Debt Collection & Buying
Well versed in collection lawLegal 500
Practice Overview
Buckley represents major creditors on issues involving in-house collection operations, debt purchases, and third-party debt collectors. Our team includes attorneys with private sector debt collection backgrounds and government experience, including a former Federal Trade Commission (FTC) attorney with significant governmental experience addressing debt collection issues, and long-time outside counsel to the nation’s largest creditors and collection companies. We offer a unique perspective on risk mitigation options and a practical understanding of what regulators and enforcement agencies expect from the industry, as well as current issues in high-stakes collection litigation.
Our team works on debt collection matters on a regular basis, handling a variety of regulatory, transactional, litigation, and enforcement matters related to first- and third-party collections. Our experience includes: evaluating and applying state and federal law; drafting corporate policies and procedures tailored to each client’s specific circumstances; conducting risk assessments; preparing Consumer Financial Protection Bureau gap analyses; assisting with CFPB supervisory examinations; and designing, reviewing, and implementing vendor management guidelines. We also regularly advise clients on the risks and mitigants related to the use of social media and other technologies in the context of debt collection.
We also represent private equity and strategic investors who buy and sell collection companies and debt portfolios. We have advised on and performed due diligence for parties involved in some of the largest transactions in the receivables management space in recent years, as well as resulting licensing and change-in-control filings with state licensing authorities.
Our firm has a track record of success defending clients in debt collection litigation and enforcement matters before the CFPB, FTC, state attorneys general, and other federal and state agencies. We are well-versed in the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), and state debt collection laws, including application of unfair or deceptive acts or practices (UDAP) laws. We are extremely knowledgeable in all aspects of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA), and data protection / breach regulation, particularly as such laws are applied to debt collection.
In the post-Dodd-Frank era, creditors selling portfolios of nonperforming debt must understand the regulatory challenges governing the sale of consumer debt in order to mitigate the potential risk and liabilities involved, including risks that may result from the acts of those to whom the debt has been sold. Buckley provides counsel in developing, implementing, and maintaining robust debt sales measures that comply with OCC Bulletin 2014-37, CFPB guidance, and other applicable laws that impact debt sales and purchases.
Our work includes:
- Advising and assisting with preparing debt collection and servicing branch license applications
- Representing a debt collection company in a CFPB investigation regarding compliance with the FCRA and FDCPA
- Advising a national bank on matters related debt collection, including application of the FDCPA, bankruptcy proofs of claim, and state debt collection licensing laws
- Providing compliance and state licensing counsel for loan servicer and debt collector
- Advising a debt collection agency on debt collection and money transmitter licensing requirements
Well versed in collection lawLegal 500
Articles
"School of hard knocks: Federal student loan servicing and the looming federal student loan crisis" by Jeffrey P. Naimon, Sasha Leonhardt, and Sarah B. Smick (American University Administrative Law Review)
Nearly forty-three million Americans collectively owe $1.5 trillion in outstanding student loan debt. Of that, approximately ten percent of student loan debt is over ninety days delinquent or in default, while the actual delinquency rate is estimated to likely be double this amount due to the fact...
Articles"TCPA relief for Covid-19 communications could extend to financial institutions" by Ali M. Abugheida and Geoffrey L. Warner (Bloomberg Law)
Financial institutions face unprecedented and rapidly evolving challenges in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, including the need to communicate quickly and efficiently with customers in the face of government-issued stay-at-home orders. But the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, with its steep...
ArticlesSpecial Alert: CARES Act places significant burdens on servicers of consumer debt but provides some relief to depositories
President Trump late last week signed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act that attempts to soften the negative economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on consumers, including by suspending payments for certain student loan borrowers and enabling mortgage loan borrowers to...
Special AlertsSpecial Alert: CFPB releases Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Time-Barred Debt Disclosures
On February 21, the CFPB issued a Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to amend Regulation F, which implements the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), to require debt collectors to make certain disclosures when collecting time-barred debts (the “Supplemental Proposed Rule”)...
Special Alerts"A new era of FCRA scrutiny for consumer data furnishers" by Jessica L. Pollet and Frida Alim (Law360)
Furnishers provide information to consumer reporting agencies on over 1.3 billion consumer credit accounts or other tradelines each month, with the three largest national consumer reporting agencies holding the personal information of over 200 million consumers. Given the extent of the consumer...
Articles"Email notice lessons from 7th Circ. debt collection ruling" (Lavallee v. Med-1 Solutions LLC) by Marshall T. Bell (Law360)
Consumers increasingly expect to have access to information and the ability to conduct business at the time and place of their choosing, whether shopping for goods and services or managing their finances. Often, that means they expect service providers to communicate with them by email, text or...
Articles"Debt collection, convenience fees, and the FDCPA" by Jon David D. Langlois and Elizabeth R. Bailey (The Review of Banking & Financial Services)
In the era of online banking and the Internet of Things, the ability to pay your mortgage in a manner other than sending in a paper check evidences both convenience and complication. Convenience to the borrower, in that there are many avenues to quickly make a payment, even a late payment, to avoid...
Articles"Neither forgiven nor forgotten: Taxation and UDAAP concerns with collecting charged off debt" by Sasha Leonhardt and Jessica M. Shannon (Bloomberg BNA)
When debtors are unable to pay their debts, creditors are left with a choice: (i) allow the consumer to pay a lesser amount, if possible, to settle the obligation and recover some funds; or (ii) charge off the debt and cease all collection efforts. Regardless of the path chosen, each has potential...
Articles"The role of State AGs in solving student loan crisis" by Sasha Leonhardt and Dana Walsh Kumar (Law360)
State attorneys general are the chief legal officers of their state; state attorneys general are the chief law enforcement officers of their state; and state attorneys general must protect their citizens and vigorously enforce their state’s consumer protection statutes. As broad as these powers and...
Articles"Between a Rock and Hard Place: Debt Collection, Consumer Remediation and Tax Consequences" by Sasha Leonhardt and Jessica M. Shannon (Bloomberg BNA)
In recent years, debt collection has become a focal point for regulatory oversight and government enforcement actions. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) considers debt collection to be a priority and scrutinizes the conduct of debt collectors for violations of the Fair Debt Collection...
ArticlesSpecial Alert: Supreme Court Holds that a Person May Collect Defaulted Debts Purchased for Its Own Account Without Triggering the FDCPA
On June 12, the United States Supreme Court issued a ruling in Henson v. Santander Consumer USA Inc., affirming the Fourth Circuit’s holding that the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act’s (“FDCPA” or the “Act”) definition of the term “debt collector” does not necessarily apply to a company...
ArticlesSpecial Alert: Madden Class Action Moves Forward
On February 27, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York issued a ruling in Madden v. Midland Funding, LLC , [1] holding that New York’s fundamental public policy against usury overrides a Delaware choice-of-law clause in the plaintiff’s credit card agreement. The court allowed...
ArticlesSpecial Alert: CFPB Releases Outline of Proposed Rule for Third Party Debt Collectors
On July 28, the CFPB announced that it is considering proposing a rule to “overhaul the debt collection market by capping collector contact attempts and by helping to ensure that companies collect the correct debt.” The CFPB released several related documents, including a report on third-party debt...
Articles"Key Points in the CFPB’s Outline of Proposed Rule for Third Party Debt Collectors" By Marshall T. Bell and Walter E. Zalenski (Consumer Finance Law Quarterly Report)
On July 28, 2016 the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (CFPB) announced that it is considering proposing a rule to “overhaul the debt collection market by capping collector contact attempts and by helping to ensure that companies collect the correct debt.” The CFPB released several related...
ArticlesDebt Collection and Beyond in 2015
In 2015, the CFPB further expanded its reach into debt collection through a number of enforcement actions. The CFPB also continues to conduct research on a potential rulemaking regarding debt collection activities, which may address information accuracy concerns involving debt sales and other...
ArticlesNew Day For RESPA: The UDAAPification Of Section 8
The Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act has gone the "UDAAPified" way of debt collection — this time, through enforcement rather than guidance. In July 2013, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Bulletin 2013-07 announced that the principles underlying the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act...
ArticlesDebt Collection in the Post Dodd-Frank Enforcement Era
Sasha Leonhardt and Jessica Pollet authored "Debt Collection in the Post Dodd-Frank Enforcement Era," which appeared in the January/February issue of The Journal of Taxation and Regulation of Financial Institutions. Since the passage of the Dodd-Frank Act, government agencies have increasingly...
ArticlesSpecial Alert: CFPB Takes Enforcement Action Against "Buy-Here, Pay-Here" Auto Dealer for Alleged Unfair Collection and Credit Reporting Tactics
On November 19, the CFPB announced an enforcement action against a ‘buy-here, pay-here’ auto dealer alleging unfair debt collection practices and the furnishing of inaccurate information about customers to credit reporting agencies. ‘Buy-here, pay-here’ auto dealers typically do not assign their...
Articles
News & Blogs
Washington AG sues collection agency over time-barred debt settlement offers
On June 25, the Washington attorney general filed a complaint against a collection agency in King County Superior Court alleging the company’s settlement offers violated the state’s Collection Agency Act (CAA) and Consumer Protection Act (CPA). The complaint alleges that the company sent over 75,...
InfoBytes9th Circuit: Judicial foreclosure not debt collection under FDCPA
On June 30, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of an FDCPA action, concluding that the FDCPA does not apply when a creditor is enforcing a security interest through a foreclosure, but is not seeking a deficiency judgment. According to the opinion, the plaintiff...
InfoBytesCFPB releases spring 2020 rulemaking agenda
On June 30, the CFPB released its spring 2020 rulemaking agenda . According to a Bureau announcement, the information details the regulatory matters that the Bureau “expect[s] to focus on” between May 1, 2020 and April 30, 2021. The announcement notes that the agenda was set before the Covid-19...
InfoBytes7th Circuit dismisses FDCPA action over interest accrued post-write off
On June 19, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed the dismissal of an action alleging a debt collector violated the FDCPA by attempting to collect interest that accrued on a debt after the creditor wrote off the debt but before the collector acquired it. According to the...
InfoBytesBoston Fed updates Main Street Lending Program FAQs
On June 20, the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston updated FAQs for its Main Street Lending Program (see here , here and here for previous coverage). Among other things, new FAQs address the treatment of applicant debt to third party lenders for purposes of calculating outstanding and undrawn debt,...
InfoBytesMaryland Department of Labor issues financial relief guide for Marylanders
On June 19, the Maryland Department of Labor’s Office of the Commissioner of Financial Regulation issued the Covid-19 Health Crisis: Financial Relief Guide for Marylanders . Among other things, the guide contains information and resources regarding relief programs for consumers relating to economic...
InfoBytesWashington amends and extends proclamations regarding state of emergency, garnishments, and accrual of interest
On June 18, the Washington governor issued Proclamation 20-49.5 , which amends and extends proclamations 20-05 (declaring a state of emergency) 20-49 (regarding garnishments and accrual of interest), 20-49.1 (garnishments and accrual of interest), 20-49.2 (garnishments and accrual of interest), 20-...
InfoBytesNew York adopts language access requirements for debt collectors
Recently, the New York Department of Consumer Affairs (Department) adopted language access amendments to the state’s debt collection rules. The Department published the proposed rules on March 5, and held a public hearing on April 10. The new rules, among other things, require debt collectors to (i...
InfoBytesD.C. Circuit says consumer failed to show injury in FDCPA action
On June 9, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit vacated the district court’s judgment in favor of a consumer, concluding that the consumer failed to demonstrate a concrete injury-in-fact traceable to the FDCPA violations she alleged. According to the opinion, the consumer brought the...
InfoBytes7th Circuit upholds summary judgment in favor of debt collector
On June 9, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed summary judgment in favor of a third-party debt collector in a class action asserting violations of the FDCPA. According to the opinion, a consumer filed a putative class action alleging the debt collector sent a misleading...
InfoBytes
Press Releases & Announcements
Buckley Sandler launches APPROVED licensing service
WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 7, 2018) – Buckley Sandler LLP today formally announced the launch of APPROVED , a new approach to licensing for financial services companies. Buckley Sandler is building upon years of financial services experience and licensing know-how to offer APPROVED, a technology-...
Press Releases
Our Debt Collection & Buying Team
Partners
Counsel
FYI
"School of hard knocks: Federal student loan servicing and the looming federal student loan crisis" by Jeffrey P. Naimon, Sasha Leonhardt, and Sarah B. Smick (American University Administrative Law Review)
"TCPA relief for Covid-19 communications could extend to financial institutions" by Ali M. Abugheida and Geoffrey L. Warner (Bloomberg Law)
Special Alert: CARES Act places significant burdens on servicers of consumer debt but provides some relief to depositories
Recent Blog Posts
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July 2, 2020
Washington AG sues collection agency over time-barred debt settlement offers
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July 2, 2020
9th Circuit: Judicial foreclosure not debt collection under FDCPA
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July 2, 2020
CFPB releases spring 2020 rulemaking agenda
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June 24, 2020
7th Circuit dismisses FDCPA action over interest accrued post-write off
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June 20, 2020
Boston Fed updates Main Street Lending Program FAQs