The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recently affirmed a lower court decision finding that a debt collector’s verification and investigation of a consumer’s disputes through its review of records obtained from the creditor was both satisfactory under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and reasonable under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
Under prior director Richard Cordray, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau earned a reputation as an extremely aggressive regulator. However, since acting director Mick Mulvaney took office more than four months ago, the agency has not brought a single enforcement action.
Mulvaney has said that, in general, the CFPB will only go after egregious cases of
On March 21, the House Financial Services Committee voted 35-25 to approve a bill that would amend the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to exclude lawyers and law firms from the definition of a “debt collector” when such entities are engaged in “activities related to legal proceedings.” Introduced by Rep. Alex Mooney (R-W.Va.) in February,
The Supreme Court recently held that civil actions consolidated under Rule 42(a) retain their separate identities, so that a final decision in one action is immediately appealable by the losing party, even if other actions in the consolidated proceeding remain.
Consumer litigation often lends itself to consolidation under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 42 because
On March 22, 2018, the Eastern District of New York granted summary judgment to a collection agency in a “current account balance” case. Specifically, the Court found no violation of the FDCPA because in its letter the debt collector did not have to notify the consumer that her balance may increase and the creditor was
On March 29, 2018, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit rendered a long-awaited opinion in what is commonly called a “reverse-Avila” or “current account balance” case, holding that it is not a violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”) for a debt collector to state a consumer’s
Psychologists say that adolescents and young adults take more risks than any other age group. Perhaps this is why about one in five (21.2%) college students receiving financial aid to pay for their education have invested these loans in a cryptocurrency, according to a recent survey by The Student Loan Report, a website for student
As newspaper articles, academic studies, and politicians’ speeches have repeated, statistics suggest that a student loan crisis may be building. The share of students graduating with more than $50,000 in student loan debt has more than tripled since 2000, increasing from 5% in 2000 to 17% in 2014. As a result, this group of “large-balance
On June 9, 2017, under the leadership of its former director, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a modified civil investigative demand, or “CID,” containing the following Notification of Purpose:
The purpose of this investigation is to determine whether a [sic] student-loan servicers or other persons, in connection with
While Washington debates various reforms to the federal government’s student loan framework, and other states adopt borrowers’ bills of rights to the consternation of the United States Department of Education, other proposals for dealing with the student debt crisis have cropped up in legislatures across the country. In recent weeks, two