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Debt-Buyer Lawsuits And Inaccurate Data, Peter A. Holland
Debt-Buyer Lawsuits And Inaccurate Data, Peter A. Holland
Peter A. Holland
Pursuant to secret purchase and sale agreements (also known as forward flow agreements), the accounts that banks sell to debt buyers are often sold “as is,” with explicit and emphatic disclaimers that the debts may not be owed, the amounts claimed may not be accurate, and documentation may be missing. Despite their full knowledge that the accuracy and completeness of the data has been specifically disclaimed by the bank, when they sue consumers, debt buyers tell courts that the information obtained from the bank is inherently reliable and accurate. In order to avoid a fraud on the courts, the contents …
Junk Justice: A Statistical Analysis Of 4,400 Lawsuits Filed By Debt Buyers, Peter A. Holland
Junk Justice: A Statistical Analysis Of 4,400 Lawsuits Filed By Debt Buyers, Peter A. Holland
Peter A. Holland
Debt buyers have flooded courts nationwide with collection lawsuits against consumers. This article reports the findings from the broadest in-depth study of debt buyer litigation outcomes yet undertaken. The study demonstrates that in debt buyer cases, (1) the vast majority of consumers lose the vast majority of cases by default the vast majority of the time; (2) consumers had no lawyer in ninety-eight percent of the cases; and (3) those who filed a notice that they intended to defend themselves without an attorney fared poorly, both in court and in out of court settlements. This study challenges the notion that …