As this LA Times story explains,
In a lawsuit that echoes the worst abuses of the foreclosure crisis, [California's] top law enforcement official is suing the nation's largest bank, accusing it of using aggressive and illegal tactics to collect credit card debt from thousands of California consumers. Atty. Gen. Kamala D. Harris on Thursday accused JP Morgan Chase & Co. of operating a "debt collection mill" that flooded courts with more than 100,000 lawsuits to obtain speedy judgments before consumers could fight back. Much as banks did during the housing crisis, JPMorgan used so-called robo-signing to churn out documents without reviewing them, Harris said.
Harris's suit is part of an effort to reform a debt collection industry that consumer advocates claim is just as beset by robo-signing and other improper practices as was the mortgage industry. The debt collection reform bill mentioned in the LA Times article, SB 233, is slated for a vote in the California Senate this week.
[HT Ted Mermin]
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