ny-consumer-debt

New York Consumer-Debt Defense

NOT LEGAL ADVICE. Consumer-debt defense is a specialty with high stakes; this bundle is a drafting aid for pro se defendants. Verify every statute and rule before filing.

The New York consumer-debt landscape

Three filing forums:

1. Civil Court of the City of New York — under $50,000; the largest consumer-debt forum in the state by case count. Covered by ny-county-courts.
2. Supreme Court — over $50,000 (rare for pure consumer debt; common for mixed claims or judgment-revival). The five flagship counties.
3. Nassau / Suffolk District Court + upstate City Courts — long-tail jurisdictions for smaller debts.

The 2022 Consumer Credit Fairness Act (CCFA)

L 2021, ch 593, effective April 7, 2022. The most significant consumer-debt reform in NY in decades. Four key provisions:

CCFA § 1 — CPLR 213(a) — 3-year SOL on consumer credit

Before: 6 years (CPLR 213(2) general contract SOL) After: 3 years (new CPLR 213(a)) on any "action arising out of a consumer credit transaction where a purchaser, borrower or debtor is a defendant"

The SOL runs from the default date — the first missed payment that triggered acceleration (case law: Costa v. Deutsche Bank, 22 NY3d 159 (2013); Lubonty v. U.S. Bank, 34 NY3d 250 (2019)). Once the SOL runs, revival is limited to written acknowledgment under N.Y. GOL § 17-101; partial payment does NOT revive (Lew Morris Demolition Co. v. Bd. of Educ., 40 NY2d 516 (1976)).

Practice point: For any complaint filed on/after April 7, 2022 on a debt that defaulted 3+ years earlier, file a CPLR 3211(a)(5) motion to dismiss on SOL grounds.

CCFA § 2 — CPLR 3015(e) — heightened pleading

The complaint in any consumer-credit action must allege:

• (a) The complete chain of title from the original creditor to the plaintiff
• (b) The date and substance of any account agreement
• (c) The account number (last 4 digits OK)
• (d) The date of default and the amount due as of charge- off
• (e) An itemization of fees/charges/interest added since charge-off
• (f) A statement of the date of the last payment received if any

Missing any of these is grounds for CPLR 3211(a)(7) motion to dismiss.

CCFA § 3 — 22 NYCRR § 202.27-a — heightened default-judgment

In any consumer-credit case (as defined at CPLR 105(f)):

• The plaintiff must submit specific evidence with the default application — not just an affidavit of merit
• Required documents:
  • The chain-of-title documents
  • The original creditor's records
  • The bill of sale and assignment
• Required affidavits:
  • The affidavit of merit from a person with personal knowledge — not a robo-signer
  • The CPLR 3215(g)(3) additional-notice mailing affidavit

Default judgments entered without compliance are routinely vacated under CPLR 5015(a)(4) (lack of jurisdiction over the person — defective service or process) or under (a)(1) (excusable default + meritorious defense — easy to show when § 202.27-a was not satisfied).

CCFA § 4 — CPLR 308(six) — additional notice mailing

In consumer-credit actions, the plaintiff must mail an additional notice to the defendant under CPLR 308(six) (the provision was renumbered; originally CPLR 308(5)). The notice must be in plain language and identify the original creditor + the assignor chain.

Substantive defenses checklist

Defense	Authority
Statute of limitations	CPLR 213(a) (3 yrs); CPLR 3211(a)(5)
Failure to state a cause of action (no CCFA pleading)	CPLR 3015(e); CPLR 3211(a)(7)
Lack of standing / chain of title	N.Y. UCC § 9-203; case law
Sewer service	CPLR 308; CPLR 3211(a)(8); CPLR 5015(a)(4)
Lack of capacity to sue	N.Y. GBL § 601-a (NYC license); CPLR 3211(a)(3)
Account stated — no agreement to account	CPLR 3018(b)
Payment / accord and satisfaction	CPLR 3018(b)
Small-print contract	CPLR 4544 (8-pt type)
Usury	Penal Law § 190.40 (criminal); GOL § 5-501 (civil 16%)
TILA violation (in original transaction)	15 USC § 1640
FDCPA violation by collector	15 USC § 1692 — see references
Reg F violation by collector	12 CFR § 1006 — see references

Counterclaims checklist

Counterclaim	Authority
FDCPA (federal — $1,000 cap + actual + atty fees)	15 USC § 1692k
GBL § 349 (NY deceptive acts — $50 min; $1,000 cap on willful)	N.Y. GBL §§ 349, 350
GBL § 600 et seq. (collection-agency licensing)	N.Y. GBL §§ 600-606
Common-law abuse of process	NY common law
Common-law malicious prosecution (post-dismissal)	NY common law
Defamation (if reported to credit bureau falsely after dispute)	CPLR 215(3) — 1-year SOL

Fact-pattern triage

The table below describes recurring fact patterns in New York consumer-debt practice and the procedural mechanisms the CPLR makes available for each. It is not a recommendation that any particular litigant pursue any particular motion — the choice of pleading, motion, or response belongs to the litigant (and any counsel the litigant retains). Use the table as a map of options, not as a prescription.

#	Pattern	Procedural mechanisms commonly considered
1	Stale credit-card debt (charge-off > 3 yrs before filing)	CPLR 3211(a)(5) motion to dismiss on SOL grounds
2	Debt buyer plaintiff missing chain-of-title docs	CPLR 3211(a)(7) motion (non-compliance with CPLR 3015(e))
3	Default judgment entered, never served (or sewer service)	CPLR 5015(a)(4) motion to vacate
4	Default judgment entered post-CCFA without § 202.27-a evidence	CPLR 5015(a)(1) motion to vacate (excusable default + meritorious defense)
5	Active case, debt-collector calls violate Reg F	Verified answer; FDCPA / GBL § 349 counterclaim

Reference files

• references/fdcpa.md — NY-specific framing for the FDCPA (verbatim text in ny-law-references/references/federal-debt-laws/FDCPA.md symlinked to the shared plugin)
• references/reg-f.md — NY-specific framing for Reg F
• references/ccfa.md — Consumer Credit Fairness Act 2022 text + commentary
• references/cplr-213a.md — 3-year SOL deep dive
• references/cplr-3015e.md — heightened pleading deep dive
• references/202-27-a.md — heightened default-judgment rule deep dive
• references/gbl-349.md — NY deceptive-acts statute
• references/gbl-600.md — collection-agency licensing
• references/cplr-4544.md — small-print contracts
• references/chain-of-title.md — N.Y. UCC Article 9 + bill-of-sale-and-assignment foundation
• references/evidence-debt-buyer.md — CPLR 4518 business- records foundation under People v. Kennedy, 68 NY2d 569 (1986) and Bank of NY Mellon v. Gordon, 171 AD3d 197 (2d Dept 2019)
• references/ny-sols.md — NY SOLs by claim type
• references/key-cases.md — controlling precedents
• references/recent-decisions.md — post-2022 CCFA case law
• references/fees-consumer-debt.md — fee shifting in NY consumer-debt (FDCPA mandatory + GBL § 349 discretionary)
• references/rfp-debt-buyer.md — RFP bank targeting chain of title
• references/rfa-debt-buyer.md — Notice to Admit bank
• references/interrogatories-debt-buyer.md — 25-interrogatory bank targeting chain of title (CPLR 3130 / 3133(b))
• references/meet-and-confer-debt-buyer.md — 22 NYCRR § 202.20-f conferral templates
• references/ucc-article-9.md — N.Y. UCC Article 9
• references/online-sources-consumer-debt.md — canonical URLs

Composition with other ny- skills

• ny-statewide-format — format baseline
• ny-first-30-days — answer triage on a consumer-debt complaint
• ny-discovery — RFP/RFA/Interrogatory drafting
• ny-post-judgment — CPLR 5015 vacate + Article 52 defense
• ny-deadlines — CPLR 213(a) 3-year SOL clock
• ny-county-courts — NYC Civil Court is the primary forum
• ny-kings / ny-bronx / ny-queens — high-volume Supreme Court consumer-debt counties (especially mortgage- foreclosure cases)