BOSTON (Legal Newsline) — The Association of Credit and Collection Professionals (ACA) is suing the Massachusetts Attorney General over the state's debt collection regulation put in place during the COVID-19 outbreak.
ACA International filed a complaint April 20 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts against Maura Healey in her official capacity as Massachusetts Attorney General, alleging violation of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and other claims.
According to ACA's complaint, Healey put in place regulation "940 CMR 35.00" on March 26, which made any debt collector-initiated communication with a debtor considered to be an "unfair or deceptive act or practice" while the state was under a declaration of emergency due to the Coronavirus pandemic. The ACA claims the regulation deprives its members of their rights.
The sides are currently jostling over ACA International's request for a temporary injunction. A hearing on that matter will take place May 1.
The ACA seeks a declaratory judgment to make the regulation invalid. They are represented by David Bizar and Robert Carty, Jr., of Seyfarth Shaw LLP in Boston and Houston.
U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts case number 1:20-CV-10767-RGS