Source: http://www.ncbrc.org/tag/fdcpa/
Timestamp: 2019-04-21 04:58:45+00:00

Document:
An FDCPA claim based on efforts to collect a debt discharged in bankruptcy is not precluded by the Code’s discharge injunction. Barnhill v. FirstPoint, Inc., No.15-892 (M.D. N.C. May 17, 2017).
Lara Barnhill filed a class action complaint in district court alleging that FirstPoint, Inc. and FirstPoint Collection Resources made efforts to collect a debt after her debt had been discharged in chapter 7 bankruptcy in violation of the FDCPA, North Carolina Collection Agency Act (NCCAA). The complaint also made a claim for injunctive relief. FirstPoint moved to dismiss under section 12(b)(1) and (6) for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and for failure to state a claim.
In a flurry of party and amici briefs, the issue of whether a proof of claim for a stale debt gives rise to an FDCPA claim has been briefed before the Supreme Court. Midland Funding v. Johnson, No. 16-348 (petition filed Sept. 16, 2016). The case is on appeal from the Eleventh Circuit decision that the “Bankruptcy Code does not preclude an FDCPA claim in the context of a Chapter 13 bankruptcy when a debt collector files a proof of claim it knows to be time-barred.” Johnson v. Midland Funding, LLC, C.A. No. 15-11240, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 9478 (11th Cir. May 24, 2016). The issue is currently pending in courts around the country including the First, Third, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Circuits. Oral argument is scheduled for January 17.
The Supreme Court today granted certiorari in the case of Midland Funding, LLC. v. Johnson, No. 16-348, in which the Eleventh Circuit found that not only does a proof of claim on a time-barred debt violate the FDCPA, but the FDCPA claim is not in conflict with, nor is it precluded by, the Bankruptcy Code.
This issue has been circulating in various forms throughout the courts as many debt collectors have made it a business practice to file proofs of claim in bankruptcy cases on debts they know to be time-barred and, therefore, uncollectible. Success of this practice depends upon the claim slipping past the debtor and his or her attorney, if the debtor is represented, as well as the bankruptcy trustee. In many cases, trustees have conceded that they do not routinely check proofs of claim for validity based on timeliness. NACBA has taken a stand on the issue, arguing that such practices violate the FDCPA and that the debtor can prosecute the FDCPA claim notwithstanding the existence of the bankruptcy action. Owens v. LVNV Funding, LLC, ___F.3d ___, 2016 WL 4207965 (7th Cir. Aug. 10, 2016); Nelson v. Midland Credit Management, Inc., ___ F.3d ___, 2016 WL 3672073 (8th Cir. July 11, 2016).

References: v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v.