NJ Supreme Court holds that the FDCPA encompasses frequent evicters
In Hodges v. Feinstein, Raiss, Kelin & Booker LLC, the New Jersey Supreme Court held that lawyers who regularly file eviction proceedings are debt collectors who are subject to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Although the remedy in an eviction proceeding is eviction, not money, the court decided that eviction is, in reality, a powerful debt collection mechanism.
The case is, unfortunately, the opinion of one state court, and not that of a federal jurisdiction. Still, it may prove useful persuasive authority for tenants in other states who wish to invoke the FDCPA against law firms who evict in bad faith or based on inaccurate allegations of unpaid rent.
[from Consumer Law & Policy]
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