The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled that under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, debt collectors contacting third parties to locate debtors must show that the contact was purely to locate the debtor. In this case, Patricia Evankavitch, the Plaintiff, filed a lawsuit against the debt collection agency Green Tree after…
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One of the largest debt buyers in the United States has been ordered to pay nearly $83 million in punitive damages to a Kansas City woman whom it had sued over a $1,000 credit card debt. Portfolio Recovery Associates LLC says it mistakenly pursued Maria Guadalupe Meija (51) in an attempt to collect a debt…
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In a recent press release, the United States Department of Education (DoED) announced that it is ending contracts with five private debt collectors. This news comes to us in the wake an internal review conducted by the DoED’s Federal Student Aid (FSA) office. The FSA evaluated more than 20 private collection agencies in order to…
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Two debt collectors, both headquartered in Buffalo, NY, have had complaints filed against them by the Federal Trade Commission according to a recent press release from the FTC. The FTC, along with the NY State Office of the Attorney General, is suing two separate, Buffalo-based debt collection groups for alleged violations of the Fair Debt Collection…
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Reuters reports that, last month, over 100,000 potential plaintiffs were permitted to pursue a class action against a New York-based debt collector and law firm. The claim is that both Leucadia National Corp and the Mel S. Harris law firm were using ‘sewer service‘ to win default judgments in cases against debtors. Sewer service is…
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Harassing debt collectors seeking payment for “phantom debt” are becoming more common, says the FTC. Thousands of Spanish-speaking consumers were targeted by debt collectors Centro Natural Corp. and Sumore LLC, who tricked them into paying over $2 million in phantom debts. A “phantom debt” is any claim for payment which is too old to collect,…
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Earlier today, ABC News reported that phony debt collectors are calling thousands of innocent people across the country, illegally threatening them with jail time and other legal action. If you follow the Credit Law Blog, you’re probably already aware that this is a direct violation of the FDCPA (Fair Debt Collection Practices Act). The FDCPA…
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Vietnam War veteran Dana Franks of Iowa is under pressure from an Omaha, Nebraska-based debt collection firm to pay over $15,000 for a $5,000 credit card debt from 2006. The debt stems from a Capital One credit card Franks used after the passing of his wife eight years ago. While Franks would like to settle…
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On September 17th, 2014, a federal judge certified a class action alleging that Safeguard Properties LLC broke the law when it hung “please call” notes on the doorknob of a homeowner in an attempt to obtain a return call. Door hangers were left on the front door of Lucille Simpson five times between October 2012…
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Have you been receiving pre-recorded messages or automated phone calls to your cellphone from debt collectors? It seems you’re not the only one. Last month, USCB Inc., a receivable and resource management company, agreed to a $2.75 million settlement that will be paid out to roughly 12,000 consumers in order to resolve a Telephone Consumer Protection…
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