From the Editor - Fair Debt Collection Practices Act • NACTT Academy

From the Editor – Fair Debt Collection Practices Act

By The Honorable William Houston Brown (Retired)

Punitive damages reduced for FDCPA and RESPA violations. The mortgage servicer violated FDCPA, RESPA and the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act by treating account as delinquent after Chapter 13 debtor had cured arrears, brought account current and obtained discharge. The servicer mistakenly marked the Chapter 13 case as dismissed rather than discharged and continued collection efforts. A jury awarded $582,000 compensatory damages and $3 million punitive, but the Seventh Circuit concluded that the ratio of punitive damages was excessive, finding that maximum punitive damages would . . .

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Looking Beyond Taggart: Is the Contempt Standard for a Stay Violation the Same as for a Discharge Injunction Violation?

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By Lawrence R. Ahern III, Brown & Ahern (Nashville, TN) Background Last year, the Ninth Circuit in In re Taggart1 ruled that an act in violation of the discharge injunction did not empower a court to find a creditor in contempt, if the creditor believed in good faith that the discharge injunction did not apply—even if the creditor's belief was...

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In the Trenches: Secrets to Settlement – Competency in the Courtroom Part 3 of 3

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By Jan Hamilton, Chapter 13 Trustee (Topeka, KS) Click here for Part 1 of 3 Click here for Part 2 of 3 19. In the Courtroom ― Leading Questions Learning how to conduct a direct examination of your witnesses is the cornerstone to your case. Early . . . It looks like you are not signed in or registered! This...

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By Mary Beth Ausbrooks, Rothschild & Ausbrooks PLLC (Nashville, TN) With the prolonged decline in case filings, I found that sending a mass emailed newsletter has been very beneficial. In order to send a mass email to a group of people, it was necessary to find software that would send the emails out in such a fashion that the email...

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Cathy Moran

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Critical Case Comment – Repeat: No Fee Splitting

Henry E. Hildebrand, III

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By John P. Gustafson, United States Bankruptcy Judge, Northern District of Ohio, Western Division Click here for Part 1 Click here for Part 2

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The Academy

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