Category Archives: Debt Collection

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!

SCOTUS to Hear Oral Arguments Today in Henson v. Santander, FDCPA Case

Law360's Evan Weinberger reports here (behind paywall). The case will decide whether debt buyers that don't have debt collection as their principal purpose, because, as in Santander's case, the debt buying unit is part of a multipurpose financial institution, are covered by the FDCPA. If the debt buyer wins, will we see debt buyers join with […]

NerdWallet Story on IRS’s Use of Private Debt Collectors

Here.  Excerpt: Debt collectors will be required to comply with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, which is designed to curtail abusive or deceptive behavior. * * * Critics say collection agencies have been known to call delinquent debtors six or more times a week, give inaccurate information and use dubious methods to force payment. […]

NerdWallet Article Explores What CFPB Has Done to Help Consumers

Brad Wolverton's article, Your Wallet Will Suffer If This Agency Is Gutted, is an excellent roundup of the Bureau's accomplishments that cuts across a variety of areas, including student loans, credit cards, debt collection, mortgages, payday loans, credit reporting agencies, auto lending, consumer complaints, military protections, and arbitration. Excerpt: Collectively, for every $1 in federal spending on […]

Pacer Monitor: Challenges to Consumer Debt Regulations Have Legal Scholars on High Alert

Here. Excerpt: [T]here are three cases before the Supreme Court at various stages that not only deal with the CFPB, but with federal regulations that some fear that Trump's nominee, Neil McGill Gorsuch, currently a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, will have no patience with. Correction: An earlier version […]