Weltman wins complete defense verdict in litigation brought by Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Client(s) Weltman, Weinberg & Reis Co., LPA

Jones Day client Weltman, Weinberg & Reis Co., LPA ("Weltman") secured a complete defense verdict in litigation brought by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (the "CFPB") in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio following trial to an advisory jury and the court’s entry of judgment.

Weltman is a full-service national creditors' rights and debt collection law firm. Following a two and a half year investigation, the CFPB filed the lawsuit against Weltman in 2017, alleging that collection letters sent by Weltman on the firm’s letterhead violated the Consumer Financial Protection Act and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act because the letters implied they were from an attorney and Weltman's attorneys were not "meaningfully involved" in the collections process. Weltman presented evidence at trial, adopted by the court in its findings of fact, that Richard Cordray, the Director of the CFPB in 2017, in his previous role as Ohio Attorney General, had himself appointed Weltman to collect debts for the State of Ohio, using Weltman's processes and Weltman's letters that were substantially similar to the letters that the CFPB alleged to be misleading.

On July 25, 2018, the court ruled in Weltman's favor on every disputed issue. The court found that Weltman's collection letters were "truthful on their face" and that Weltman's attorneys "were meaningfully and substantially involved in the debt collection process."

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v. Weltman, Weinberg & Reis Co., L.P.A., Case No. 1:17 CV 817 (N.D. Ohio)