Publication
Legal Alert – High Court Says Banks Collecting on Purchased Debt for its Own Accounts Not Subject to the FDCPA
by John S. Delikanakis
The U.S. Supreme Court resolved a federal circuit split in favor of banks and finance companies by holding that firms collecting debts purchased for their own account are not subject to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA).1 The unanimous opinion, issued on Monday, June 12, 2017, highlights a significant change to the debt market since the FDCPA was enacted in 1977; namely the creation of a massive market for the purchase of defaulted debt that did not exist at the time of the statute’s enactment. The full opinion of Henson et al. v. Santander Consumer Credit, No. 16–349, can be read here.
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