On August 5, 2020, the US Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs ordered the Stopping Harm and Implementing Enhanced Lead-time for Debts for Veterans Act of 2020 (the “Act”), formerly known as the Veteran Debt Fairness Act of 2019, to move forward in the legislative process. The Act seeks to substantively amend Chapter 53, title
On July 31, Judge J. Michael Seabright, in the District of Hawaii, denied a Defendant debt collector’s motion for summary judgment. In doing so, the Court rejected the Defendant’s argument that it could rely on an informal email from a state agency regarding compliance advice.
Previously, DNF Associates, LLC (“DNF”) had filed a lawsuit
In a recent decision out of the Middle District of Tennessee, a medical provider’s third-party billing servicer did not qualify as a debt collector under the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (“FDCPA”) because the debt was not in default when it was placed with the extended billing office. The issue on summary judgment was simple:
The Middle District of Pennsylvania recently held that including line items for interest and fees in a debt collection letter when no interest or fees are sought does not violate the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (“FDCPA”).
In Reyes v. Associated Credit Servs., No. 1:19-CV-01670 (M.D. Pa. July 6, 2020), the plaintiff received a
On July 23, 2020, the Senate unanimously passed S. 3841. This bill protects stimulus funds provided under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”) from being garnished by private debt collectors. This protection is similar to how Social Security payments are barred from garnishment. S. 3841 was first introduced by a
Does a judicial foreclosure action constitute “debt collection activity” under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”)? The answer depends on whether the creditor attempts to recover the unpaid mortgage balance or just the property, according to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in Barnes v. Routh Crabtree Olson, P.C.
Due
In Anglin v. Merchants Credit Corporation, No. 2:18-cv-507-BJR, 2020 WL 4000966 (W.D. Wash. July 15, 2020), United States District Judge Barbara Jacobs Rothstein held that the defendants did not violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”) by failing to follow state procedural rules in obtaining a writ of garnishment as part of
Effective June 29, 2020, Colorado has enacted a new law implementing a temporary moratorium on “extraordinary” debt collection activities and exempting certain property from levy and sale under a writ of attachment or execution. The bill was signed into law by Governor Jared Polis as part of a package of bills passed to help Colorado
On July 28, 2020, Troutman Pepper attorneys, Maryia Jones (Virginia Beach office) and Stephen J. Steinlight (New York – East Side office) will serve again on the faculty for their webinar series by Lorman Educational Services entitled, “Collection Disputes: A Good Defense Is the Best Offense.”
The credit and collection industry remain under
One of the first lines of defense when defending allegations of a statutory violation is the statute of limitations. As a complete bar to a plaintiff’s claims, the statute of limitations is one of the most powerful tools in a defense litigator’s pocket. Recently, the Fourth Circuit joined the Sixth, Eighth, and Tenth Circuits in
