FDCPA Archives - Noonan & Lieberman

Seventh Circuit holds that debtor who spent $3.95 to send a second validation request…

After more than a dozen rulings over the last four years where the Seventh Circuit has tossed FDCPA suits for the debtors’ failures to establish Article III standing, the Seventh Circuit recently found that a debtor had standing to sue for violations of the FDCPA due to the time and…

Seventh Circuit vacates fee award which denied all fees incurred after the rejection of…

In Cooper v. Retrieval-Masters Creditors Bureau, Inc., No. 18-2358 (7th Cir. July 29, 2022) the Seventh Circuit addressed attorney fee awards to prevailing plaintiffs under the FDCPA where the damage award was modest and the plaintiff had rejected what hindsight shows to have been a substantial early settlement offer. The…

11th Circuit rules that sharing of debtor’s information with third party vendor is actionable…

The appeal in Hunstein v. Preferred Collection and Management Services, Inc., No. 19-14434 (11th Cir. Apr. 21, 2021) arose from the dismissal of a claim that a debt collector violated section 1692c(b) of the FDCPA which prohibits a debt collector from communicating consumers’ personal information to third parties “in connection…

Seventh Circuit holds Article III analysis also applies to substantive violations of the FDCPA

The district court dismissed two complaints alleging that a dunning letter was false and misleading under the FDCPA on the grounds that it failed to state a claim. The Seventh Circuit in Larkin v. Financial System of Green Bay, Inc., No. 18-3582 (7th Cir. Dec. 14, 2020) affirmed but on…

Illinois court says dunning letter on time-barred debt violates FDCPA if it does not…

At issue in Perea v. Portfolio Recovery Assocs., LLC, No. 18-CV-06504 (N.D. Ill. Sept. 28, 2020) was whether a debt collector violated the FDCPA by attempting to collect time barred debt. Although the debt collector provided a disclaimer in the dunning letter that it would not restart the statute of…

Firm will present at American Legal & Financial Network’s ANSWERS Webinar

On Friday, July 31, 2020, Founding Partner Jim Noonan will be virtually presenting at this year’s American Legal & Financial Network (ALFN) ANSWERS webinar entitled “Hindsight is 2020 – A year in Review. Top Issues of the Past Year.” Conferences as we have known them may be on hold, but…

Seventh Circuit splits from Fifth and Eight Circuits rejecting “benign-language exception” to FDCPA’s prohibition…

In Preston v. Midland Credit Management, Inc., No. 18-3119 (Jan. 21, 2020), the Seventh Circuit reversed a district court’s order of dismissal, holding that the language “TIME SENSITIVE DOCUMENT” on the envelope of a dunning letter violated § 1692f(8) of the FDCPA. In doing so, it refused to recognize the benign‐language…

Because the debt was not his, plaintiff could not prove it was a consumer…

The Seventh Circuit in Burton v. Kohn Law Firm, S.C., 934 F.3d 572 (7th Cir. August 9, 2019) held that because the defendant in a debt collection suit denied any knowledge or association with the debt, he could not provide sufficient evidence that the debt in was a consumer debt…

Seventh Circuit finds “no harm, no foul”, and hence no federal jurisdiction, on borrower’s…

In Casillas v. Madison Avenue Associates, Inc., No. 17-3162 (7th Cir. June 4, 2019) the Seventh Circuit affirmed a judgment for a debt collection agency on a FDCPA claim on the basis that while the borrower caught the debt collector in a mistake, it caused no harm to the borrower.…

Seventh Circuit affirms reduction of fee petition on FDCPA verdict from $187,410 to $10,875

The Seventh Circuit observed in Paz v. Portfolio Recovery Assocs., LLC, No. 17-3259 (7th Cir. May 15, 2019) that “[s]ometimes settling a case is the only course that makes sense”. It affirmed a district’s reduction of a debtor’s fee petition on an FDCPA verdict from $187,410 to $10,875 concluding the…