Sixth Circuit Decision Highlights the Risk of Initiating Collection Remedies During the FDCPA’s Validation Period

Section 1692g(a) of the FDCPA mandates the sending of a “validation” notice within five days of a debt collector’s initial communication with a consumer. Section 1692g(b) provides that if the consumer provides timely, written invocation of his or her rights, the debt collector must cease all of its collection efforts until it has complied with…

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Brit Suttell Elected to Board of NCBA

Barron & Newburger is proud to announce that Brit Suttell has been elected to the Board of Directors of the National Creditors Bar Association.  Ms. Suttell works in the Pennsylvania office of Barron & Newburger, P.C. where she is a member of the firm’s Consumer Financial Services Law Practice Group.  Ms. Suttell is experienced in…

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Texas Super Lawyers Recognizes Three Barron Newburger Attorneys

Manuel Newburger, Barbara Barron and Stephen Sather were each named to the 2019 edition of Texas Super Lawyers, a Thomson Reuters publication.   Mr. Newburger, who has been listed continuously since 2005, was honored as a Top Rated Class Action & Mass Torts Attorney.   Ms. Barron and Mr. Sather were both recognized as Top Rated Business…

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Robert Shannon Joins Barron & Newburger, P.C.

Robert “RJ” Shannon, a talented bankruptcy counsel has joined Barron & Newburger as an attorney in its Austin Office. RJ will join the firm’s Bankruptcy and Reorganization practice group, where he will focus on business reorganization and bankruptcy litigation. For the last three years, Mr. Shannon has represented debtors, committees, trustees and creditors in bankruptcy…

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Supreme Court Rules that an Ambiguous Agreement Cannot Be a Basis to Compel Class Arbitration

In Stolt-Nielsen S. A. v. Animal Feeds Int’l Corp., the Supreme Court held in 2010 that a court may not compel arbitration on a class-wide basis when an agreement is “silent” on the availability of class arbitration.  The court recognized in Stolt and later cases that  class arbitration fundamentally changes the nature of the “traditional…

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Supposed Rejection of Arbitration Clause is Rejected

A clever debtor was nevertheless unsuccessful in trying to use the Bankruptcy Code to escape a well-drafted arbitration clause contained in a credit card agreement.  In Mines v. Galaxy Int;l Purchasing, Mines filed a putative class action contending that Galaxy violated Section 1692g(a)(2) of the FDCPA by failing to identify the current owner of his…

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Supreme Court Excludes Non-Judicial Foreclosure From FDCPA

On March 20, 2019, the United States Supreme Court issued its decision in Obduskey v. McCarthy & Holthus, LLP, holding that that business engaged solely in non-judicial foreclosure activities are generally exempt from the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1692 et seq. Justice Breyer wrote for a unanimous court, with a concurring…

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USAA Consent Order: The Criticality of Sensible Procedures

Last week, the CFPB issued its first consent order of 2019 and the its first consent order under Director Kathleen L. Kraninger. The Consent Order is with USAA Federal Savings Bank dealing with violations of the Electronic Funds Transfer Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1693, et seq., its implementing regulation, Regulation E, 12 C.F.R. pt. 1005,…

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