Debt Buyers + Collectors

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Last Friday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that would heighten the standards for obtaining class certification by requiring extra scrutiny as to the continuity of the damages claimed by the class representative and the putative class members.  Lawmakers voted 211-188 to pass H.R. 1927, the Fairness in Class Action Litigation and …

On January 7, the Federal Trade Commission announced four new enforcement actions targeting debt collectors and continuing the FTC’s nationwide crackdown of illegal debt collection tactics.  The cases are part of Operation Collection Protection, a coordinated federal-state enforcement initiative targeting deceptive and abusive debt collection practices.  Over the past year, 130 actions have been brought…

On December 16, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released a consent order with EZCORP, Inc., ordering the small-dollar lender and its wholly-owned subsidiaries to refund $7.5 million to 93,000 consumers and pay $3 million in penalties for illegal debt collection practices. 

EZCORP, a financial services company headquartered in Austin, Texas, provides high-cost, short-term, unsecured loans, …

The Supreme Court’s latest arbitration decision is but the latest in a long line of decisions enforcing the strong federal policy enforcing arbitration clauses in consumer contracts. In DirecTV v. Imburgia, a 6-3 decision, Justice Breyer held that the Federal Arbitration Act preempts state laws, in this instance California’s, that invalidate arbitration clauses if…

We have previously reported on ACA International’s appeal from the Federal Communications Commission’s July 2015 Order interpreting the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (“TCPA”) in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, including the joint brief recently filed by petitioners on November 25.

In addition to that joint brief, …

On December 11, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear a case involving Ohio’s “special counsel” law under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”), 15 U.S.C. § 1692-1692p, a case that is likely to have much wider implications involving the standard for determining whether a debt-collection method is “false, deceptive, or misleading.”

According …

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is not showing any signs of slowing down its recent string of enforcement actions.  On December 7, the CFPB filed a complaint against and proposed a consent order with a debt collection company that will require the company to pay at least $2.5 million to settle claims that it …

On February 9-11, 2016, DBA International will host its annual conference – Moving Forward Together – at the Aria Resort & Casino in Las Vegas.

We are pleased to announce that two of our Consumer Financial Services lawyers will serve as faculty at this year’s event.

David Anthony will present “The Devil is in the…

Last week, Missouri’s attorney general proposed reforms to address collection practices that he believes target low-income and minority residents.

Attorney General Chris Koster said he sent a letter to the Missouri Supreme Court’s Commission on Racial and Ethnic Fairness requesting changes in court rules that he said would help prevent unscrupulous collection practices.

“These proposed…

On November 20, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released its eighth semi-annual report.  

The principal focus of the report was an articulation of the data collected by the CFPB through consumer complaints, including those from the debt collection industry.  According to the report, 30 million consumers currently have accounts in collection, with an average …