The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recently concluded that collection letters sent to consumers offering to settle their debt but warning them that the settlement “may have tax consequences” did not violate the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). The plaintiffs…
On Aug. 14, Gov. Bruce Rauner signed into law the Illinois Career Preservation and Student Loan Repayment Act. The act moved through the legislature as Senate Bill 2439 and passed unanimously in the Senate and by a vote of 104-3 in the House. The act…
On an issue of first impression, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently held the federal catchall statute of limitations of four years under 28 U.S.C. § 1658(a) applies to private suits alleging violations of section 303(c) of the federal Servicemembers Credit…
With a tip of the cap to Popeye the Sailor Man, the Third Circuit has decided that a purchaser of defaulted debt is a “debt collector” under the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. A copy of the opinion in Tepper v. Amos Fin., LLC is available…
In a recent decision, the Ohio Court of Appeals considered the question whether, for the purpose of determining the applicable statute of limitations, an unsigned credit card agreement constituted a written or oral contract. In Ohio, the statute of limitations is eight years for a…
In a case of first impression, the Arizona Supreme Court recently addressed the question of when the statute of limitations commences on credit card debt that is subject to an optional acceleration clause. A copy of the opinion in Mertola, LLC v. Santos is available at: Link to…
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently held that a mortgagee’s foreclosure action did not violate an automatic stay imposed during one of the plaintiff’s chapter 13 bankruptcy schedules, where the debtor failed to amend his bankruptcy schedules to disclose his recent…
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit recently held that a debtor’s claim seeking to use a bankruptcy trustee’s § 544(a) strong-arm power to avoid a mortgage on the ground that it was never perfected did not require appellate review of the state…
On July 27, Gov. Bruce Rauner approved an amendment to Illinois’ Student Loan Servicing Rights Act. The legislation, HB 4397, passed unanimously in both chambers and becomes effective Dec. 31, 2018. The legislation amends the definition of “student loan servicer” in the Student Loan Servicing…
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit recently held that seeking to collect compound interest in violation of state usury law results in a misrepresentation of the amount of a debt in material violation of the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA).…
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio issued its highly anticipated ruling on July 25 in a CFPB enforcement action against an Ohio debt collection law firm, concluding that the firm’s attorneys were “meaningfully involved” in the collections process and entering judgment…
Answering a certified question from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, the Minnesota Supreme Court recently held that a rule of civil procedure cannot be used to modify deadlines in the state’s foreclosure statute. In so ruling, the Minnesota Supreme Court concluded that…