Dalié Jiménez of University of Connecticut School of Law has just written Dirty Debts Sold Dirt Cheap.  Here’s the abstract:

This Article uses a unique collection of contracts for the sale of consumer debts — e.g., delinquent credit card accounts — to examine the sale transaction. It finds that in many contracts, sellers disclaim all warranties about the underlying debts sold or the information transferred, sometimes as far as specifically refusing to stand by “the accuracy or completeness of any information provided.” The Article argues that the collection of consumer debts sold through these transactions is in violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act’s prohibition against using deceptive or misleading representations in connection with the collection of a debt. After considering some potential explanations for why this illegal collection has gone on for so long, the Article proposes a regulatory and a market solution to the problem.

(This article was previously titled: Illegality in the Sale and Collection of Consumer Debts).

Source: SSRN