As an unintended consequence, consumers who defend themselves against collection agencies who violate of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) will now find themselves on a special list. One company is now offering its clients a list of everyone who has sued a creditor or collection agency. This is meant for the clients (we assume collection agencies since the FDCPA only concerns them) to use to identity troublesome clients and possibly take them off the collections list. In my opinion, this is a good thing and can make collection agencies treat you with more respect.

TransUnion announced recently that it would be using the data from this service http://www.fdcpacases.org, to hone their Collection Prioritization Service.

From findlaw.com::

TransUnion announced today that it will utilize data from FDCPA Case Listing Service LLC to provide an added feature for batch records delivered via TransUnion’s Collections Prioritization Engine. The new solution is named FDCPA Case Search and allows TransUnion to alert collectors about accounts that may have previously been involved in FDCPA litigation to assist collectors in determining strategy.

From http://www.cnbc.com:

“Consumer lawsuits against collection agencies have become more prevalent and they can prove to be costly for debt buyers and both first- and third-party collectors,” said Scott Carter, group vice president of TransUnion’s collections vertical. “With an annual subscription to TransUnion’s FDCPA service, collectors can utilize the solution for a cost-effective means to help handle debtor accounts that may have potential to result in a legal action.” According to FDCPA Case Listing Service, 5,383 cases were filed in 2008 against collection agencies in U.S. District Court for alleged violations of the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (FDCPA). This represents a 41 percent increase in FDCPA litigation in 2008 in Federal Court over 2007 case volumes. Case volumes in 2009 are expected to exceed 7,300 for the calendar year.

The from the fdcpacases.org website:

Our team researches all FDCPA cases that are filed in 90 separate US District Courts. Many Court Clerks and attorneys improperly classify FDCPA cases in the court’s electronic case filing system. ……

…..That’s why we read the actual complaints in order to extract the most accurate and complete information possible. We provide our Subscribers a detailed list of those cases, the individuals/companies who have filed them, their attorney(s) and the agency/debt buyer/credit issuer that is being sued each month.

The list can be used as a “scrub” against the accounts in your inventory to identify those consumers that have an account that has been placed with you and have sued another agency in the past. These accounts need to be proactively identified for your general collection floor as they may have a higher propensity for litigation. Additionally, this subscription will help provide greater insight into the law firm representing the consumer.

By the way, this is legal and not an invasion of privacy, as all court records are typically public. If you’ve ever taken a collection agency to court – they are now officially afraid of you. Is this a good or bad thing for the consumer? What do you think?

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