The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and federal and state courts in Massachusetts decided several important cases for the consumer financial services industry in 2021. Two related cases concerned the constitutionality of a Massachusetts regulation limiting telephone contact with debtors and a third ruling came from the First Circuit on a federal TCPA action.
Posts tagged as “compliance”
Welcome to our annual year-end review of consumer credit law. Beginning today and over the next several days, we feature a series of articles exploring the events that shaped the consumer financial services industry in 2021.
On their own initiative, the active judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit have taken a vote and will hear the appeal, en banc, in Hunstein v. Preferred Collection and Management Services, Inc.
Costumes, candy, and frightening movie sequels often mark the end of October. Just in time for Halloween, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit released its own scary sequel with its substituted opinion in Hunstein v. Preferred Collection and Management Services, Inc.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit issued an opinion today vacating its earlier decision in Hunstein v. Preferred Collection and Management Services, Inc. and issued a new opinion that does not provide a “quick fix” for the credit and collection industry.
On Oct. 8, S.737A was signed into New York law, “requiring debt collectors to inform debtors that written communications are available in large print format.” The legislation becomes effective Nov. 7, 2021.
The District of Columbia recently passed legislation to substantially revise its debt collection law on an emergency basis. The amended law became effective Sept. 23, 2021. DC’s debt collection law was first enacted in 1971 and the amendments not only make it more burdensome for debt collectors but also for most financial services companies and other businesses operating in the District who were not previously within the scope of the law.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced on July 30, 2021, that it will be withdrawing its earlier proposal to extend the Regulation F effective date by 60 days. Thus, the original effective date of Nov. 30, 2021, will remain.
On April 21, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit issued a decision holding that the transmittal of consumer information to a letter vendor constitutes a communication with an unauthorized third party in connection with the collection of a debt in violation of 15 U.S.C. § 1692c(b).
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit recently affirmed the dismissal of a class action complaint alleging that a collection letter’s itemization of a debt as including “$0.00” in interest and fees — when the debt could not accrue interest or fees — violated the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
The federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act can no longer apply to devices that do not “us[e] a random or sequential number generator,” according to an April 1 decision from the U.S. Supreme Court.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recently vacated a trial court’s summary judgment in favor of a debt collector and ordered dismissal for lack of Article III standing.