A district court in the Eleventh Circuit has joined the Fifth and Eighth circuits, along with a host of district courts throughout the country, in adopting the “benign language” exception to Section 1692f(8) of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, and has dismissed a claim based on a collection letter with a visible barcode containing
Consumers Duped by Telemarketing Debt Collection Scheme Will Soon See Refund Payment
The Federal Trade Commission has begun mailing checks totaling over $830,000 to almost 3,500 consumers who fell victim to a telemarketing debt collection scheme targeting Spanish-speaking consumers for payment of bogus debts. Centro Natural Corp, Sumore LLC, and several individuals operated a telemarketing debt collection scam that used international callers who claimed to be government
Ninth Circuit Holds Trustees Performing Non-Judicial Foreclosures Are Not Debt Collectors Pursuant to FDCPA
The Ninth Circuit recently broke from other circuit courts across the country and held that a trustee to a security agreement is not a debt collector pursuant to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. The case is Vien-Phuong Thi Ho v. Recontrust Co., N.A., No. 10-56884, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 18836 (9th Cir. Oct. 19,
$5.5 Million TCPA Class Action Settlement Against Debt Collector
A class of consumers in multidistrict litigation (MDL) recently filed their Motion for Final Approval of a Telephone Consumer Protection Act class action settlement against a debt collection company, Convergent Outsourcing Inc. (“Convergent”).
Between October 2012 and June 2013, the named plaintiffs initiated separate putative class actions throughout the country alleging that Convergent violated the
TD Bank USA Escapes State Law Credit Reporting Class Action
On October 24, the Middle District of Pennsylvania dismissed a putative class action against TD Bank USA, holding that the plaintiff’s state law claims were preempted by the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The case is Prukala v. TD Bank United States, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 146614 (M.D. Pa. October 24, 2016).
Plaintiff Michael Prukala
TCPA Case Survives Spokeo Motion to Dismiss
On October 19, the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico denied defendants’ motion to dismiss a TCPA putative class action on Spokeo grounds.
In LaVigne v. First Community Bancshares, Inc., et al., the plaintiff contends that the defendants called her on her cell phone approximately 195 to 265 times using
Troutman Sanders Attorney Selected to Serve in Attorney State Chair Program for ACA International
Ethan Ostroff has been selected by ACA International (Association of Credit and Collection Professionals) to serve in the Attorney State Chair Program for the Commonwealth of Virginia. The Attorney State Chair Program provides ACA International units and their members with access to an attorney licensed to practice law in their state. These attorneys have volunteered
Eastern District of New York Rules That Fee May Be Collected with Principal Balance, Requesting Prompt Contact is Permissible
In Igor Vayngurt v. Southwest Credit Systems, L.P., the Eastern District of New York ruled that a debt collector did not violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act by attempting to obtain payment of a collection fee at the same time as the principal balance of the debt and requesting prompt contact in the
Navy Federal Credit Union Ordered to Pay $28.5M for Debt Collection Violations
The nation’s largest credit union, Navy Federal Credit Union, has been ordered to pay $28.5 million for alleged violations of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010.
Navy Federal Credit Union limits its membership to military personnel and their immediate family members. According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, during January 2013 and July 2015,
Supreme Court Grants Cert. In FDCPA Claim Related to Filing of Stale Claims in Bankruptcy
On October 11, 2016, the United States Supreme Court granted the petition for certiorari of Midland Funding, LLC v. Johnson, an appeal from the Eleventh Circuit bringing to a head two issues that has been boiling for several years: (i) whether the filing of an accurate proof of claim for an unextinguished time-barred debt