Entries by Ken Gibert

Two Kinds of Verification – FDCPA and FCRA- and How to Use them

We have spent much of our time talking about “verification” on our site and videos, and what we have meant in most of that has been the “verification” process provided by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). But there is another kind of validation you can use – validation as permitted by the Fair […]

Two Supreme Court Cases Attacking Fair Debt Collection Practices Act

The Supreme Court has recently damaged debt defendants’ rights with two very important decisions, one allowing debt collectors to bombard the bankruptcy courts with outdated claims, and the other holding that junk debt buyers are not debt collectors under one important definition of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) These rulings may have changed […]

Supreme Court Attacks FDCPA – Erodes Definition of Debt Collector

The Supreme Court has recently issued rulings very harmful to people with debt collectors harassing or suing them. Its ruling in Henson et al. v. Santander Consumer USA, Inc., No. 16349 (Slip Op. 6-12-17) (“Santander”), seems to try to negate application of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) to the vast majority of debt […]

Bankrupts Beware – FDCPA No Longer Applies to Claims

Bankruptcy has been one refuge debtors have from debt collectors, but the Supreme Court has recently made things much worse. In Midland Funding, LLC v. Johnson, No. 16-348 (Slip Op. 5-15-17), the Court held that filing claims in bankruptcy court on debts that are beyond the statute of limitations does not violate the Fair Debt […]

Demanding Verification is NOT a Substitute for an Answer to Lawsuit

Don’t be a Verification Sucker Demanding verification of your debt will NOT prevent a default judgment if you get sued. People in debt trouble hear a lot about debt validation, and that is a good thing. I have argued that even though verification requires little from the debt collector, it’s still a good idea to […]

Programs that may help with student loans

There is unfortunately little you can do in talking to student loan collectors. Most of the time, the debt collectors themselves really have little right to negotiate with you. The law behind student loans is that they are not dischargeable in bankruptcy absent “extraordinary” circumstances and “undue hardship,” and the cases discussing the issue have […]