In a decision that could throw the debt-collection industry into turmoil, on April 21, 2021, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals released its opinion in the case Hunstein v. Preferred Collection & Mgmt. Servs., Inc., No. 19-14434, 2021 WL 1556069 (11th Cir. Apr. 21, 2021). The crux of the opinion is the court’s holding that a debt collector faces potential liability under the FDCPA for transmitting a consumer’s personal information to any third-party not explicitly designated by the statute. The potential implications of this decision are far-reaching.
The underlying facts ...
When President-elect Joe Biden takes office in January, it is safe to bet that addressing the pandemic-related financial pressures facing millions of Americans will be at the top of his agenda. And in particular, the administration is expected to focus on consumer finance, which should give renewed energy and purpose to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, an agency the Trump administration all but grinded to a halt.
Pursuant to a recent Supreme Court ruling that gives the President the right to remove the head of the CFPB at will, President-elect Biden will be able to select a new ...
On Tuesday, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals expanded the scope of conduct that is actionable under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ("FDCPA") to include communications directed to a debtor's attorney. However, the Court also said that such communications may not be actionable under a "least sophisticated consumer" standard and that a plaintiff may have to hurdle a higher bar to establish a violation. In Miljkovic v. Shafritz and Dinkin, P.A., et al., No. 8:14-cv-00635-VMC-TBM, 2015 WL 3956570 (11th Cir. 2015), the plaintiff debtor brought suit against debt ...
In Colson v. State Farm Bank, F.S.B., Case No. 2D13-5526, Florida's Second District Court of Appeals just reversed a final judgment of foreclosure entered in favor of the plaintiff, finding that a "total lack of evidence as to damages" required reversal and remand for further proceedings. In February 2009, State Farm as the plaintiff initiated a mortgage foreclosure action against the Colsons. Through its sole witness, an employee of its servicer, State Farm introduced the following into evidence at the November 2013 trial: a power of attorney between State Farm and the servicer, a ...