Daily Digest

JUDGE CALLS OUT PLAINTIFF FOR ‘FRAUDULENT CONDUCT’ IN GRANTING DEFENDANT’S MSJ A District Court judge in Maryland has smacked down a plaintiff, falling short of accusing her of perjury, but questioning her attempts at “justify[ing] her fraudulent conduct,” in granting a defendant’s motion for summary judgment after it was sued …

EDCA JUDGE AWARDS $300k IN WILLFUL TCPA DAMAGES TO PLAINTIFF CONTACTED BY COLLECTOR A District Court judge in California has granted summary judgment in favor of a plaintiff who sued a collection agency for allegedly violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act by calling her cell phone 199 times without first …

GETTING TO KNOW MEGAN BRYANT OF CREDIT COLLECTION PARTNERS You know someone was born to work in the collections industry when she says she says she has fun, even when dealing with disgruntled individuals. Megan Bryant may not have known she was meant to work in the industry when she …

WITNESSES — INCLUDING JOHN BEDARD, BILLS ANNOUNCED FOR FIN’L SERVICES HEARING ABOUT DEBT COLLECTION Details are starting to come together for a hearing that is scheduled for tomorrow before the House Financial Services Committee on the subject of “Examining Legislation to Protect Consumers and Small Business Owners from Abusive Debt …

JUDGE GRANTS MTD IN FDCPA CASE OVER DESCRIPTION OF LEGAL PROCESS IN COLLECTION LETTER Calling a plaintiff’s argument “bordering on absurdity,” a District Court judge in Illinois has granted a defendant’s motion to dismiss after it was sued for allegedly violating the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act by sending a …

JUDGE GRANTS MTD IN FDCPA CASE OVER DIFFERING AMOUNTS IN LETTER Sometimes, even when a collector does a nice thing, it ends up getting sued. But a District Court judge in New York has granted a defendant’s motion to dismiss after it was sued for allegedly violating the Fair Debt …

NY DFS SUPERINTENDENT BLASTS CFPB OVER PROPOSED RULE As someone who has reviewed most of the nearly 10,000 comments that have been submitted regarding the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s proposed debt collection rule, I can say with some degree of certainty that one regulator chastising another one is fairly uncommon. …

GETTING TO KNOW PAUL LANKES OF WILLIAMS & FUDGE Like many who have been profiled through the years, Paul Lankes got his start in the collection business on the ground floor and without expecting to spend his professional career in the industry. Paul sees the industry for what it is …

CFPB REVERSES STANCE, NOW AGREES LEADERSHIP STRUCTURE IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau yesterday admitted that its leadership structure is unconstitutional, agreeing with a law firm suing the agency that the Supreme Court should hear arguments on the topic. AGENCY EXECUTIVES SHARE TIPS TO HELP HIRE THE BEST COLLECTORS …

$11M SETTLEMENT IN TCPA CASE AGAINST LEXINGTON LAW RECEIVES PRELIMINARY APPROVAL An $11 million settlement has been preliminarily approved by a District Court judge in Florida related to a Telephone Consumer Protection Act case that was brought against John C. Heath Attorney At Law, PLLC, more commonly known as Lexington …