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In FTC v. Am. Future Sys., No. 20-2266, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 83401, at *3-4 (E.D. Pa. Apr. 30, 2021), Judge Slomsky allowed the FTC to proceed on unfair debt collection claims against a debt collection agency collecting on business related education and publication debts. On May 13, 2020, the FTC initiated this action against American Future Systems, Inc. ("AFS"),… Read More

In Campbell v. Douglas Knights & Assocs., No. 21-cv-01667-JCS, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 84499, at *14-16 (N.D. Cal. May 3, 2021), Judge Spero dismissed and FDCPA because it did not arise from a "debt". Here, the letters attached to the Complaint indicates that Douglas, Knight & Associates is an insurance subrogation agent seeking to collect on behalf of an insurance… Read More

In Hunstein v. Prefeerred Collection and Management Services, Inc., the Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit addressed the question whether a debt collector's use of a mail-service to send its dunning letters, and sharing the debtor's information required to do so, violates the FDCPA. The short story: A debt collector electronically transmitted data concerning a consumer’s debt—including his name,… Read More

In Blackmon v. Ad Astra Recovery Servs., Case No.: 20-CV-800-CAB-JLB, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 75878 (S.D. Cal. April 20, 2021), Judge Bencivengo granted summary judgment to a debt collector who was alleged to have committed errors in connection with handling a purported claim of identity theft.   After the debtor failed to submit an affidavit of theft or police report but then… Read More

The CFPB issued an interim final rule that is effective May 3, 2021 to address certain debt collector conduct associated with an eviction moratorium issued by the CDC. The rule provides that debt collectors, as defined in the FDCPA, are required to provide written notice to certain consumers of their protections under the CDC Order’s eviction moratorium. Also, debt collectors… Read More

In Smith v. Stewart, Zlimen & Jungers, Ltd. (8th Cir. 2021) 990 F.3d 640, the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal of consolidation actions under the FDCPA against the same debt collection law firm and declined to hold that a FDCPA claim is stated ipso facto because the debt collector lost the underlying collection action. In underlying collections actions… Read More

In Henson v. Nationwide Credit, No. CV 20-11402 PA (MRWx), 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 68689 (C.D. Cal. Apr. 7, 2021), Judge Anderson dismissed an FDCPA case challenging a debt collector’s disclosures in its validation letter. In determining whether conduct violates [the FDCPA, courts within the Ninth Circuit] undertake objective analysis of the question whether the 'least sophisticated debtor would likely… Read More

In Willison v. Nelnet, Inc., No. 20-3538, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 8921 (6th Cir. Mar. 25, 2021), the Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit found that a student loan rehabilitation company was not subject to the FDCPA. Uncontradicted evidence clearly shows that Nelnet obtained Willison's loans for servicing after they were no longer in default. Willison participated in the… Read More

In Johnson v. Heuer Law Offices, No. 19-CV-1171-JPS-JPS, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 56709 (E.D. Wis. Mar. 25, 2021), Judge Stadtmueller granted summary judgment to a debt collection law firm who was alleged not to have “meaningful involvement” in the sending of dunning letters.  The Judge Stadmueller held that although the Plaintiff clearly had emotional distress tied to the law firm’s… Read More

In Valentine v. Unifund CCR, Inc., 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 44747, the court granted a motion to dismiss on the putative class action claim that the debt collector’s name being visible through a glassine window violated the FDCPA’s prohibition on using a debt collector’s name unless the name does not indicate it is in the debt collection business: As discussed,… Read More

The 3rd Circuit upheld a summary judgment ruling that dismissed a putative class action against a law firm: Candace Moyer brought a putative class action against Patenaude  &  Felix,  A.P.C.  under  the  Fair  Debt  Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”) after Patenaude sent her a collection letter inviting her to “eliminate further collection action” by calling  Patenaude.  Moyer  claimed  that  this  invitation … Read More

In Iou Cent., Inc. v. Shore Appliance Connection Inc., No. 1:20-cv-2367-MLB, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 50674 (N.D. Ga. Mar. 18, 2021), Judge Brown found the FDCPA’s venue provision inapplicable to a dispute because the transaction was commercial and not consumer. Shore Defendants argue the applicable statute is the venue provision in [*6]  the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ("FDCPA"): 15 U.S.C.… Read More

In Kaiser v. Cascade Capital, LLC, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 6754, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the ruling of the District Court for the District of Oregon that granted a motion to dismiss where the District Court reasoned the debt collector did not violate the FDCPA prohibitions on attempting to collect on a time barred debt because the… Read More

On January 15, 2021, the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a small entity compliance guide summarizing the October 2020 debt collection rule. The small entity compliance guide is available here. Earlier, the October 2020 debt collection rule amended Regulation F to implement most of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act’s (FDCPA), including, among other things, communications in connection with… Read More

In Donovan v. FirstCredit, Inc., No. 20-3485, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 39798 (6th Cir. Dec. 18, 2020) the Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit reversed the trial court’s ruling granting FirstCredit’s motion for judgment on the pleadings and in doing so, rejected a “benign language” exception to 15 U.S.C. § 1692f(8) of  the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”).… Read More

In Hanrahan v. Statewide Collection, Inc., No. 19-cv-00157-MMC, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 242290 (N.D. Cal. Dec. 23, 2020), Judge Chesney granted partial summary judgment to a Rosenthal Act Plaintiff.  She held that the bond fide error rule can apply to mistakes of fact, but not where the mistake occurred with respect to a well-publicized error made by the debt collector.… Read More

In Nettles v. Midland Funding LLC, No. 19-3327, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 40012 (7th Cir. Dec. 21, 2020), the Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit declined to address arbitration of an FDCPA case because of lack of Art. III jurisdiction to start. Most of the briefing concerns the arbitration issue, but the parties also identify a possible problem with… Read More

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