FIA Card Services, NA (FIA) obtained a default judgment in a collection action against Jerome Redman in West Virginia state court. FIA, through its counsel Javitch Block LLC (Javitch), then filed a wage garnishment action against Redman to collect the judgment. Once Redman became aware of the default judgment, he filed a motion to set
A recent opinion issued by the Tenth Circuit serves as further confirmation that plaintiffs bringing Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) claims in federal court must allege sufficient concrete injury — tangible or intangible — to confer Article III standing. The holding also underscores that FDCPA claims predicated on disclosure of debtor information to third
In Hanrahan v. Statewide Collection, Inc., No. 21-16187 (9th Cir. Sep. 1, 2022), the Ninth Circuit affirmed an award of attorneys’ fees in favor of the plaintiff in an action brought under the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (FDCPA). The case makes clear that, although the amount is discretionary, attorney fee awards to prevailing
Earlier this year, the Eleventh Circuit reversed the dismissal of a lawsuit when it held that monthly mortgage statements required by the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) and Regulation Z can constitute communications in connection with the collection of a debt under the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (FDCPA). More recently, the court reaffirmed this
A bankruptcy attorney received a dunning letter from a debt collector, identifying him as the attorney for the consumer named in the letter. Unable to recognize the consumer’s name, the attorney searched his records and determined that he had never represented the consumer.
The attorney filed a Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) suit against
A recent federal district court opinion highlights the potential pitfalls associated with renewals of unsatisfied default judgments. The case, Sarah Pitera v. Asset Recovery Group Inc., No. 2:22-cv-00255-TL (W.D. Wash.), serves as a reminder that judgment creditors must still tread carefully when seeking to collect on, or revive, judgments from yesteryear. Read on for more
The standard courts should use to determine whether an alleged Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) violation is material remains unsettled. According to a recent Tenth Circuit decision, however, the standard should be that of the “reasonable consumer,” not the “least sophisticated consumer.” In other words, “the inquiry is whether the reasonable consumer could
In Bacalzo v. Credit Control, LLC, No. 20-16904 (KMW/MJS) (D.N.J. June 7, 2022), the court granted summary judgment in favor of a debt collector who included multiple contact addresses in a debt collection letter.
Defendant Credit Control LLC (Credit Control) sought to collect a credit card debt owed by plaintiff Linda Bacalzo. As part
In a much anticipated decision released September 8, an en banc panel of the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the district court’s decision that a debt collector’s outsourcing of its letter process to a third-party mail vendor violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act’s (FDCPA) prohibition on third-party disclosure and ruled that plaintiff Hunstein
In Louis v. Deshmukh, Civil Action No. 21-19902 (D.N.J. July 27, 2022), the District of New Jersey denied a motion to dismiss a putative class action, asserting claims under the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (FDCPA) based on statements made in the pleadings in an earlier state court litigation.
Plaintiff Cathelene Louis incurred a