by Jeff Sovern The NY Times has the story here. Excerpt: The director, Andrew M. Smith, has recently represented Facebook, Uber and Equifax — all companies with matters before the commission — and plans to recuse himself from dozens of cases now that he has been confirmed for the post. And in 2012, Mr. Smith was also […]
Category Archives: Debt Collection
Dalié Jiménez of Irvine, Connecticut and Harvard has written Ending Perpetual Debts, 55 Houston Law Review (2018). Here is the abstract: Consumer debts in the United States can effectively live (and grow) forever: most statutes of limitations do not extinguish them; they can morph into relatives’ obligations after the debtor’s death; and they sometimes rise from […]
by Jeff Sovern H.R. 5802 passed the House Financial Services Committee today, on a 35-25 vote. The bill would exempt from the FDCPA any lawyer to the extent that the lawyer "is engaged in litigation activities in connection with a legal action in a court of law to collect a debt . . ." If […]
Ryan Sandler and Charles J. Romeo, both of the CFPB have written The Effect of Debt Collection Laws on Access to Credit. Here's the abstract: Debt collection by third party collection agencies is an important part of the market for consumer credit, but has been little studied in the economics literature. Regulations on debt collection practices […]
by Jeff Sovern I am very late to this particular party, but back in November, the Second Circuit decided ARIAS v. GUTMAN, MINTZ, BAKER & SONNENFELDT LLP, an important FDCPA case dealing with a collector-law firm's attempt to collect funds that were exempt from collection. After the firm froze the money in the consumer's bank account, the […]
by Jeff Sovern AccountsRecovery.Net reports on an interview, largely about debt collection, with the Acting Director of the FTC's Consumer Protection Bureau, Thomas Pahl, at a Receivables Management Association conference this week. Some excerpt: “It’s difficult to speak about where the agency is headed given the organization is changing,” Pahl said during his session, adding that […]
by Jeff Sovern Earlier this week we linked to an op-ed by Mary Spector (SMU), Genevieve Hebert Fajardo (St. Mary’s) and Neil L. Sobol (Texas A&M) criticizing a debt collection bill pending in the House, HR 4550, which would exclude from the FDCPA's coverage attorneys to the extent they are engaging in litigation. Though the bill […]
Writing in the Brownsville Herald, consumer law professors Mary Spector (SMU), Genevieve Hebert Fajardo (St. Mary’s) and Neil L. Sobol (Texas A& M) critique the debt collection bill pending in the House, HR 4550, which would exclude from the FDCPA's coverage attorneys to the extent they are engaging in litigation. Excerpt: House Resolution 4550, would […]
by Jeff Sovern Advocates for some positions sometimes block the federal government from researching or supporting research on issues. For example, supporters of gun rights have long had the votes to prevent the government from obtaining data about gun safety. See, e.g., Newsweek's report titled THE GOVERNMENT WON'T FUND RESEARCH ON GUN VIOLENCE BECAUSE OF […]
According to a report by the Urban Institute. The report breaks down the data by county and other demographic data. AccountsRecovery.Net has a story here. Nearly half of consumers in Louisiana have a debt in collection.