Almost every FDCPA (as well as TCPA, FCRA, and TILA) case these days faces a Spokeo challenge. All consumer litigant in federal court must understand the latest Spokeo rulings. This article provides a survey of all circuit court FDCPA Spokeo rulings, as well as setting out key strategic decisions in bringing federal court consumer claims.

Medical debt is pervasive in our society, even among those with insurance. This article provides advice for consumers on their best strategies and rights to deal with their medical debt. We encourage readers to share this article with clients, counselors, and others working with families in financial distress.

Widespread criminal justice debt—arising from fines, fees, costs, and more—has an outsized impact on consumers, including millions of drivers losing their licenses, seizure of income and assets, and even incarceration. This article provides advice on limiting these consequences and asserting rights against collection of criminal justice debt.

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.