FTC Issues $4.8M in Refunds to Debt Collector Victims

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued more than $4.8 million in refunds to victims of unlawful debt collection practices last year, the agency said in a Friday (April 15) press release after publishing a report.

In the report — a yearly summary of activities compiled for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) for its own report to Congress — the FTC noted several actions taken against debt collections.

These include resolving a trio of Federal Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) cases against 17 defendants and banning all 17 companies and individuals “who engaged in serious and repeated violations of law from ever working in debt collection again,” according to the release.

In addition, the FTC said in the release that it also filed amended complaints in two enforcement actions alleging illegal debt collection tactics against small businesses and sent a joint letter with the CFPB to the nation’s largest landlords reminding them of their obligations under the FTC Act and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

The report also points out that the 2021 Supreme Court ruling in AMG Capital Management versus FTC has made it much more difficult for the Commission to recover funds fraudulently obtained from consumers by individuals or enterprises.

Read more: Supreme Court’s Ruling Curtails FTC Reach on Monetary Awards

The FTC said in the release that it has asked Congress to amend the FTC Act to restore its ability to provide victims with monetary relief in those cases.

While debt collection accounts for several complaints that the CFPB deals with, debt collectors are far from the bureau’s largest challenge these days. As PYMNTS reported earlier this week, 70% of the complaints the agency got last year were about credit or consumer reporting issues.

See more: 70% of Complaints Filed With the CFPB Are About Credit or Consumer Reporting

Last year, the CFPB released its report “Consumer Credit Trends: Disputes on Consumer Credit Reports,” which found that consumers in majority Black and Hispanic neighborhoods, as well as younger consumers and those with low credit scores, were much more likely to have disputes appear on their credit reports than other consumers.