The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recently held that, unless the parties to a class action settlement agreement expressly agree otherwise, class settlement agreements should not be read to bar objectors from requesting fees for their efforts in adding value to a… Jeffrey Karek

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recently concluded that collection letters sent to consumers offering to settle their debt but warning them that the settlement “may have tax consequences” did not violate the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). The plaintiffs… Mickey J. Lee

On Aug. 14, Gov. Bruce Rauner signed into law the Illinois Career Preservation and Student Loan Repayment Act.  The act moved through the legislature as Senate Bill 2439 and passed unanimously in the Senate and by a vote of 104-3 in the House. The act… Eric Rosenkoetter

On an issue of first impression, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently held the federal catchall statute of limitations of four years under 28 U.S.C. § 1658(a) applies to private suits alleging violations of section 303(c) of the federal Servicemembers Credit… Jeffrey Karek

With a tip of the cap to Popeye the Sailor Man, the Third Circuit has decided that a purchaser of defaulted debt is a “debt collector” under the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. A copy of the opinion in Tepper v. Amos Fin., LLC is available… Keith Wier

The New York Times recently published an interesting article entitled “Automated Debt Collection Lawsuits Engulf Courts.”   The article points out that with the downturn in the economy, collection lawsuits are growing in number even though many of the lawsuits are either based on stale (time barred) claims, or are based on summary file information that…

One of my favorite productivity blogs, MakeUseOf.com, recently published an article about a free credit score service called CreditKarma.com.  CreditKarma seeks to approximate your credit score based on factors that the Fair Isaac Company (FICO) has made public – but note that CreditKarma does not provide a FICO score. Apparently, however, CreditKarma has done a…

Atlanta based Frederick J. Hanna & Associates successfully defended itself against an FDCPA lawsuit filed by a New York resident in a New York federal district court.   The Daily Report newspaper reports that a Syracuse, New York resident sued Hanna for violation of the FDCPA after receiving a collection letter that threatened future “additional remedies”…

The Washington Post reports that Indonesian authorities are accusing Citibank of responsibility for the death of 50 year old Irzen Octa, who was $5,700 in debt on his Citibank credit card.   Mr. Ocra was allegedly beaten to death by non-employee debt collectors hired by Citibank to collect a delinquent $5,700 credit card debt. Citibank denies…

You have probably heard the terms “zombie debt” or “out of statute debt” but how can these types of debts impact you?  In this 20 minute video, comedian John Oliver describes in a very entertaining manner how the debt buying industry works and how this largely unregulated industry harms consumers. If you ever get sued…