Financial Services Law Developments: FYI: CA Imposes SOL Notice Requirement on Debt Collectors; Bans Legal Action on 'Time-Barred' Debt

Friday, August 24, 2018

FYI: CA Imposes SOL Notice Requirement on Debt Collectors; Bans Legal Action on 'Time-Barred' Debt

The California legislature recently passed Assembly Bill 1526, relating to the collection of a debt that is beyond the statute of limitations for bringing legal action.

As you may recall, since 2014, when collecting from California residents, debt buyers have been required by Cal. Civ. Code § 1788.52(d)(2) to provide one of two notices, as applicable, when a debt is "time-barred."

The new legislation creates the same requirement for debt collectors, making it a violation for a debt collector to send a collection letter to a consumer on a time-barred debt without providing the debtor with one of the following written notices, depending on the age of the debt:

"The law limits how long you can be sued on a debt. Because of the age of your debt, we will not sue you for it. If you do not pay the debt, [insert name of debt collector] may [continue to] report it to the credit reporting agencies as unpaid for as long as the law permits this reporting.";

or,

"The law limits how long you can be sued on a debt. Because of the age of your debt, we will not sue you for it, and we will not report it to any credit reporting agency."

The applicable notice must be included in the first written communication sent to the consumer after the debt becomes time-barred.

The new law also amends Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 337, pertaining to the statute of limitations for written contracts and book accounts, by prohibiting the initiation of a legal action on time-barred debt, rather than requiring a consumer to raise it as an affirmative defense. A similar prohibition currently exists for debt buyers under Cal. Civ. Code § 1788.56.

Pending approval by the governor, the new law will become effective Jan. 1, 2019.

Ralph T. Wutscher
Maurice Wutscher LLP
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The Editor's Bio

Ralph T. Wutscher
Maurice Wutscher LLP
20 N. Clark Street, 33rd Floor
Chicago, Illinois 60602
Direct: (312) 493-0874
RWutscher@MauriceWutscher.com
https://www.MauriceWutscher.com/

Ralph Wutscher's practice focuses primarily on representing depository and non-depository mortgage lenders and servicers, as well as mortgage loan investors, distressed asset buyers and sellers, loss mitigation companies, automobile and other personal property secured lenders and finance companies, credit card and other unsecured lenders, and other consumer financial services providers. He represents the consumer lending industry as a litigator, and as regulatory compliance counsel.

Ralph has substantial experience in defending private consumer finance lawsuits, including cases ranging from large interstate putative class actions to localized single-asset cases, as well as in responding to regulatory investigations and other governmental proceedings. His litigation successes include not only victories at the trial court level, but also on appeal, and in various jurisdictions. He has successfully defended numerous putative class actions asserting violations of a wide range of federal and state consumer protection statutes. He is frequently consulted to assist other law firms in developing or improving litigation strategies in cases filed around the country.

Ralph also has substantial experience in counseling clients regarding their compliance with federal laws, and with state and local laws primarily of the Midwestern United States. For example, he regularly provides assistance in connection with portfolio or program audits, consumer lending disclosure issues, the design and implementation of marketing and advertising campaigns, licensing and reporting issues, compliance with usury laws and other limitations on pricing, compliance with state and local “predatory lending” laws, drafting or obtaining opinion letters on a single- or multi-state basis, interstate branching and loan production office licensing, evaluations and modifications of new or existing products and procedures, debt collection and servicing practices, proper methods of responding to consumer inquiries and furnishing consumer information, as well as proposed or existing arrangements with settlement service providers and other vendors, and the implementation of procedural or other operational changes following developments in the law.

Ralph is a member of the Governing Committee of the Conference on Consumer Finance Law. He is also the immediate past Chair of the Preemption and Federalism Subcommittee for the ABA's Consumer Financial Services Committee. He served on the Law Committee for the former National Home Equity Mortgage Association, and completed two terms as Co-Chair of the Consumer Credit Committee of the Chicago Bar Association.

Ralph received his Juris Doctor from the University of Illinois College of Law, and his undergraduate degree from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). He is a member of the national Mortgage Bankers Association, the American Bankers Association, the Conference on Consumer Finance Law, DBA International, the ACA International Members Attorney Program, as well as the American and Chicago Bar Associations.

Ralph is admitted to practice in Illinois, as well as in the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, the United States District Courts for the Northern and Southern Districts of Illinois, and the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, and has been admitted pro hac vice in various jurisdictions around the country.