Debt Buyers + Collectors

On December 8, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) (collectively, the agencies) filed an amici curiae brief urging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit to reverse a district court’s decision finding that furnishers need not investigate indirect disputes involving purely legal questions under the Fair Credit Reporting…

The status of the Louisiana Public Service Commission’s (“Commission”) potential enforcement of the available emergency measures pursuant to the Do Not Call General Order (Docket No. R_29617, decided Oct. 11, 2006) (“DNC Order”) has been unclear. While these emergency measures generally have been imposed during prior emergencies, they presently remain unimplemented despite Governor John Bel…

In a recent decision, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois granted a debt collector’s motion to dismiss a debtor’s breach of contract claim in a putative class action, leaving for adjudication the debtor’s claims under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”).  The case is Burdette-Miller v. Williams & Fudge, …

While Washington debates various reforms to the federal government’s student loan framework, and other states adopt borrowers’ bills of rights to the consternation of the United States Department of Education, other proposals for dealing with the student debt crisis have cropped up in legislatures across the country. In recent weeks, two such efforts…

On Friday, July 10, the Federal Communications Commission enacted major changes and clarifications to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (“TCPA”). Approved on a contentious 3-2 vote by the FCC commissioners, the FCC released its Declaratory Ruling and Order (FCC 15-72) formally stating its interpretation of numerous provisions of TCPA.

The TCPA…

On March 27, 2014, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) issued two declaratory rulings regarding the definition of “prior express consent” under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”).  In the first ruling, Cargo Airline Association obtained an exemption under the TCPA’s “prior express consent” restriction on autodialed and prerecorded telephone calls and text messages to wireless…