Judge Suggests the Need for Debt Collection Legal Reform

By Joe Swickard, Detroit Free Press

A Southfield judge is offering his court as a test lab for statewide debt collection reform, which can be a legal rat’s nest of gouging fees and interest, dicey documents and predatory practices.

Chief Judge Stephen Cooper proposed changes to make collection cases fairer and more efficient Thursday at 46th District Court. He suggested in an e-mail to the Michigan District Judges Association that other courts use his courtroom as a test of the changes.

Cooper’s effort comes as a leading debt-collection attorney faces more than 300 criminal contempt charges for filing allegedly fraudulent documents with the 25th District Court in Lincoln Park.

Writing to his fellow judges, Cooper said average people — “unfamiliar with court procedures and uneducated about their rights” — often get the dirty end of the legal stick.

The troubled economy means financial problems for more consumers, Cooper said in an interview Thursday, and that in turn means increased court action to collect debts.

Judge Quinn E. Benson, president of the state judicial association, said the problems are most apparent in metropolitan areas, but that “all the judges I’ve spoken to have expressed concern that things are a little loose and that abuses can occur.”

For this complete story, please visit Debt-collection cases need new rules, judge says.