Collection Defense LAB

CDLAB Update:

Thanks to everyone for your interest in the organization. We’ve had quite a year finding clients and working cases in Texas. After a short hiatus, we plan to resume operations there in early 2017.

In the meantime, we’re working out details and discussing the expansion of our model to other states. See you again in a few months, when we’ll be unveiling our new website and our plans for next year.

And, if I may make a slight adjustment to our motto, please remember: Everyone Deserves to be Treated with Dignity and Respect.

Love and Peace,

-JA

Overdue, but welcome:

CFPB Unveils Overhaul of Debt Collection The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Thursday unveiled an outline of new rules to rein in aggressive debt-collection practices.

Happy Anniversary (to us)! Collection Defense LAB was incorporated one year ago today.

Collection Defense LAB (Legal Aid Bureau) is an effort by several volunteer attorneys, law students, and concerned citizens to improve access to justice for low income consumers experiencing problems with debt collection. LAB grew out of a non-profit organization established in 2013 in Chicago, Illinois that connects low income consumers with attorneys willing to defend, on a pro bono basis, debt collection lawsuits by third-party debt collectors known as “debt buyers.”

If you are interested in more information about debt buyers, we highly recommend the book Bad Paper: Chasing Debt from Wall Street to the Underworld by Jake Halpern. It’s an entertaining read, and gives a good overview of the debt buying industry.