The language of Bankruptcy Code § 501(a) is as broad as it is simple. "A creditor or an indenture trustee may file a proof of claim."¹ The Bankruptcy Code's definition of "claim" only broadens § 501(a)'s scope: a "claim" means any "right to payment," regardless of whether or not that right is presently enforceable.² Based on that definition, any creditor is entitled to file any proof of claim based on a right to payment.

Up until 2014, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (the "FDCPA") did not restrict a creditor's entitlement to file a proof of claim. The FDCPA is a consumer protection statute that prohibits "false, deceptive, or unfair" debt-collection practices.³ For instance, a debt collector violates the FDCPA when it threatens to sue or files suit in state court on a time-barred debt.⁴ But prior to 2014, the FDCPA did not affect a creditor's ability to file a proof of claim in a bankruptcy case. Multiple courts within the Eleventh Circuit held that the time-barred nature of a debt does not impact a creditor's right to file a proof of claim; to provide an FDCPA cause of action for this conduct would undermine creditors' rights in the bankruptcy process.⁵ If the proof of claim was for a time-barred debt, the debtor simply needed to file an objection under the Bankruptcy Code's claims objection process.⁶ The FDCPA was simply unnecessary to protect a debtor from improper claims, because the Bankruptcy system provided that protection.⁷

Download the full article, "Filing a Proof of Claim after Crawford: the Potential for Creditors to Face FDCPA Violations in the Eleventh Circuit".