The recent Hunstein decision has been a big talking point for debt collection since the ruling was made. Agencies are scrambling to understand the implications of this case, which found transmitting data from a debt collector to a letter vendor is a violation of third party disclosure, even as new suits are being filed.

To get a handle on this ruling and the impressions it has left on both industry and consumer attorneys, Accountsrecovery.net recently hosted a two-part webinar panel on the topic.

Both panels of this two-part discussion were moderated by nationally recognized authority on the FDCPA and the FCRA, John Bedard of Bedard Law Group.

The panel of experts consisted of: Tim Collins, Chief Customer Officer at Indebted, Dara Tarkowski, Managing Partner of Actuate Law, and Eric Troutman, Partner at Squire, Patton, Boggs.

The webinar covered the case, what happened to cause the ruling, and what aspects of the argument may be relevant when seeking letter vendor services moving forward. They also discussed:

• What happens next in this case: possibility for appeal, how that process works, and what it will mean.

• The reach of the ruling: the panel discussed what it might mean for other vendor relationships.

• Next steps: what agencies can do to prepare in case the ruling is upheld, and how digital options and preference management will play a part.

In this installment of the series, Bedard led a discussion with consumer attorneys to better understand how those outside the industry feel about this ruling.

The panel included: Attorney Matt Loker, Loker Law, Sergei Lemberg, Founder of Lemberg Law, and Abbas Kazerounian, Partner at Kazerouni Law Group, APC.

In this webinar, Bedard spoke to consumer attorneys about whether they agreed with the Hunstein decision and why, and asked the panel to discuss the holding. These experts also touched on:

• Rehearing: whether they believed the court would grant a rehearing of this case, and if so, what they thought the outcome might be.

• Why now?: why this type of lawsuit hasn’t been prevalent before now.

• Advice for collectors: what may or may not be useful for debt collection agencies in regards to future litigation.