneys for decades, and the pace of those filings has increased sharply in the past ten years.

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FDCPA Defense

MAY 11, 2017

Grappling with the meaning of the so-called “meaningful involvement” doctrine is one of the most elusive and frustrating compliance challenges for collection attorneys and their clients. What exactly must a collection attorney do to ensure they are “meaningfully involved” in a file before sending a collection letter to a consumer?

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FDCPA Defense

SEPTEMBER 26, 2017

Can a bank be sued for acting as a “debt collector” under the California Rosenthal Act? You are probably tempted to answer “yes” it can, because you know the Act defines a “debt collector” to include an entity that is collecting on behalf of itself or on behalf of third parties.

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FDCPA Defense

FEBRUARY 1, 2018

Practitioners should be aware of numerous FDCPA decisions issued during the past year that may significantly impact their compliance obligations and litigation risks. as well as analogous state laws governing the consumer collection process.

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FDCPA Defense

SEPTEMBER 22, 2018

the “FDCPA”) if it never asks the debtor to pay any money? What exactly does the term “debt collection” mean in the context of the FDCPA? Can a communication from a collector violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 U.S.C.

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FDCPA Defense

FEBRUARY 3, 2019

Attorneys who regularly engage in collection work for community associations have increasingly become targets for lawsuits filed by professional consumer attorneys under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA” or “the Act”), 15 U.S.C. and analogous state laws.

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FDCPA Defense

APRIL 17, 2019

Few things are more fundamental in the law than the principle that a lawyer owes a duty of loyalty to the client, a duty to be vigorous advocate within the bounds of the law, and a duty to maintain the client’s confidences and preserve the attorney-client privilege. Clients expect this of their attorneys, as they should.

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FDCPA Defense

JANUARY 8, 2020

If a law firm sends a letter seeking to collect the correct amount, from the correct consumer, on behalf of the correct creditor, can the consumer still sue, claiming the firm violated the FDCPA because no attorney was “meaningfully involved” in preparing the letter? The Sixth Circuit recently held the answer is “no” in Buchholz v.

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