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November 2015

FHA Won’t Reduce Your Mortgage, But it Will Sell it to Investors at a Steep Discount

A report by The Atlantic reveals that the Housing and Urban Development Department (HUD), has been selling large numbers of delinquent, FHA-insured mortgages. When a borrower can’t afford to pay her mortgage, the bank that owns the mortgage will make a claim on its FHA insurance. FHA pays the bank and in exchange, it becomes… Read More »FHA Won’t Reduce Your Mortgage, But it Will Sell it to Investors at a Steep Discount

Bad Debt Collectors and Their Prey: NYT Editorial Board

An excellent November 17, 2015 New York Times editorial highlights several widespread abusive collection practices, and calls on states to update collection and garnishment laws to better protect consumers from predatory debt collectors. “For example, companies that buy up consumer debt for pennies on the dollar from creditors and then try to recover the full debt for themselves often pursue people for debts that are too old to be legally collected or fake documents intended to show that the debt is authentic.” For years, consumer advocates have been pointing out these types of abuses. Perhaps the NYT coverage will lead to greater public awareness and thereby subject collectors and the court system to greater scrutiny. The editorial is reprinted in full below:

Read More »Bad Debt Collectors and Their Prey: NYT Editorial Board

Whether Debt Collectors Break The Law By Sending Letters On Debts Discharge In Bankruptcy

After a bankruptcy discharge, some debt collectors and mortgage servicers send collection letters that don’t distinguish between people who owe debts, those who have filed bankruptcy and even those who have received a discharge in bankruptcy. Instead, they send the exact same debt collection letter to everybody, and just add some boilerplate language that (so… Read More »Whether Debt Collectors Break The Law By Sending Letters On Debts Discharge In Bankruptcy

Debt Buyers Seek to Escape Liability By Invoking Their Predecessors’ Forced Arbitration Clauses

Forced arbitration is a widespread problem for American consumers. Corporations bury complex terms in fine print, and then argue that consumers “agree” to arbitration in everyday contracts. But in general consumers have little understanding of what forced arbitration is or what rights they are “agreeing” to give up. Put simply, forced arbitration means: NO JUDGE, NO JURY, NO RIGHT OF APPEAL. Further, the arbitrator is not even required to follow the law. Forced arbitration has been called a “silver bullet” used to kill consumer lawsuits. It provides what Adam Levitin calls “bargain basement justice.”

Read More »Debt Buyers Seek to Escape Liability By Invoking Their Predecessors’ Forced Arbitration Clauses

Groundbreaking New York Times Series on the Abuses of Forced Arbitration

The New York Times has published a three-part in depth series (1, 2, 3) on forced arbitration, in the wake the CFPB’s proposal to prohibit class action waivers through arbitration. The Times series covers many of the familiar problems with arbitration: the pressures on arbitrators to please the companies which select them, the denial of… Read More »Groundbreaking New York Times Series on the Abuses of Forced Arbitration

Massive Multi-Agency Campaign Announces Many New Enforcement Actions Against Illegal Debt Collection Practices

On November 4, 2015, the FTC and a coalition of other law enforcement agencies announced a huge enforcement campaign against illegal debt collection practices: The Federal Trade Commission and other law enforcement authorities around the country announced the first coordinated federal-state enforcement initiative targeting deceptive and abusive debt collection practices. This nationwide crackdown encompasses 30… Read More »Massive Multi-Agency Campaign Announces Many New Enforcement Actions Against Illegal Debt Collection Practices

Judge Upholds $82 Million Jury Verdict Against Portfolio Recovery Associates, Finding “Intentional Malice” and “Reprehensible…Use and Abuse of our Court System to Harm the Plaintiff”

In May, 2015 a Missouri trial jury awarded an $82.5 million verdict against Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC (PRA). At the time, a spokesman for PRA said the verdict was “outlandish… defie[d] common sense” and that PRA “hope[d] and expecte[d]” the verdict would be set aside by the trial court. Then in September, 2015 PRA entered… Read More »Judge Upholds $82 Million Jury Verdict Against Portfolio Recovery Associates, Finding “Intentional Malice” and “Reprehensible…Use and Abuse of our Court System to Harm the Plaintiff”