On June 12, 2017, the United States Supreme Court rendered a unanimous decision holding that a company collecting debts that it purchased for its own account does not meet the statutory definition of “debt collector” under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) because the debts are no longer “owed or due another.” We previously

According to a new class action Complaint filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, Discover Bank (“Discover”) and Kohn Law Firm S.C. (“Kohn”) violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) by publishing consumers’ credit scores as part of state court collection actions

On May 15, 2017, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the Eleventh Circuit erred when it found a debt buyer liable under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act for filing proofs of claim in bankruptcy on debts that had become time-barred. A copy of the Court’s opinion can be found here.

Background

In

On May 8, an Arizona federal judge held that a defendant debt collector was not entitled to a “bona fide error” defense in a claim brought under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act because the collector failed to show it had either a policy or procedure in force to address the specific error in the

On April 18, the United States Supreme Court heard long-awaited oral arguments in a case that addresses the fundamental issue of the definition of a “debt collector” under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.  The Supreme Court’s decision will resolve an existing Circuit split on whether an entity that purchases defaulted debts and then attempts

On April 17, the Eastern District of Virginia dismissed sua sponte a suit against a collection agency alleging that the debt collector failed to properly update the plaintiff consumer’s credit report, thereby violating the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.  Relying on the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in

The United States District Court for the District of New Jersey recently dismissed a putative Fair Debt Collection Practices Act class action against defendant debt collector, Retrieval-Masters Creditors Bureau, Inc. (“RMCB”), over allegedly violative letters dealing with unpaid E-ZPass tolls.  A copy of the opinion can be found here.

As background, plaintiff Thomas E.

In Hinderstein v. Advanced Call Ctr. Techs., No. 15-100017 (C.D. Cal. Feb. 27, 2017), a case alleging violation of the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and California’s Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act before the United States District Court for the Central District of California, the Court found that a relatively high call

Plaintiff Yvette Palmer filed a Fair Debt Collection Practices Act case against defendant debt collector, Enhanced Recovery Company (ERC), for ERC’s alleged concealment of its identity as a debt collector while attempting to collect a debt and to obtain information to collect debt.  ERC filed a motion for summary judgment, arguing