Earlier this month, New York adopted enhanced consumer debt collection regulations proposed by the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS). The regulations, among other things, require debt collectors to provide consumers additional disclosures, entitle consumers to more information about the money they owe and make it more difficult to collect on time-barred or “zombie” […]
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Is a communication between a debt collector and a credit reporting agency a communication “in connection with the collection of any debt” for purposes of the FDCPA? In a case in which the Eighth Circuit actually found against a debtor on her claim against a collection agency based on the FDCPA, the court nevertheless adopted a standard […]
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In the first U.S. case involving alleged FDCPA violations arising from use of modern technology that generated and disclosed an innocuous internal tracking number, which had no capacity to identify or expose the consumer’s personal financial information, collection agency urges the Third Circuit to reconsider its erroneous decision. Convergent Outsourcing filed a Petition for Rehearing En […]
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A U.S. Circuit Court decision this summer took an extraordinary step when it held that filing a proof of claim on time barred debt is conduct that violates the FDCPA. At the time, attorneys close to both bankruptcy and FDCPA proceedings warned that it would touch off a very real firestorm in that sector. That […]
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What Debt Collectors Need to Know The Second Circuit’s recent decision in Hooks v. Forman has received quite a bit of attention since it was handed down May 29, 2013. The case held that a disclosure made pursuant to 1692g(a) violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act when it instructed the recipient of the letter that if she […]
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The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana) has recently ruled that collection or “dunning” letters sent after the expiration of the applicable statute of limitations violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”) unless they also disclose that the debt may be time-barred. 15 U.S.C. § 1692e and § 1692f of the […]
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There is a split of authority among the circuits as to whether or not a debtor must articulate a dispute in writing under the validation of debts section of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), specifically 15 USC 1692g(a)(3). This is certainly a topic for servicers to monitor because of the strict liability penalties […]
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A collection letter violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) because it stated that the debtor could only dispute the debt in writing, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has ruled. In Hooks v. Forman, Holt, Eliades & Ravin, LLC, the Second Circuit vacated the district court’s dismissal of the complaint for […]
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TITLE VIII – DEBT COLLECTION PRACTICES Sec. Short Title Congressional findings and declaration of purpose Definitions Acquisition of location information Communication in connection with debt collection Harassment or abuse False or misleading representations Unfair practice Validation of debts Multiple debts Legal actions by debt collectors Furnishing certain deceptive forms Civil liability Administrative enforcement Reports to […]
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This case determined that a debt collector’s inaccurate representation to a debtor that her student loans were “ineligible” for bankruptcy discharge was a false, misleading, or deceptive debt collection practice, in violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”), 15 U.S.C. § 1692, et seq. BACKGROUND In 1987, Plaintiff Berlincia Easterling obtained a student […]
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