URGENT CALL TO ACTION FOR DBA MEMBERSHIP

DBA International is issuing an urgent appeal to the national membership for contributions to defend the industry from unprecedented government actions in New York State. Contribute now!

Over the last 10 months we have seen what appears to be a coordinated effort orchestrated by New York special interest groups to harness the power of the Legislative, Executive and Judicial branches of government to promote their anti-debt buying agenda. Here’s a timeline of what we have faced:

  • July 2013 – NYS Department of Financial Services issued proposed rules regulating pre-litigation communication between collection agencies and consumers. ?
  • September 2013 – The New York Unified Court System issued proposed rules that adopt New York City’s three debt collection affidavits statewide. The proposed rule was redrafted after what we understand was significant encouragement from consumer groups that said the NYC affidavits did notgo far enough. ?
  • March 2014 – Attorney General Schneiderman releases an AG Program Bill which is picked up by Assembly Judiciary Chair Helene Weinstein. ?
  • April 2014 – The New York Unified Court System issued a new proposed rule that would require all debt collection cases to provide up to five different account level affidavits when bringing an action to collect on a debt (three of the affidavits focus on debt buyers). The rule would (1) be retroactive to apply to all existing debt, (2) require account level affidavits, (3) require the original signed contract and (4) require pre-charge-off itemization of principal, interest, and fees.?
  • May 2014 – Chief Justice Jonathan Lippman during New York Law Day speaks to the necessity of the new proposed court rules to counter “zombie” debts brought by “third-party debt buyers who routinely purchase large portfolios of delinquent credit card debt – often for pennies on the dollar –and then commence lawsuits against individual debtors based on little more than boilerplate language and a few fields of data from a spreadsheet.” ?
  • May 2014 – Senator Diane Savino introduced the AG Program Bill in Senate.

This unprecedented activity by all three branches of government is requiring equally unprecedented activity by DBA International to defend the industry which has included: 

  • DBA representatives traveled to New York City in August to meet with the Department of Financial Services on the proposed DFS rules. ?
  • DBA representatives traveled to Albany in April to meet with members of the Senate and Assembly and representatives of the Attorney General and Governor. ?
  • DBA representatives travelled to New York City this week to meet with the Office of Court Administration on the proposed court rules. ?
  • DBA is taking the unprecedented action of reviewing proposals from a second lobbying firm with expertise working on judicial issues to supplement the legislative activities of our current lobbying firm

We Need You to Act Now!

We urgently need the DBA membership’s help by taking the following two steps:

  1. Make a contribution to the DBA Legislative Fund to support the increased financial costs associated with the unprecedented task of “lobbying” of all three branches of government to ensure that reasonable amendments are made to the various proposals. Your contributions can be made online by clicking here – please do not delay as we need your help today!
  2. Write a letter to the New York Unified Court system stressing how the proposed court rules/affidavits will negatively impact your business and/or the industry. The proposed rule can be found by clicking here. We are not providing a specific “form letter” for you to follow as we believe it will be more difficult for the Court to ignore the consequences of their actions when conveyed through unique and personal communications. Items you may want to consider mentioning in your letter include: (i) the four areas of concern listed above under the “April 2014” heading, (ii) the impact on your business if you cannot get judgments on legitimately owed contractual obligations, (iii) the potential long term implications on the New York consumer population if creditors are forced to become more selective on who they extend credit to because of the inability to bring collection matters before the judiciary, and (iv) any other compelling arguments that you find relevant to make your case. Your comments must be received no later than May 30, 2014.

Please email your comments on the proposed rule to [email protected] or write to:

John W. McConnell, Esq.
Counsel, Office of Court Administration
25 Beaver Street, 11th Fl.
New York, New York 10004

NOTE: ANY COMMENT WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR DISCLOSURE UNDER THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION LAW AND SUBJECT TO PUBLICATION.

I’M NOT FROM NEW YORK – HOW DOES THIS AFFECT ME?

If you are not a national buyer and not from New York, you may be asking yourself “how does this affect me?” The simple answer is that New York City is considered by most to be the “financial capital” of the United States and no one should be surprised if a pro-consumer court rule is adopted here it will be promoted as the new standard to be adopted by courts throughout the nation by the extreme special interest groups that purport to represent the interests of the American consumer. The bottom line is that this rule will have long range consequences and set toxic precedent for the entire industry from coast to coast! 

May 22, 2014