Minnesota Consumer Attorney

debt collection lawsuit

Debt Collection Lawsuit: What You Need to Know

debt-collection-lawsuit-debt-collector-consumerConsumers frequently call saying they have been served with a fake debt collection lawsuit.

There’s a really good chance it is a real/actual/consequential lawsuit.

In Minnesota, you can initiate a lawsuit without filing it with the court—it’s called pocket service.

Consumers frequently get confused when they call the courthouse and are informed the court has no record of the case. Again, just because it does not have a court file number, that does not mean it is fake.

It’s still a real lawsuit. And failing to respond will have very real consequences.

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Robocalls, Automated Messages, and The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA)

The FDCPA regulates what debt collectors can and cannot do in their attempts to collect a debt.

Among other no-no’s, debt collectors cannot call you at work once they know it’s inconvenient, debt collectors cannot reveal your debt to third parties, and cannot mislead you about debts past the statute of limitations.

The FDCPA also prohibits excessive phone calls. And if you receive calls to your cellphone, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act provides additional protection.

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Bank of America Allegedly Sells Debts With Minimal Documentation

Complaints against debt collectors have surged in recent years, which has somewhat masked another issue in the consumer credit realm: debt buyers. Debt buyers purchase charged-off debts from original creditors at a fraction of the price and then attempt to collect the full amount of the debt.

According to a recent article involving a debt buyer case in California, a sales agreement signed by Bank of America stated that Bank of America made no guarantees as to the accuracy of the credit records as part of a sale to a debt buyer. In other words, “buyer beware.”

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Debt Collection of Old Debts

Debt collectors are strictly regulated under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, which protects consumers against unfair, deceptive, and abusive debt collection.

Consumers frequently complain about debt collectors trying to collect on old debts. In fact, debt buyer Asset Acceptance paid $2.5 million dollars to settle a FTC lawsuit, which alleged that Asset Acceptance failed to tell consumers that certain debts were too old to be legally enforceable.

The FTC released a guide to help consumers understand old debts, here are some key things to know.

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