My article, Has the Flood of Debt Collection Lawsuits Swept Away Minnesotans’ Due Process Rights? (PDF) was published in the William Mitchell Law Review, volume 35, number 3. In my article, I take a hard look at the effect of Minnesota’s permissive procedural rules and garnishment laws, which have encouraged the enormous—and growing—volume of collection lawsuits.
Here is an excerpt from the introduction:
In Minnesota, debt collectors and debt buyers may commence lawsuits without filing them, garnish bank accounts and wages without paying a filing fee, and obtain default judgments without producing evidence to substantiate their claims. Debt collectors in Minnesota take advantage of favorable rules and laws, together with their knowledge that defendants often do not understand their rights, and collect millions from consumers every year. In this process, debt collectors are sweeping away Minnesotans’ due process rights in a flood of collection lawsuits.