Collections, Repossessions, Utilities

As states increasingly assess criminal defendants with fines, surcharges, costs, and fees, draconian actions to collect that debt are on the rise. This checklist sets out tools to help consumers avoid the worst of these collection actions that can lead to incarceration, loss of driver’s licenses, wage garnishment, seizure of bank accounts, or other drastic measures.

This article summarizes all 34 FDCPA reported appellate decisions issued in 2018, reports on a pending Supreme Court FDCPA case, and describes NCLC’s digital tool to locate relevant FDCPA case summaries from summaries of over 14,000 FDCPA decisions.

An FCC ruling this summer tightens the screws on collectors calling or texting cell phones, with TCPA minimum damages of $500 per call or text. Limits on wrong number calls or texts, no autodialed calls without consent, and it is now easy to withdraw that consent, as explained in this article.

On October 24 the Senate joined the House in repealing the CFPB Arbitration Rule that would have eliminated forced arbitration clauses containing class action bans in consumer financial contracts. This article lists twelve ways to still defeat a forced arbitration clause, even for class actions.

A recent appellate court ruling highlights the availability of attorney fees for the consumer when a creditor or debt buyer fails to prevail in a credit card or other collection action. This article sets out seven ways in which consumers can recover such attorney fees if the creditor fails in its collection lawsuit.