How to Comply with the FDCPA, CFPB, and State Law: Selected Topics and How to Avoid (and Handle) FDCPA Claims By: Michael W. Milone KOUKOL & JOHNSON, LLC Attorneys at Law 12020 Shamrock Plaza, Suite 333 Omaha, Nebraska 68154 (402) 934-9499
[email protected] Presented on: August 5, 2019 Introduction Let’s talk first about what this section is. This is a “Basic” level program sponsored by National Business Institute (“NBI”). This section is therefore written to help legal practitioners, legal staff, in-house counsel, debt collectors, and other creditors’ representatives to understand entry-level concepts under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA” or “the Act”) and its synthesis with Nebraska law. Though there are many complex areas and topics this section could discuss in relation to the FDCPA, they are beyond the scope of what is written here. Now let’s talk about what this section is not. This is not a complete or definitive guide to the current state of the law under the FDCPA. Instead, this section will focus on common FDCPA issues, claims, and problems with an emphasis on how they have arisen over time in state and federal courts. For more comprehensive resources and research, readers should consult one or more of the available book-length treatises on the FDCPA. For example, at least one consumer advocate group publishes and regularly updates a 2- volume treatise extensively dealing with FDCPA claims, FDCPA litigation, and the impacts of such cases on consumers.1 This treatise is available in paperback and online at minimal cost to practitioners interested in this area of the law.