Photo of Mark J. Windham

Mark is counsel in the firm’s Consumer Financial Services Practice Group. Mark’s practice includes representing national, regional and local banks, nonbank lenders, and mortgage servicers in federal and state litigation.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit recently held, for a second time, that a consumer need not receive notice of a potential violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act in order for the statute of limitations to start; rather, the focus remains on when the injury occurs. A copy of the

Vanessa Smith was involved in a traffic accident in Arkansas and received a citation.  In connection with the accident, Nationwide Mutual Insurance and Investments obtained a default judgment against Smith.  The insurer then assigned the judgment to The McHughes Law Firm, LLC for collection.  Smith subsequently entered into a payment plan with McHughes

A federal court in Pennsylvania recently awarded summary judgment in favor of a consumer who brought a suit under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act against a collection agency. The plaintiff alleged, and the Court agreed, that the collection letter misleadingly indicated that a dispute could be made by phone, despite the letter’s inclusion of

2018 was a busy year in the consumer financial services world. As we navigate the continuing heavy volume of regulatory change and forthcoming developments from the Trump administration, Troutman Sanders is uniquely positioned to help its clients successfully resolve problems and stay ahead of the compliance curve.  

In this report, we share developments on

A law firm not specializing in debt collection activity is not a “debt collector” under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act because it was not “regularly” engaged in debt collection, according to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.  The case is Reyes v. Steeg Law.

Plaintiff Nicole Reyes filed a class

The Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recently upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit against a debt collector for allegedly violating the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act by sending a collection letter containing an incorrect reference to the location of the debt validation disclosures required by the FDCPA. The case is O’Boyle v. Real

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recently held that a borrower failed to establish an actual harm resulting from his mortgage servicer’s response to a Qualified Written Request (“QWR”), thus affirming the lower court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the servicer.  The use of QWRs is a common and growing

The Northern District of Illinois recently held that a collection letter sent to a consumer’s attorney seeking payment on a debt discharged in bankruptcy did not violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act based on the “competent lawyer” standard.  The case is Grajny v. Credit Control, LLC, No. 18-C-2719, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 173682,