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The federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act obliges debt collectors to provide certain notices to consumers from whom they are attempting to collect debts. This article is the authors’ second to report findings from the first academic study of consumer understanding of one of those notices, commonly called the validation notice or “g notice.” The authors showed consumers different versions of collection letters and then asked questions to measure their understanding of the notices.

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Over the past several years, chapter 13 debtors have used the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) as a tool to challenge debt buyers who file massive numbers of proofs of claim for debt for which the statute of limitations has run. In Midland Funding v. Johnson, the Supreme Court held that filing a proof of claim for time-barred debt does not violate the FDCPA.

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Abstract: Among consumers who file for bankruptcy, African Americans file Chapter 13 petitions at substantially higher rates than other racial groups. Some have hypothesized that the difference is attributable to discrimination by attorneys. We show that the difference may be attributable, in substantial part, to a selection effect: Among distressed consumers, African Americans have longer commutes to work, rely more heavily on cars for the commute, and therefore have greater demand for a bankruptcy process (Chapter 13) that allows them to retain their cars.

Preliminary Comment: This is a study commissioned by the J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. Institute, so not a bunch of wooly-headed, bleeding heart academics. That even it finds tremendous utility in loan modification programs, should not be taken lightly. Abstract: In the aftermath of the Great Recession, various mortgage modification programs were introduced to help homeowners struggling to make their monthly mortgage payments remain in their homes.

Abstract: This Article argues that consistent with the Code’s text and policy, injunctions or other forms of equitable relief should be presumptively treated as “claims,” even if nonbankruptcy law does not permit the enjoined party to satisfy the injunction by the payment of money. This presumption, however, should be rebuttable. No categorical rule can determine when equitable remedies should be monetized and discharged.

Abstract: Exploiting the within-district random assignment of bankruptcy cases to judges, we provide new evidence on the effects of judges' on-the-bench experience on large public corporate Chapter 11 outcomes. We find that cases assigned to more experienced judges spend less time in bankruptcy, are more likely to be reorganized rather than liquidated, but are not more likely to refile for bankruptcy after emergence.