Is it a Class? Collector Accused of Attempting to Recover Non-Existent Debt
- This is one of those, “I’m not a lawyer, so I don’t know if this is a big deal or not” situations, but a lawsuit has been filed against a collection operation for allegedly violating the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, in which the suit says it is being filed as a class action, but which does not include any reference to the class. It feels like either that part was left out of the complaint for some reason, or it was a copy-and-paste from a previously filed suit that was a class action and this one isn’t. The suit accuses the collector of seeking to collect on a non-existent debt.
- More details here
- This series is sponsored by WebRecon
Brookings: Nearly Half of U.S. Households Can’t Make Ends Meet
- A new Brookings report, the first in its “States of Affordability” series, finds that 45.5% of U.S. households did not earn enough to cover basic necessities in 2024. The figure is not a pandemic anomaly. In nearly every year since 2014, more than 40% of American households have struggled to “make ends meet,” Brookings’ term for covering housing, food, child care, health care, transportation, and utilities on post-tax income.
- More details here
Is CFPB’s Return-to-Office Move Designed to Reduce Size of Agency?
- The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is requiring nearly all of its roughly 1,100 employees to report to a new Washington, D.C. office by the end of August. The problem: the new office holds about 550 people. That gap, and the fact that it mirrors almost exactly a reduction-in-force plan the agency submitted to a federal appeals court in March, has employees and observers alike concluding that the math is the message.
- More details here
Ohio Supreme Court Backs Reinstatement of Debt Collection Case, Allows FDCPA Counterclaims to Proceed
- A collection law firm that filed a second lawsuit to recover a debt found itself on the wrong end of a unanimous Ohio Supreme Court decision after attempting to use a procedural rule to block counterclaims targeting its own conduct.
- More details here
AI Adoption Is Climbing Among Small Businesses, Just Not Equally
- A new report from the JPMorganChase Institute finds that small business adoption of artificial intelligence has accelerated sharply since 2022, but the gains are not being shared evenly, with meaningful gaps emerging along gender and generational lines.
- More details here
Judge Grants Summary Judgment to Fintech, Debt Buyer, and Bank
- A District Court judge in Illinois has granted summary judgment in favor of three defendants, dismissing every claim brought by a pro se plaintiff who had filed two separate lawsuits arising out of a personal credit line he opened in 2021. The suit accused the defendants of violating the Fair Credit Reporting Act, Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, and other consumer lending laws.
- More details here
Judge Sends FDCPA Case to Trial
- A Magistrate Court judge in Massachusetts ruled that a Fair Debt Collection Practices Act case is heading to trial, partially granting a defendant’s motion for summary judgment and denying a similar motion from the plaintiff, which accused the defendant, a collection law firm, over claims to collect on a debt that had been discharged in bankruptcy.
- More details here
WORTH NOTING: Food inflation is hitting some people harder than others … Siri is getting a long-awaited makeover … Why your air conditioner isn’t cooling your house and what you can do about it … More people are falling behind on their Buy Now, Pay Later loans … Lenders have been reading subprime consumers all wrong … A spell-off was needed to name a Spelling Bee winner last night … Science weights in on the best way to wash your hair … Meta is laying off more workers as it focuses more on artificial intelligence.
Funny Friday, part I
Funny Friday, part II
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