The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has held that filing a proof of claim on a time-barred debt violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) in the case of Crawford v. LVNV Funding, LLC. LVNV filed a proof of claim in Crawford's bankruptcy case on a debt for which the statute of limitations had passed. Crawford then filed an adversary proceeding against LVNV in which Mr. Crawford alleged LVNV filed proofs of claim routinely on time-barred debts and that such acts violated the FDCPA.
The Bankruptcy Court held against Mr. Crawford, and the U.S. District Court affirmed the Bankruptcy Court on appeal. However, the Eleventh Circuit reversed and held that such acts violated the FDCPA's prohibition on unlawful direct and indirect attempts to collect a debt. The Court analogized to filing suit on time-barred debt, which is a violation of the FDCPA.
This is an important ruling in favor of consumers, and further protects them from debt collectors attempting to skirt the law. It will be interesting if other circuits follow the lead of the Eleventh Circuit.
No comments:
Post a Comment