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
When mortgage servicers use periodic statements sent under the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) to collect a debt, they can be held liable under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) for any misleading or unconscionable representations made in those statements. Applying this reasoning, the Eleventh Circuit recently overturned a dismissal of a FDCPA case
In Palacio v. Med. Fin. Sols., No. 21 CV 1288 (N.D. Ill. June 14, 2022), the court granted summary judgment in favor of the defendant, finding that it did not qualify as a “debt collector” under the Fair Debt Collections Practice Act (FDCPA).
Defendant Medical Financial Solutions (Medical Financial) works with medical care
“Convenience” fees charged to consumers for the use of certain debt payment options have come under increased scrutiny, as regulators have sought to limit charges and other back-end fees that may come as a surprise to consumers. Also known as “pay-to-pay” fees, such convenience charges are typically imposed by debt collectors and/or loan servicers where
On June 29, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) issued an advisory opinion focused on consumer debt collectors and the convenience fees they charge for some payments, such as online or by phone.
Convenience fees — common in many types of financial transactions — have recently been categorized as “junk fees” by the
A consumer made charges on a credit card account, which she failed to pay as agreed. The creditor referred the account to a law firm, which served the consumer with a collection suit and obtained a default judgment for the balance. The law firm sent four post-judgment collection letters, demanding the $4,225.74 balance. In a