Guests Nick Mooney and Jeff Turner discuss what debt collectors should know about the 2015 amendments to the Consumer and Credit Protection Act.
9/3/2019 10:30
In the context of debt-collector-friendliness, West Virginia has long been the problem child in comparison to its neighboring states. But in recent years, West Virginia has really earned its reputation. A 2015 survey conducted by The Harris Poll for the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform produced results identifying West Virginia as the overall worst state for litigation. Notably, West Virginia earned a “C-“ in the element of “treatment of class actions and mass consolidation suits”. Coincidentally (but probably not), also in 2015, West Virginia amended its Consumer Credit and Protection Act to change its aggregate limits in class actions as well as individual actions.
West Virginia’s Consumer Credit and Protection Act (W.V. Code § 46A-5-101) (“WV Consumer Act”) has long included a private right of action for violations of the state’s consumer protection laws, but until 2015, damages were generally limited to actual damages, as well an amount determined by the court of “not less than one hundred dollars nor more than one thousand dollars.” The previous range was actually anywhere from $100 to approximately $4,800 per violation because of a separate statutory adjustment for inflation that also was subject to the discretion of the trial judge. W.V. Code § 46A-5-106. That meant a potential payout of $4,800 per violation.
Read more on the 2015 amendments in Survey Says: West Virginia is the Worst State for Litigation.
