In a unanimous opinion written by Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, the Supreme Court ruled yesterday that someone who purchases a defaulted debt is not a “debt collector” and is therefore not subject to the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), according to a special analysis from ABI’s Bill Rochelle. The case, Henson v. Santander Consumer USA Inc., was argued on April 18, the second day Justice Gorsuch sat on the bench after being sworn in the week before as the high court’s 113th justice. Santander had purchased a portfolio of defaulted auto loans from a bank. The district court and the Fourth Circuit both held that Santander was not a “debt collector” and thus not subject to the regulations and remedies afforded to consumers under the FDCPA. The Supreme Court granted certiorari to resolve a split because other circuits had held that purchasing debt did not give a debt collector immunity from the FDCPA.
