Manassas Consumer Protection Blog

We posted a blog previously about an important consumer protection case pending before the U.S. Supreme Court. We explained that the issue was whether the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act — the main federal law extending legal protections against abusive debt collectors to consumers — applied to a Colorado law firm that had initiated a nonjudicial foreclosure.

In that post, we covered the issues in Obduskey v. McCarthy & Holthus LLP in detail as related to the FDCPA and whether a party is a debt collector that is governed by the Act’s provisions, including being subject to a suit for money damages by a consumer who was the victim of illegal collection practices.

A senior citizen in Manassas picks up the phone to hear that her grandson is in jail and she needs to wire money to get him released. Another unsuspecting Virginian receives an unexpected call from his “Internet provider” asking for his credit card or bank account number to secure service to rid his computer of a virus. A Northern Virginia teen eagerly gives her Social Security number to the hotel chain that has called to offer her a free vacation.

All these are common fraudulent attempts to gain access to the consumers’ funds or credit accounts or to steal their identities.

The United States Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a case this term which will determine whether the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) applies to non-judicial home foreclosures. Specifically, the case will examine the role of law firms seeking non-judicial foreclosure of residential homes, and whether they are 'debt collectors' under the law.

We had another happy client, defending him from a zombie debt buyer.

Back in 2007, the client lost his home to foreclosure. At the time, he had a second mortgage on his home which he also defaulted on. Years went by, and he heard nothing from the second mortgage company. He was able to rebuild his life and get another house. In Virginia, the statute of limitations, or time frame within which a lawsuit can be brought to collect a written debt is 5 years from the date of breach. So by the end of 2012, any rights that the second mortgage company had to come after the debt died a peaceful death. Unfortunately, there are companies out there who like to resurrect the dead debts - they are known in the industry as zombie debt buyers because of that practice.