In June 2021, ACA International and several debt collectors filed an emergency application for a temporary restraining order and moved for a preliminary injunction enjoining enforcement of Senate Bill 248 (“S.B. 248”). S.B. 248 was enacted and signed into law by the Nevada Legislature on June 2, 2021, and went into effect on July 1, 2021. MORE >

On February 28, 2022, the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed a district court’s decision to enter summary judgment for a debt collector for alleged violations of the FDCPA and FCRA. Woods v. LVNV Funding, LLC and Resurgent Capital Services, L.P., No. 21-1981 (7th Cir. 2022). Focusing strictly on the FCRA claim, the plaintiff in Woods asserted that the debt collector violated section 1681s-2(b)(1)(A) by failing to conduct a reasonable investigation into his fraud claims. MORE >

On March 1, 2022, the CFPB released a report entitled, “Medical debt burden in the United States,” intended to highlight the complicated and burdensome nature of the medical billing system in the United States. In the report, the CFPB expresses concerns about medical debt collections and reporting, specifically the elevated credit reporting of medical debt resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. The CFPB indicated that research shows $88 billion in medical debt on consumer credit records as of June 2021. The report emphasizes the distinction between medical debt and other debt, noting that few people choose to take on medical debt and patients are often unaware how much they will be charged for a service or procedure. MORE >

On December 27, 2020, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 was enacted, which included the No Surprises Act. The No Surprises Act, which went into effect on January 1, 2022, establishes federal patient protections against surprise medical bills and expands restrictions on charging health care plan holders out-of-network rates for certain services. MORE >

On March 3, 2022, the United States District Court for the Western District of New York granted a plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment, finding that the record established three FDCPA violations by a debt collector resulting from phone calls placed to the plaintiff’s mother with the purpose of acquiring location information. Raze v. Everest Receivable Services, Case No. 1:19-cv-01094-LJV-LGF (W.D.N.Y, March 3, 2022). MORE >