In a case of first impression, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that a debt collector’s mistake about the time-barred status of a debt under state law can qualify as a bona fide error within the meaning of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

In Kaiser v.Continue Reading

Beginning in 2019, all California “debt collectors”—including creditors collecting their own debts regularly and in the ordinary course of business—will be required to provide notice to debtors when collecting on debts that are past the statute of limitations and will be prohibited from suing on such debts. The new law is based on provisions in the 2013 California Fair Debt Buying Practices Act.… Continue Reading

We recently wrote about a new report from the National Consumer Law Center that urges the CFPB to ban the collection of debts on which the statute of limitations has run.  In a blog post published last Sunday on the Consumer Law & Policy Blog, Peter A. Holland, a lawyer and consumer advocate, argues that while “banning the sale of time-barred debt is an excellent start,” the CFPB should go even further “and mandate that banks sell only legitimate accounts, and institute an outright ban on the sale of the bogus, “dirty” accounts.” … Continue Reading

The National Consumer Law Center is urging the CFPB to ban the collection of debts on which the statute of limitations has run.

The recommendation is made in a new NCLC report titled “Zombie Debt: What the CFPB Should Do about Attempts to Collect Old Debt.”  The NCLC argues that “in light of the serious harm to consumers caused by time-barred collections, we urge the CFPB to prohibit all collections of time-barred debt-whether through litigation or non-litigation means-as unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices.” … Continue Reading