By far the largest users of Maryland’s civil courts are businesses collecting debts. Debt buyers are the largest plaintiffs of all. In 2016, a Human Rights Watch report noted that Debt buyers . . . rely on tax-funded state institutions—namely the court system—to secure much of their income. Leading debt buyers rank among the heaviest… Read More »Human Rights Watch Still Right: Debt Buyers Rely On Our Courts
In its 5-2 decision, the Maryland Court of Appeals held that actions for back rent under residential leases are subject to a three-year period of… Read More »In Maryland, The Back Rent Statute of Limitations is 3 Years in a Residential Lease
The Holland Law Firm, P.C. together with Scott Borison of the Legg Law Firm, LLC filed a putative class action against the Maryland Management Company… Read More »Simmons, et al v. The Maryland Management Company, et al
Sometimes known as the “so what?” motion, the Defendant who files a Motion to Dismiss is saying that “even if everything you say is true, it still does not state a legal claim. It’s just a nothing-burger.” Because of the financial, emotional, and logistical commitment of prosecuting a lawsuit in federal court, the last thing… Read More »What Is The Standard Of Review For A Motion To Dismiss In The United States District Courts In The Fourth Circuit?
By Paul Kiel, ProPublica. Originally posted here. Republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Nonprofit hospitals get big tax breaks for providing care for patients who can’t afford it. Under new IRS rules, hospital lawsuit cases must take extra steps to inform poor patients that they may qualify for financial assistance.
Last month, ProPublica and NPR detailed how one nonprofit hospital in Missouri sued thousands of lower-income workers who couldn’t pay their bills, then seized their wages, all while enjoying a big break on its taxes.
Read More »New Rules For Nonprofit Hospital Lawsuit CasesMidland Funding, a subsidiary of Encore Capital Group, is the world’s largest debt buyer and one of the most prolific users of Maryland’s District Court. It has filed tens of thousands of suits against Marylanders. But when one of those consumers, Mr. Cain, sued Midland Funding, Midland convinced the trial court and the intermediate appellate court to throw his case out of court and into forced arbitration on an individual basis, rather than as a class action. In a March, 2017 watershed opinion, Maryland’s highest court overruled the lower court and held that when it originally sued Mr. Cain in a collection action, Midland waived its right to compel arbitration. The Court of Appeals said:
Read More »Can Debt Buyers Use Forced Arbitration Clauses After Suing Consumers In Court?Because Midland’s 2009 collection action is related to Cain’s claims, Midland waived its right to arbitrate the current claims hen it chose to litigate the collection action. In addition, Cain does not have to demonstrate that he suffered prejudice to establish that Midland waived the arbitration provision.
Private debt collectors are subject to a variety of laws policing their collection of private debts. The Fair Debt Collection Practice Act (FDCPA) imposes clear and strict requirements on debt collectors – such as preventing them from shaming consumers into payment by publishing the names or calling their parents, preventing them from lying to consumers or threatening them with illegal behavior.
However, FDCPA applies only to consumer transactions and does not cover matters such as tax debts. Boyd v. J.E. Robert Co., 765 F.3d 123 (2d Cir. 2014); Beggs v. Rossi, 145 F.3d 511 (2d Cir. 1998). Federal employees are also specially exempted from the FDCPA. 15 U.S.C. § 1692a(6)(C).
So, what’s left to protect taxpayers?
Franz Kafka Lives. This automatic stay violation case reveals that he works at Bank of America.
So says Judge Christopher M. Klein, in Sundquist v. Bank of America. What follows is a distressing story of malicious incompetence that destroyed the health of two elite athletes and cost Bank of America more than $46 million. Judge Klein continued:
Read More »Bank of America Puts Couple Through Kafka’s Trial; Must Pay $46 million
Ocwen is amongst the largest mortgage servicers in the country. It holds mortgage debts with a face value more than $400 billion. Ocwen specializes in “default” servicing – meaning that it services loans where the consumer is behind. On April 20th & 21st, state and federal regulators took a range of legal actions against Ocwen… Read More »Recent Enforcement Actions Against Ocwen
While the law of class actions has developed a mystique and aura of inscrutability, the concept and basic requirements are really quite simple. The idea is that one trial of a huge “class” of people is simpler, faster, and cheaper than lots of “individual” trials when the issues are the same and the damages are… Read More »What is a Class Action?
