Regular readers of our Minnesota Consumer Rights Blog know that we have several times written in the past about the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). Simply put, it’s a law that helps to protect consumers from abusive debt collectors. It’s not uncommon for a...
CFPB issues long-awaited final rule on debt collection
Consumers and debt collectors have both been waiting for several years for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to issue its debt collection final rule. The 653-page rule clarifies bans on harassment and abusive debt collections, false or misleading...
2020 is the best year ever . . . for debt collectors
This has been a year like no other. The pandemic has left more than 200,000 Americans dead and millions more without jobs. Schools sent students home and moved classes online. Businesses closed their doors, many of them permanently shuttered. Amid the pain, turmoil...
Part II: Debt collection primer
As regular readers of our Minnesota Consumer Rights Blog know, we recently published the first part of our debt collection primer. In it, we wrote about different types of debt collectors and debt. As promised, we’re going to look at what you should do when you’re...
Part I: Debt collection primer
As we all know, the pandemic brought with it economic devastation that included millions of job losses, layoffs and reductions in work hours and pay. According to a recent report from the federal Department of Labor, more than 25 million Americans are currently...
A summer of debt collection abuse
When residents of Minnesota and Wisconsin look back on summer, it’s often with fond memories of sunny days, sparkling lakes and weekends at cabins up north. When the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) recently looked back with its summer edition of...
Congress to consider Medical Debt Collection Relief Act
Though Minnesota’s news outlets report on developments in the coronavirus pandemic every day, few have paid attention to the recent introduction of the COVID-19 Medical Debt Collection Relief Act in the U.S. Congress. The measure is written “to prevent healthcare...
Explainer: What a debt collector owes you
Frequent readers of our Minnesota Consumer Rights Blog know that one of our goals is to help people know their rights when they hear from a debt collector and to understand the types of information they are owed by the collector. In far too many cases, consumers are...
Background checks growing in importance and scope
Though hiring has slowed during the economic downturn of the coronavirus pandemic, businesses are gradually reopening in some places. More than ever, businesses and governments will rely on background checks as an important component of their hiring, promotion and...
Debt collection efforts expected to intensify
Though the nation continues to struggle with the coronavirus pandemic and the resulting economic strain, news outlets report that not all industries face hard times. A Los Angeles Times column bore the headline “Debt Collectors See Coronavirus as a Golden...