Start by asking the collection agency what their records show, when you made your last payment. If you have this information, contact your state attorney general`s office and ask them about the statute of limitations for your debts. You can also contact a legal aid office in your state or search for this information online. Kimberly Berson is a lawyer with over twenty-five years of legal experience and a specialization in bankruptcy law and bankruptcy litigation. In addition, Kim is an instructor in the Paralegal Certificate Program at Hofstra Law School, where she is a bankruptcy lawyer, Contracts La. Read more about Attorney Kimberly Berson You can sue a debt collector who violated the FDCPA. You must take legal action within one year after the collection agency has broken the law. You may need legal advice from a lawyer to bring this lawsuit. The increase in receivables corresponds to two major national trends: the increase in household debt and the emergence of the debt buying industry.
Regardless of the reason for the consumer`s non-appearance, the default judgment on claims usually means that the court does not rule on the validity of the claim, the accuracy of the amount claimed,57 or whether the right consumer has been sued, but simply asks the defendant to pay the desired debt. As a result, debt collection agencies sometimes win cases that contain inaccurate information or that are filed after the expiration of the legal right to bring an action.58And despite the lack of a factual or legal basis, default judgments have the same weight and enforcement power as any other court decision. This report examined early efforts in a handful of states to address these issues and challenges, and identified three first steps that state and local government officials can take to mitigate the challenges associated with claims and other business-to-business cases to consumers: Increase the collection and reporting of claims data; Review of policies and regulations; and updating civil justice system processes, particularly through the use of technology to make it easier for people without a lawyer to navigate the system. The latest national data show that in 2013, debt collection lawsuits – mainly unpaid doctor, car loan or credit card bills – became the most common type of civil lawsuit, accounting for 24% of civil cases, up from less than 12% two decades earlier.11 (See Figure 4). From 1993 to 2013, the number of debt cases increased from less than 1.7 million to about 4 million.12 These figures represent an increase in the proportion from about 1 to 9, from 14.6 million state civil cases nationwide (11.6%) to about 1 in 4 cases in 16.9 million (23.6%).13 In addition, in a national survey conducted by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), nearly 1 in 20 adults with a credit report reported being sued by a creditor or collection agency in 2014.14 In order to strengthen consumer protection when dealing with debt cases, the FTC recommended that states require collection agencies to include more information in their claims about the alleged debt. Take steps to reduce the likelihood of debt collectors suing debts beyond the statute of limitations and enact laws “to prevent the freezing of a certain amount in a bank account, including funds exempt from seizure.” 86 Can a collection agency contact someone else about my debts? If a debt collector threatens to take your home or seize your salary, you may be the victim of a collection scam. Submit a complaint to us immediately. Do I have to pay a debt that is considered prescribed? In addition, some court systems have begun to use technology to enable the remote participation of litigants in court proceedings, particularly through online dispute resolution (OS), a tool already used in the private sector to resolve disagreements between consumers and online merchants. In the context of the courts, ODR allows people to manage civil litigation without setting foot in a courtroom, and state and local government leaders are increasingly looking for this approach to streamline people`s interactions with civil courts and help court staff better manage the number of cases. Since early 2019, Supreme Court justices in Hawaii, Iowa, Texas, and Utah have emphasized ODR as one of the top priorities in their State of Justice addresses.107 Pew researchers conducted a literature review of consumer debt and debt collection lawsuits in the United States. Use keyword searches on four search engines – EBSCO, Hein Online, Google and Google Scholar – to identify searches related to debt collection lawsuits.
Search terms included, but were not limited to: “claim”, “debt collection action”, “debt dispute” and “collection data”. The researchers also reviewed studies available on the websites of 24 organizations focused on debt collection or lawsuits. This research yielded about 130 apparently relevant articles, of which about 70 contained information applicable to this study. The researchers reviewed and coded each article to identify common characteristics and themes in debt collection lawsuits.