Category Archives: Debt Collection

Paper: Racial Disparities in Debt Collection

Jessica LaVoice and Domonkos F. Vamossy, both of the University of Pittsburgh's Department of Economics, have written Racial Disparities in Debt Collection. Here is the abstract: A distinct set of disadvantages experienced by black Americans increases their likelihood of experiencing negative financial shocks, decreases their ability to mitigate the impact of such shocks, and ultimately […]

Oh where, oh where has verification gone in the CFPB’s proposed FDCPA regulation?

by Jeff Sovern  Section 1692g(a)(4) requires debt collectors to send consumers a "a statement that if the consumer notifies the debt collector in writing within the thirty-day period that the debt, or any portion thereof, is disputed, the debt collector will obtain verification of the debt or a copy of a judgment against the consumer and a copy of such verification or judgment will be mailed to the consumer by the debt collector . […]

My Bloomberg piece about the CFPB’s FDCPA proposed rules and consumer privacy

by Jeff Sovern Link here Excerpt: [T]the bureau proposal would invade consumer privacy by allowing collectors to bombard consumers with demands for payment. Under the proposal, debt collectors could try the consumer’s phone number seven times a week and leave voicemails each time. That may not sound too bad, but the CFPB reports that nearly […]

Some big problems with the CFPB’s proposal to allow debt collectors to leave limited-content messages over the phone

by Jeff Sovern The more I think about the CFPB's recent proposal to allow debt collectors to leave limited-content messages over the phone, the more I think the proposal has real problems. The proposal would allow debt collectors to leave voicemails or oral messages with whomever answered the phone. To qualify as a limited-content message, […]

Anticipating the CFPB’s Debt Collection Rules

Reporter Renae Merle has a story up at the Washington Post about the debt collection rules that the CFPB is expected to unveil “in a few weeks.” The story was prompted, in part, by a recent speech given by CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger during which she “laid out a business-friendly vision for the CFPB.” The […]

Bloomberg Law Insight: Why the ABA Is Wrong on Amending Debt Collection Bill

by Jeff Sovern That's the title of my essay my colleague Gina Calabrese and I wrote here in Bloomberg Law.  Excerpt: The ABA argues that consumers don’t need protection from unscrupulous lawyers because lawyers are already subject to state ethics rules largely written by the ABA itself. Experience tells us otherwise. When a law firm sued […]

The ABA’s wrongheaded goal of enabling lawyers “engaged in litigation activities” to ignore debt collection law

by Jeff Sovern The federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act provides consumers a variety of protections. Collectors, for example, are barred from making false statements and engaging in unfair practices, and are obliged to give consumers certain disclosures.  But the American Bar Association wants to excuse lawyers "engaged in litigation activities" from complying with the […]