On February 7, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit affirmed the district court’s Order granting a motion for judgment on the pleadings and holding that a charged-off loan made by a lender licensed under the Consumer Discount Company Act (“CDCA”) that is subsequently sold to a third-party debt collector is no longer subject to the CDCA and collecting on the debt without holding a CDCA license is not in and of itself a violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”).… Continue Reading

The CFPB recently filed two amicus briefs, one in a First Circuit case involving the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and the other, which was filed jointly with the Federal Trade Commission, in a Fourth Circuit case involving the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).

FDCPA.  The FDCPA case is Carrasquillo v.Continue Reading

The CFPB announced last week that it has entered into a consent order with Commonwealth Financial Systems, Inc. (Commonwealth), a third-party debt collection company that collects past-due medical debts and furnishes information about consumers to consumer reporting agencies (CRAs), to resolve Commonwealth’s alleged violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). … Continue Reading

The CFPB has issued its annual Fair Debt Collection Practices Act report covering the CFPB’s debt collection activities in 2022.  The report incorporates information from the FTC’s most recent annual letter to the CFPB describing its 2022 activities in the debt collection market.

CFPB Report. The CFPB report includes a “spotlight” section on the collection of medical bills. … Continue Reading

The Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division in Jennifer Woo-Padva v. Midland Funding, LLC, recently affirmed the dismissal of consumer fraud claims brought against a debt collector pursuant to the New Jersey Consumer Finance Licensing Act (CFLA), holding that a debt purchaser is not liable under the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act (NJCFA) for failing to obtain a state license under the CFLA.… Continue Reading

A New York federal district court has denied a motion to dismiss the lawsuit filed in January 2022 by the CFPB against three companies that purchase portfolios of defaulted debts (Corporate Defendants) and three individuals who are owners and/or officers of the Corporate Defendants (Individual Defendants). 

The lawsuit alleges that the Corporate Defendants contracted with debt collectors to collect consumer debts on their behalf either directly or through other debt collectors or sold consumer debts to debt collectors, some of whom were contractually required to make ongoing payments to the Corporate Defendants. … Continue Reading

American Bankers Association (ABA), Association of Credit and Collection Professionals (ACA International), U.S. Chamber of Commerce (Chamber), Synchrony Bank (Synchrony), and National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) submitted comment letters in response to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s request for information, about medical credit cards and other lending products used to pay for health care expenses.… Continue Reading

A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently held that because of the timing of a filing in a collection action against a student loan borrower, his claim that debt collectors violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) was not time-barred, reversing the lower court’s dismissal. … Continue Reading

The Nevada Legislature recently passed Senate Bill 276 (“SB 276”), which permits employees of Collection Agencies to work from remote locations and exempts certain entities from qualifying as a “Collection Agency.”  The provisions of SB 276 relevant to Collection Agencies will become effective on October 1, 2023.

SB 276 amends Nev.… Continue Reading

In advance of a hearing scheduled for tomorrow on medical billing and collections in which the focus will be medical payment products such as medical credit cards and installment loans, the CFPB, jointly with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and U.S. Department of Treasury (Treasury), has issued a request for information (RFI) regarding medical payment products. … Continue Reading