Oak Park Real Estate & Estate Planning Blog

A recent Illinois debt collection case concerning a debtor’s privacy resulted in a ruling for the debt collector. That case, Brewer v. The Law Offices of Mitchell D. Blum & Associates (2021), centered around a debt collector revealing a portion of a debtor’s account number in a mailing. The debtor argued that the debt collector violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) by revealing private information about the debtor. A judge for the United States District Court in the Northern District of Illinois disagreed. Our Oak Park consumer protection lawyers want to tell you more about the case. Facts of Brewer In the recent case, the plaintiff, Tyrone Brewer, filed a claim against debt collectors who “sent him a debt collection letter with part of his account number showing through the envelope’s glassine address window.” According to Brewer, revealing the portion of his account number in the mailing violated the FDCPA. The plaintiff cited a specific portion of the FDC...

Will the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) remain an important tool for fighting unfair debt collection practices and protecting consumers from deceptive debt collectors ? That is a question that has been circulating this last year of the Trump presidency. While it is difficult to know what the CFPB’s funding will look like and what kind of power the Bureau will have in the coming years, we do know that the CFPB did substantial work in 2017 to “combat illegal debt collection practices.” The Bureau recently released an annual summary report that details some of the actions taken last year that helped to protect consumers against unscrupulous debt collectors. The report highlights how the CFPB plays a role in enforcing the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), and how it works in conjunction with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to ensure that consumers are treated fairly. In addition to enforcing the FDCPA, the Bureau also plays a role in educating the pu...

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has only been in existence for seven years, but in that time it has taken many important steps to protect consumers from unfair debt collection practices and deceptive debt collection tactics . However, according to a recent report from NPR , “the Trump administration is proposing to dramatically cut funding” for the CFPB, which could ultimately prevent the Bureau from doing what it needs to do. The CFPB was created just after the financial crisis by Elizabeth Warren and others during the Obama administration. While the effects of the financial crisis largely have subsided, there is still a pressing need for the CFPB. What would budget cuts do to the CFPB, and how could such cuts endanger consumers in need of protection? Proposed $150 Million Cut to CFPB Funding The proposed funding cut is not a small one. To be sure, the White House has proposed, in effect, gutting funding for the CFPB by cutting approximately $15...

According to a recent article in The New York Times , the Trump administration has “called for the neutering of many of the central provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act,” which could result in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) losing much of the power it currently has to prevent abusive debt collection practices , and to provide other consumer protection measures. Specifically, the Treasury Department recently released a report that contended the CFPB has engaged in “regulatory overreach” and that its director should be removed. What else was in this report, and what is the future of the CFPB under the Trump administration? Treasury Department Seeks to Roll Back Consumer Protections Under Dodd-Frank What are some of the specific ways in which the Treasury Department wants to roll back consumer protections and the role of the CFPB? Most immediately, as the article clarifies, the Treasury Department report “recommended greater exemptions from the so-called Vo...

It is important for residents of the Chicago area to know that they have rights as consumers , even when they have difficulty paying bills and when they accrue debt. Yet commentators have voiced concerns that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the watchdog agency that helps to protect consumers at the federal level, may be on a “collision course” with the U.S. Department of Justice under Trump. As a recent article in American Banker points out, the ability for the CFPB to continue operating independently may depend upon whether it is able to appeal the decision from the D.C. Circuit Court back in October and “may hinge on whether the Justice Department allows it to move the case forward.” As the article clarifies, “with President-elect Donald Trump due to take the reins of Justice in January, there are growing doubts that the CFPB can prevail.” What do you need to know about the future of the CFPB and consumer protection initiatives under Trump? How the ...

As many Chicago-area residents know, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), which was created six years go, provides numerous protections to consumers who have been victimized by debt collection companies practicing fraudulent or unfair debt collection practices . Yet, according to a recent article in USA Today , a recent lawsuit has in some ways proven to be a win for the banking industry. In brief, the ruling resulted from a lawsuit brought by a mortgage lender that previously had been fined $109 million by the CFPB “argued that the bureau’s structure placed unconstitutional power in the single director.” Commentators have suggested that the mortgage lender aimed to shut down the CFPB altogether. Instead, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, where the case was heard, made a change to the way the directorship of the CFPB works. CFPB Has Helped Millions of Consumers Over the Last Several Years While articles in Forbes and other news sources that often favor...