The FTC are to host a round-table to discuss debt collection and arbitration practices Aug. 5 and 6 at the Thorne Auditorium, Northwestern School of Law, in Chicago.

The round-table follows up on the FTCs February 2009 report Collecting Consumer Debts: The Challenges of Change ” A Workshop Report, which advised that the debt collection regulatory system in the U.S. should be altered and remodeled. The report also released a series of regional round-tables to further discuss debt collection litigation and arbitration, next weeks meeting being the first.

The round-table will involve representatives from the collection industry, government officials, judicial system representatives, consumer advocates, academicians and other stakeholders.

On the first day, the round-table will cover litigation topics including service of process, consumer default rates, time-barred debts, evidentiary prerequisites, and trials in collection actions and post-judgment matters.The second day will cover arbitration topics including the role of consumer choice, consumer arbitration codes and behavior in certain situation, perceptions of bias, transparency of results and post-decision issues.

Too many consumer attorneys contest collections not on the principle of whether the consumer legally owes the debt, but on very small technical issues, according to Markoff. The FTC doesn’t regulate attorneys. Among the issues ACA International hopes to bring up at the Chicago round-table is the education of consumers regarding statute of limitations for collections, process servers and proper notice for consumers on arbitration issues. NAF agreed to immediately stop accepting cases involving consumer credit.

New Yorks attorney general also announced the filing of a lawsuit against 37 law firms that could potentially overturn 100,000 consumer credit judgments against consumers in the state. The suit also targets two collection lawsuit process servers. In addition to the FTC, NARCA and ACA, others on the round-table will include representatives from Public Justice, the Consumers Union, the Michigan Poverty Law Program, the Michigan Creditors Bar Association, the University of Kansas School of Law, Public Citizen, the Center for Responsible Lending, the Illinois Credit Bar Association, the American Arbitration Association, the AARP Foundation, the National Arbitration Forum and DBA International.

The Federal Trade Commission will host a round-table to discuss debt collection and arbitration practices Aug. 5 and 6 at the Thorne Auditorium, Northwestern School of Law, in Chicago.

The round-table follows up on the FTCs February 2009 report Collecting Consumer Debts: The Challenges of Change ” A Workshop Report, which favored that the debt collection regulatory system in the U.S. should be changed and renewed. The report also publicized a series of regional round-tables to further discuss debt collection litigation and arbitration, next weeks meeting being the first.

The round-table will involve representatives from the collection industry, government officials, judicial system representatives, consumer advocates, academicians and other stakeholders.

On the first day, the round-table will cover litigation topics including service of process, consumer default rates, time-barred debts, evidentiary qualifications, and stresses in collection actions and post-judgment concerns.The second day will cover arbitration topics including the role of consumer choice, consumer arbitration codes and rules of conduct, perceptions of bias, transparency of results and post-decision issues.

Too many consumer attorneys clash collections not on the evidence of whether the consumer legally owes the debt, but on minuscular technical issues, according to Markoff. The FTC doesn’t regulate attorneys. Among the issues ACA International hopes to bring up at the Chicago round-table is the education of consumers regarding statute of limitations for collections, process servers and proper notice for consumers on arbitration issues. NAF agreed to immediately stop accepting cases involving consumer credit.

New Yorks attorney general also announced the filing of a lawsuit against 37 law firms that could potentially overturn 100,000 consumer credit judgments against consumers in the state. The suit also targets two collection lawsuit process servers. In addition to the FTC, NARCA and ACA, others on the round-table will include representatives from Public Justice, the Consumers Union, the Michigan Poverty Law Program, the Michigan Creditors Bar Association, the University of Kansas School of Law, Public Citizen, the Center for Responsible Lending, the Illinois Credit Bar Association, the American Arbitration Association, the AARP Foundation, the National Arbitration Forum and DBA International.

At a press conference Tuesday in Buffalo, N.Y., New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo declared that his office has shut down a debt collection operation in Western New York that included at least 9 collection agencies owned by Tobias Boyland.

Cuomo said that his office executed search warrants on four of Boylands businesses and his residence early Tuesday morning. When investigators executed the warrant at Boylands home, they found a loaded gun, prompting the Erie County Sheriff to take him into custody. Boyland is a convicted felon and may face additional weapons charges in Erie County.

Boylands operation was featured heavily in a Dateline NBC segment that was broad-casted in March. Cuomo remarked that a Dateline crew was present at one of the offices raided Tuesday. The attorney generals office alleged that Boylands operation annoyed and browbeat consumers into paying old debts by threatening jail time, posing as police officers and worse. According to Mitra Hormozi, special deputy chief of staff to the attorney general, These are some of the worst tactics we’ve seen.

“Plain and simple, this company was run by people who lied, bullied and preyed on vulnerable Americans struggling to resolve their financial situation,” said Cuomo in a statement. “Pretending to be a police officer, threatening to throw consumers in jail – these practices are as despicable as they are illegal. My Office will continue to relentlessly root out these kinds of tactics and shut down unscrupulous companies that violate the rights of consumers across New York and the entire nation.”

Cuomo said that Boylands debt collection operations in the Buffalo area had been shut down, including offices running under the names Central Resource Management, Final Claims Asset Locator’s, Final Control Asset Locator’s, Interchange Payment Solutions, Next Step Services, Portfolio Asset Assurance, Silverbay Services, and Teleport. As well as 3 others, ” 2 with criminal records ” associated to Boyland were named in the suit.

The office of the attorney general announced in May that it had shut down two collection agencies and subpoenaed 20 others in what they called a statewide inquiry into debt collection companies. Less than a week later, the office said that it had settled with three more collection agencies under investigation.

In June, Cuomo announced that his office will keep on investigating the countless deceptive practices that debt collection companies, debt settlement companies and others make use of as a means to exploit consumers who are already down on their luck.