Attorney General Laxalt announces $136 Million Credit Card Debt Collection Settlement with JPMorgan Chase

Agreement halts collections from 528,000 consumers

(Office of the Attorney General) – CARSON CITY – Today, Nevada Attorney General Adam Paul Laxalt, along with 46 states, the District of Columbia and the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced a $136 million joint state-federal settlement with JPMorgan Chase. Following an investigation into Chase’s past debt collection practices, the settlement agreement offers an assurance of voluntary compliance with each of the participating states, as well as a separate order with the CFPB.

“This settlement will help to ensure that consumers in Nevada are not misled or unlawfully taken advantage of by this bank,” said Laxalt. “Dealing with aggressive debt collectors can be overwhelming. This settlement holds Chase accountable for its past practices, provides restitution to harmed consumers and prevents future unlawful debt collection from occurring.”

The agreement requires Chase to significantly reform its credit card debt collection practices in the areas of declaration, collection litigation, debt sales and debt buying. Debt buying involves the sale of the debt by creditors or other debt owners to buyers, who then attempt to collect the debt at full value or sell it to other buyers.

Among other reforms, the agreement requires new safeguards to ensure that debt information is accurate, provides additional information to consumers who owe debts, and bars Chase’s debt buyers from reselling consumer debts to other purchasers.

Chase has agreed to cease all collection efforts on more than 528,000 consumers, including an estimated 1,870 in Nevada. Chase will notify affected borrowers of the change and will request that all three major credit reporting agencies not report the judgments. The state of Nevada will receive $1,714,376.53 from the settlement.

Nevada is joined by the following state attorneys general in this settlement: Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

For more details on this multistate settlement, click here. For information on restitution amounts for each state, click here. To file a complaint with the Office of the Nevada Attorney General, click here. For more information on debt collection issues or to file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission or the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, click on their respective links.