Search Results: FDCPA

NY Attorney General Settles with Debt Collection Company Over Allegedly Unlawful Student Loan Debt Collection Practices

On September 14, 2020, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced that she secured protections for thousands of student borrowers who defaulted on student loans and who were allegedly subject to misleading and unlawful actions by one of the nation’s largest debt collectors.  The settlement agreement resolves an investigation of…

Read More

CFPB Files Suit Against California Debt Collectors

On September 8, 2020, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced it filed a complaint against a group of California-based debt collection companies and their subsidiaries.  The complaint, filed in the Southern District of California, alleges the defendants violated the terms of a 2015 consent order (the Order) with the…

Read More

FTC Settles With Operators of Debt Collection Scheme, Permanently Barring Defendants From Debt Collection

FTC

On December 11, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced it had reached a settlement with the remaining Defendants in an enforcement action against multiple related companies and their controllers involved in an alleged phantom debt scheme in which the Defendants pressured consumers into paying non-existent debts by threatening legal action…

Read More

Seventh Circuit Imposes Strict Requirements for FDCPA Validation Notices Delivered Via Email

On August 8, 2019, the Seventh Circuit, in Lavallee v. Med-1 Solutions, LLC, 932 F.3d 1049 (7th Cir. 2019), ruled that emails to consumers from debt collectors containing hyperlinks to information regarding debt, including validation notices, are not “communications” under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA).  Therefore, the court…

Read More

CFPB Announces $236,000 Settlement With Illinois Debt Collector

On August 28, 2019, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announ​ced a settlement with an Illinois-based debt collection company, resolving allegations that the company engaged in deceptive practices in violation of the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA), 12 U.S.C. §§ 5531 and 5536, and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), 15 U.S.C….

Read More

CFPB and New York AG Settle Claims with Debt Collection Group for $65 Million

On July 25, 2019, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) and the New York Attorney General (“New York AG”) announced that they have filed two proposed settlements with three debt collection companies and two individuals who conducted business together in Buffalo, New York.  The proposed settlements were filed in the U.S. District Court for…

Read More

Eleventh Circuit Holds FDCPA "Plausibly" Violated Despite Lack of Express Threat of Litigation

On April 5, 2019, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision holding that a plaintiff asserted a plausible claim under a provision of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) that forbids debt collectors from using “false, deceptive, or misleading representation[s] or means in connection with the collection…

Read More

Supreme Court Hears Argument on Future of FDCPA Landscape

The issue of whether the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) applies to non-judicial foreclosure proceedings is now squarely before the U.S. Supreme Court.  Following oral arguments last week in the case Obduskey v. Wells Fargo, et al., No. 17-1307, the Justices will be tasked with deciding whether non-judicial foreclosures qualify…

Read More

FTC and New York AG Sue Operators of Debt Collection Scheme

FTC

On November 1, 2018, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and the New York Attorney General’s Office announced their lawsuit against a New York-based debt collection operation, which alleges that the debt collection entities tricked people into agreeing to pay more money than what they allegedly owed in violation of Section 13(b) of the…

Read More

First Half of 2018 Sees Significant Decline in Publicly Announced or Publicly Filed Enforcement Activity

During the first half of 2018, Enforcement Watch tracked 40 publicly announced or publicly filed enforcement actions involving consumer financial services companies. The 18 enforcement actions tracked during Q1 2018 represent a substantial decrease from the 46 actions tracked in Q1 2017. That trend continued in Q2 2018, with Enforcement Watch…

Read More

New York AG Announces Court Order Requiring Debt Collectors to Pay $27 Million

On September 21, New York Attorney General Barbara D. Underwood announced a stipulated court order against three entities and individuals for illegal debt collection practices (collectively, “defendants”), which permanently bans the defendants from the debt collection industry and requires collective payment of almost $27 million in restitution and damages. The court…

Read More

FTC Settles for Nearly $3.5 Million with Debt Collectors Over Alleged Debt Collection Scheme

FTC

​On September 7, 2018, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a settlement with a Georgia debt collection company and its principals over alleged illegal collection practices. In October 2017, the FTC filed an action against the defendants alleging violations of the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTC Act), 15 U.S.C. §§ 45(a), 53(b),…

Read More

CFPB Settles With Debt Collection Company and CEO for $6 Million

On July 13, 2018, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced a settlement with a debt collection company and its CEO for allegedly illegal debt-collection acts and practices. According to the CFPB, the company collected on consumer debts using various debt collection companies that allegedly engaged in unfair and deceptive practices in violation of…

Read More