Fifth Circuit Rules Against Unlawful Debt Collections Targeting Hurricane Katrina Survivors

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled in favor of Louisiana homeowners Iris Calogero and Margie Randolf. The court reversed a lower court’s ruling that allowed a Louisiana law firm to seek collection of alleged overpayments to homeowners who participated in the Road Home Program. The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), along with attorneys Margaret Woodward, Jenny Deasy and Keren Gesund represent the plaintiffs.“We are enormously gratified by the ruling of the Fifth Circuit that the Defendants clearly violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act in many ways,” said attorney Margaret Woodward. “The Defendant debt-collectors in this action turned a substantial gift from the federal government into a nightmare for thousands of Louisiana residents by refusing to do right by the people they harmed.”The Plaintiffs’ case in Calogero v. Shows, Cali Walsh LLP contends that the state of Louisiana’s debt collectors, lawyers with the firm Shows, Cali Walsh, violated the federal Fair Debt Collections Practices Act in attempting to collect what the state says were duplicative payments from the Road Home Program, an initiative created by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) after much of the city of New Orleans was devastated by...