CFPB Announces Proposed Consent Order with Debt Collection Law Firm

CFPB FDCPA Debt Collection Enforcement

On December 28, the CFPB filed a proposed consent order to resolve allegations that a Georgia-based law firm operated a debt-collection lawsuit mill by collecting millions of dollars from consumers who may not have owed the debts in the amounts claimed, or may not have owed debts at all. According to the July 2014 complaint, the firm violated the FDCPA and engaged in unfair and deceptive practices by (i) intimidating consumers through the use of automatically-filed lawsuits that did not involve attorneys; and (ii) using sworn statements from its clients to support its lawsuits, even though the signers could not have known the details to which they were attesting. The CFPB’s proposed consent order would prohibit the firm and its partners from (i) filing lawsuits or threatening to sue to enforce debts unless they are able to prove, through specific documentation, that the debt is enforceable; (ii) filing or threatening lawsuits unless specific documentation regarding a consumer’s debt was reviewed by an attorney; and (iii) using affidavits as evidence to collect debts unless the signer’s knowledge of the facts and the documents are specifically and accurately described in the statements. The proposed order also seeks a $3.1 million civil money penalty.