Reliance on Counsel or Mistake About the Law: Not a Defense

[David A. Szwak]

Title 15 U.S.C. § 1692k(c) requires that:
(c) Intent
A debt collector may not be held liable in any action brought under this subchapter if the debt collector shows by a preponderance of the evidence that the violation was not intentional and resulted from a bona fide error notwithstanding the maintenance of procedures reasonably adapted to avoid any such error.
“Reliance on advice of counsel or a mistake about the law is insufficient by itself to raise the bona fide error defense.â€