Category Archives: Debt Collection

Am. Banker Reports CFPB Expected to Issue Third Party Debt Collection Rule by Early 2018

Here. It might even happen by the end of this year. Excerpt: "Creditors should be responsible since they are our customers," said Dong Hong, vice president and senior counsel at the Consumer Bankers Association. "For the most part, we're fine with the disclosure regime the CFPB is creating.

David Dayen’s Take on Henson v. Santander

Here in The American Prospect.  Excerpt: [The case] gave some of the worst bottom-feeders in the economy a free pass to break the law. * * * “It's almost a road map to me on how you can avoid the FDCPA,” says noted consumer bankruptcy attorney Max Gardner, who runs a boot camp for lawyers […]

SCOTUS Rules Unanimously: Debt Buyers Not Debt Collectors Under FDCPA

by Jeff Sovern The decision in Henson v. Santander is here.  A debt buyer could still qualify as a debt collector under the FDCPA if debt collection is the "principal purpose" of its business, under 1692a(6), but if collections is not the principal purpose of its business, as is true of Santander, it will not be […]

Law360’s Evan Weinberger: CFPB Could Avoid Fight With New Debt Collection Plan

Here.  We reported on the plan to separate debt collection regulation into two rules on Thursday. Weinberger reports on speculation on the Bureau's motivation in proceeding in that fashion: But doing the less controversial update of debt collection communications and disclosures first could also potentially allow the CFPB to avoid any rule getting invalidated by […]

CFPB Alters Plan for Debt Collection Regs

by Jeff Sovern Last summer, the CFPB issued a document indicating its tentative plan for third-party debt collector regulation, and saying that it was going to move forward on first-party debt collectors separately. Today, CFPB Director Richard Cordray gave a speech saying that in light of feedback the Bureau had received, it has: now decided to […]

Times: No, Your Phone Didn’t Ring. So Why Voice Mail From a Telemarketer?

Here. Excerpt: [C]alls are quietly deposited through a back door, directly into a voice mail box — to the surprise and (presumably) irritation of the recipient, who cannot do anything to block them. Regulators are considering whether to ban these messages. They have been hearing from ringless voice mail providers and pro-business groups, which argue […]

SCOTUS: Filing of Time-Barred Proof of Claim in Bankruptcy Does Not Violate FDCPA

by Jeff Sovern That's the decision in Midland Funding, LLC v. Johnson. But the decision about asserting time-barred claims seems to be limited to bankruptcy matters.  As for whether the claim was deceptive or misleading, the Court noted that the proof of claim indicated on its face that it was time-barred.  The Court also wrote: [T]o […]

Dalie Jimenez and Others Developing Self-Help Kits for Consumers with Debt Problems

Report here. Excerpt: One of Jiménez’s biggest undertakings to date is the Financial Distress Research Project, an initiative she supervises with James Greiner and Lois Lupica, law professors at Harvard and the University of Maine law schools respectively. The goal of the enterprise – a signature project of the Access to Justice Lab at Harvard […]

How Effective Are Threats in Debt Collection? Experiment Finds Threats of Prosecution for Nonpayment of Taxes More Effective Than Other Messsages Tested

Bloomberg reports in a story headlined How Detroit Deadbeats Taught Tax Collectors That Threats Really Work, on a study by Ben S. Meiselman titled Ghostbusting in Detroit: Evidence on Nonfilers from a Controlled Field Experiment.  No wonder some debt collectors use threats!