Richard Rosenau received a debt collection letter from Unifund Corp saying it was from the Unifund Legal Department.  Rosenau learned the Legal Department consisted of six employees, four of whom are Legal Liasons who handle various daily clerical duties, one is a Project Coordinator and one is an Administrative Assistant.  The Legal Department is supervised [...]

Collection attorneys without warning of a bankruptcy stay won an action by farmers against them last week.  The Court ruled 1) actions for violation of the bankruptcy stay require a warning letter, and 2) consumer protection laws don’t apply to collection of Kansas agricultural debts. Smith vs. Butler, 07-7065, (D.Kan. August 29, 2008).
The Smiths are [...]

Eastern District of Pennsylvania case, Rosenau vs. Unifund Corp, presents the issue whether a letter from a Legal Department that employs no lawyers is misleading.  The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals concluded it could be and reversed a District Court decision to the contrary.
Richard Rosenau received a collection letter from Unifund that was signed “Unifund [...]

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, found at 15 U.S.C. 1692, addresses abusive debt collection practices.  It is a remedial statute passed by Congress in 1977 to prevent deception in the process.  Courts interpreting this law apply a standard of whether the communication would deceive or mislead the least sophisticated debtor.  This is an objectively [...]

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act covers letters to an attorney and not only to the consumer.  This is not commonly understood, yet it can add dollars to your ultimate recovery.
The Supreme Court’s benchmark decision, which ruled that attorneys are subject to the FDCPA, was itself based upon a lawyer-to-lawyer settlement demand for a false insurance [...]