Debt Collection Law Trips Up Many Lawyers, but Numerous Defenses Exist

For nearly a decade after the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act was enacted in 1977, lawyers sued by consumers under this law had the strongest possible defense to liability: they were expressly exempted from the Act.

In 1986, however, Congress removed this exemption. Although some courts continued to recognize an implied exemption for what was often characterized as purely legal activities, the Supreme Court made clear in Heintz v. Jenkins, 514 U.S. 291 (1995), that there was no such implied exception, and that attorneys are covered by the Act even for so-called purely legal activities. Any lawyer who on ...