by Jeff Sovern My co-author, Kate Walton, and I have posted a draft of our new article, Are Validation Notices Valid? An Empirical Evaluation of Consumer Understanding of Debt Collection Validation Notices to SSRN. We would love comments on this version. Here's the abstract: A principal protection against the collection of consumer debts that are […]
Category Archives: Debt Collection
InsideArm.com reports that it "has learned from multiple industry sources" that the CFPB will hold a Small Business Regulatory Fairness Enforcement Act (SBREFA) proceeding the week of August 22 in connection with the Bureau's forthcoming debt collection regulations. The Bureau has to convene the SBREFA proceeding before proposing the new rules. Just to give a sense […]
or click here. Brilliant. Best line (and one I'm planning to use in my forthcoming FDCPA article): No good guy business model has ever been based on the logic of "what, don't worry about people's legal rights. I'm pretty sure half these unsophisticated morons can't read, right guys?"
Here. In the Maryland Bar Journal. And here is the abstract: This article examines current trends in debt buyer litigation, including a review of recent regulatory actions and the impact of debt buyer lawsuits on individual consumers and on small claims courts. The article calls for a ban on the sale of consumer junk debt […]
Here. (HT: Peter Holland)
by Jeff Sovern Yesterday the Supreme Court decided the Sheriff case. One oddity about the case has to do with whether immaterial misrepresentations give rise to liability under the FDCPA. Several circuits have held that misrepresentations have to be material to generate FDCPA liability. See, e.g., Donohue v. Quick Collect, Inc., 562 F.3d 1027 (9th […]
Here. SCOTUSBlog coverage by Ronald Mann here. And for more commentary on Spokeo, see Paul Bland's thoughts here.
The vote was supposedly to take place on May 4–two days ago–but I can't find a record of it on the FCC web site. (HT: Norm Silber).
Here. Here is the Executive Summary: Debt buyers, specialized debt-collection companies, purchase defaulted consumer debt from creditors such as credit card companies for pennies on the dollar. Debt buyers then attempt to collect the debt, often by suing borrowers in court. Unfortunately, because debts are typically sold to debt buyers without fully verifying the accuracy […]
In a speech February 25 at the CFPB's Consumer Advisory Board meeting, CFPB Director Richard Cordray identified nine "key areas where we hope to make substantial progress over the next two years." He also noted, however, that "these goals do not capture all of the important work we are doing." The nine goals are: First, […]