Category Archives: Debt Collection

FTC Consumer Bureau Acting Director Pahl: FTC Will Continue Going After the “Worst of the Worst”

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 […]

House Financial Services Committee Markup of Bill to Exclude Lawyers Litigating Debt Collection Cases from FDCPA Deferred Until March

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 […]

Spector, Fajardo, and Sobol: Debt bill hurts consumers

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 […]

Does Cancellation of the Debt Collection Notice Survey Mean Lawmaking in the Dark Has Come to the CFPB?

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 […]

Nerd Wallet Publishes Important Collection of Stories About Rent-to-Own

by Jeff Sovern The landing page is here.  Here is an excerpt from one story, Kicking in Doors and Crushing Credit: How Rent-A-Center Torments Customers, though other stories on the web site merit attention, and there is more to this one than we can include here: Virginia real estate investor Olivia Quinn says she lost her […]

Arbel Article Proposes that Administrative Agencies Sanction Filing of Baseless Claims Filed Against Consumers

Yonathan A. Arbel of Alabama has written Adminization: Gatekeeping Consumer Contracts, Vanderbilt Law Review, Forthcoming.  Here's the abstract: Large companies and debt collectors frequently file unmeritorious claims against consumers. Recent high-profile actions brought by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) against JP Morgan, Citibank, and large debt collectors illustrate the breadth and importance of this phenomenon. Due to […]

Report: Debt collectors flex muscle in people’s court, system not much help to people who owe

by Jeff Sovern Here, in The News-Press. Debt buyers use small claims courts to get judgments to enforce debts even though it is not clear how often those debt buyers can prove the facts pertaining to the debt. Excerpt: Of more than 1,800 small claims cases filed in Lee County over the first five months […]

House Subcommittee Hearing on Debt Collection Bills, Including One to Extend FDCPA to Debt Buyers

The hearing was held by the House Financial Services Committee Subcommittee on Financial Services and Consumer Credit. The ACA has a report here.  Nine bills were under discussion. Excerpt: “Just to give everyone an idea, H.R. 864, the Stop Debt Collection Abuse Act, was a bipartisan effort on behalf of myself, [U.S. Reps. Keith Ellison, […]