In Bandy v. Midland Funding, LLC, No. 12-00491-KD-C, 2013 WL 210730 (S.D. Ala. Jan. 18, 2013), the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama held that filing a collection lawsuit without first obtaining evidence to prove the claims is not a violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ("FDCPA"). The Bandy defendant, a debt collection agency, filed suit in state court seeking to collect on a debt allegedly owed by the plaintiff. However, the debt collector's complaint allegedly did not contain any allegations supporting the validity of the debt, but only stated ...
Declining to follow the majority of district court decisions within its circuit, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, in Glazer v. Chase Home Finance LLC, --- F.3d ---, 2013 WL 141699 (6th Cir. Jan. 14, 2013), recently held that mortgage foreclosure constitutes debt collection under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ("FDCPA"). A borrower filed suit against his mortgage servicing company and its debt collection law firm, alleging violations of the FDCPA and state law arising out of a foreclosure action. The mortgage servicer and law firm moved to dismiss Glazer's ...
In Pennell v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., No. 12-60595 (5th Cir. 2013), the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals had the occasion to address what constitutes a negligent misrepresentation under Mississippi law when a borrower and bank are negotiating a loan modification in an attempt to avoid foreclosure. The plaintiffs filed a lawsuit against the defendant mortgage servicing company after their home had been sold at a non-judicial foreclosure sale. The plaintiffs asserted a variety of claims, including, inter alia, wrongful foreclosure, slander of title, intentional and negligent ...
On October 5, 2012, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee analyzed the interplay between the debt collection industry and certain provisions of the Truth-in-Lending Act ("TILA") that require "creditors" to send monthly account statements to borrowers. In King v. AllianceOne Receivables Mgmt., Inc., No. 2:12-CV-314, 2012 WL 4758220, at 2-3 (E.D. Tenn. Oct. 5, 2012), the defendant debt collector sent a collection letter on behalf of the creditor. The letter stated:
As of the date of this letter, you owe $888.45. Your account balance may be periodically ...