U.S. Supreme Court case on nonjudicial foreclosures

[Mark Rogers]

In a March 20 opinion, the U.S. Supreme Court resolved conflicting decisions among federal courts of appeal, finding that a law firm engaged in only nonjudicial foreclosure proceedings is not a "debt collector" within the meaning of the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act. The Third & Fourth Circuits had found that the Act did apply, and the Ninth & Tenth Circuits had found that the Act did not. The suit arose when a debtor tried to invoke the Act to force the foreclosing law firm to cease collection efforts until it obtained verification of the debt and mailed the verification to the debtor. The U.S. Supreme Court found that the Act did not apply and that the law firm was within its rights to ignore the request and proceed with nonjudicial foreclosure. 

Obduskey v. McCarthy & Holthus, LLP