The Supreme Court gave a unanimous opinion in Jesinoski v. Countrywide Home Loans, Inc., agreeing in substance with an amicus brief filed by five consumer and civil rights groups: National Consumer Law Center, Center for Responsible Lending, AARP, ACLU and the National Association of Consumer Advocates. This is a rare victory before the Supreme Court for consumers.
Read More »Truth In Lending Rescission: A Letter Is EnoughThe Colorado Court of Appeals has addressed this issue in an unpublished opinion in LVNV Funding v. Ramsdale. The Colorado Court of Appeals is an “intermediate” court, meaning that, like the Maryland Court of Special Appeals, it hears appeals from trial courts, but it is not the highest court in Colorado – that is the Colorado Supreme Court.
The debt buyer in Ramsdale, LVNV, showed that it bought a portfolio of debts from Bank of America, providing bills of sale showing the assignment. However, the only evidence showing that the defendant’s account was part of that portfolio was an affidavit produced by LVNV. The affidavit was said to be based on “business records” but LVNV failed to provide those business. The Colorado Court of Appeals found that the affidavit was not enough: the records had to be produced.
Read More »Can a Debt Buyer Prove They Bought Your Debt?In a time of limited resources, perhaps a new model is emerging of joint CFPB/State Attorney General enforcement actions. The 2015 joint action by the Bureau and Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh provides a nice case study. In 2015, Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau took an action against a… Read More »Joint Enfocement Action: Maryland Attorney General and CFPB Act On Illegal Mortgage Kickbacks
The two largest debt buyers in the US, Encore Capital Group (owner of Midland Funding, LLC) and Portfolio Recovery Associates spoke with officials at the CFPB for over a year, a fact repeatedly mentioned by Encore and PRA in calls with their investors. In September, the results of those talks were announced by the CFPB.
Read More »Encore and Portfolio Fined By CFPBA proposed Consent Order has been filed in the CFPB’s enforcement action against Frederick J. Hanna Associates. This was the first enforcement action by the CFPB directly against a collection law firm and was the subject of a vigorous defense by Hanna and much comment in the trade press. Hanna lost its motion to dismiss in July 2015, made an unsuccessful motion for an interlocutory appeal and discovery was ordered to proceed.
The case attracted a lot of attention: from the Wall Street Journal to trade publication InsideARM which said that “[t]he case should be front and center for all law firms practicing in this space“. In light of the excitement about the case, the bottom line of the Consent Order is, rather disappointing: Hanna is to pay $3.1 million in penalties to the CFPB and agrees to injunctive relief(all without admitting any of the CFPB’s allegations). There is no relief for consumers targeted by Hanna – that is presumably left to private law suits.
Read More »Frederick J. Hanna Associates To Pay $3.1 Million And Stop Filing Suits Without ProofPortfolio Recovery Associates, the second largest debt buyer in the US, issued an annual report in 2014 containing an interesting message from CEO Steve Fredrickson: We do not charge interest on U.S. accounts, except in rare cases in which a court mandates an interest award in a legal case. This helps give light at the… Read More »PRA and Post-Judgment Interest
In Partners v. Zimmer the Vermont Supreme Court held that Unifiund, a large debt buyer, was unable to prove the chain of title in a collection case. Unifund claimed to have bought the right to collect a debt originally owed to Citibank. The trial court refused to admit papers said to prove the chain of… Read More »Vermont Supreme Court Throws Out Unifund’s Inconsistent Assignments
Strong bankruptcy laws are part of America’s legal heritage. They allow people who make mistakes, or are just unlucky, a chance to start over by erasing their debts. Bankruptcy is not an easy process, since it involves either “liquidation” through Chapter 7 or several years in a Chapter 13 payment plan that takes up almost… Read More »Mortgages Discharged In Bankruptcy: Servicers Bombard Consumers With Confusing Disclaimers
This article examines current trends in debt buyer litigation, including a review of recent regulatory actions and the impact of debt buyer lawsuits on individual consumers and on small claims courts. The article calls for a ban on the sale of consumer junk debt by banks, and for a requirement to make public the terms,… Read More »Current Trends in Consumer Junk Debt Buyer Litigation
1/4/2016 – OCC Consent Order: JPMorgan agreed to pay $48 million for violating the terms of a previous 2011 OCC Consent Order related to Chase’s “deficiencies and unsafe or unsound practices in residential mortgage servicing and in Chase’s initiation and handling of foreclosure proceedings.” In the 2016 Consent Order, the OCC found that Chase had… Read More »OCC Fines JPMorgan Chase $48 Million For Violating 2011 Consent Order
