--- name: oh-consumer-debt description: > Use for Ohio consumer-debt defense — debt-buyer suits, collection actions. Covers **Ohio Consumer Sales Practices Act (R.C. Chapter 1345)** with **treble damages + mandatory fees**, **2-year CSPA SOL**, **FDCPA + Reg F** overlays, **chain-of-title doctrine**, **Ohio UCC Article 9** (R.C. Chapter 1309), and **6-year SOL on written contracts** (R.C. 2305.06). **NO collection-agency licensure in Ohio** — defenses lean on chain-of-title and FDCPA. Triggers: "Ohio consumer debt", "Ohio CSPA", "R.C. 1345 treble damages", "Ohio chain of title", "Ohio debt buyer", "medical debt Ohio". version: 0.2.1 --- # Ohio Consumer Debt — Statutory + Common-Law Defenses > **NOT LEGAL ADVICE.** Verify every cite against current > R.C. text and current case law before filing. The Ohio > CSPA has been amended materially in 2012, 2021, and 2023. ## Five fact-pattern triage When a consumer-debt complaint arrives, triage to one of these patterns. Each maps to a defense playbook. ### 1. Debt-buyer (post-charge-off) action Plaintiff is **Midland Funding LLC**, **LVNV Funding LLC**, **Portfolio Recovery Associates**, **Cavalry SPV I**, **Crown Asset Management**, **Unifund CCR LLC**, or similar. Plaintiff is **not** the original creditor (which would be Citibank, Capital One, Synchrony, Discover, Chase, etc.). **Core defenses:** - **Chain of title** — plaintiff must prove every assignment from original creditor through any intermediate purchasers. Ohio's UCC at R.C. 1309.406 governs the rights of an assignee. - **Account-stated foundation** — plaintiff usually pleads "account stated" because it lacks the underlying signed contract. Force them to produce the original card-member agreement under R.C. 1303.31 (UCC Article 3 negotiable- instrument requirements) or via Civ. R. 1002 best-evidence. - **Authentication** — affidavits of "custodian" employed by the debt buyer (not the original creditor) routinely fail Civ. R. 803(6) / 901 foundation. *LVNV Funding, LLC v. Henderson*, 2018-Ohio-3535 (1st Dist.) is the leading cite for affidavit-of-debt failures in Ohio. - **FDCPA counterclaim** — 15 U.S.C. § 1692e (false representations) and § 1692f (unfair practices) are routine counterclaim grounds. ### 2. Original-creditor action Plaintiff is the bank that issued the card or made the loan (Capital One, Discover Bank, etc.) — not a debt buyer. **Core defenses:** - **SOL** — 6 years on written contracts under R.C. 2305.06; 4 years on Ohio UCC Article 3 negotiable- instruments suits under R.C. 1303.16. - **Account-stated** — original creditor's monthly statements can establish account-stated if undisputed for reasonable time. - **TILA / Reg Z** — billing-error disputes raised within 60 days under 15 U.S.C. § 1666 must be honored. - **Choice of law** — many card agreements choose Delaware, South Dakota, or Virginia. Choice-of-law clause may shift the controlling SOL and interest cap. ### 3. Medical debt action Plaintiff is a hospital system or its assignee. **Core defenses:** - **No-Surprises Act** — federal NSA limits balance-billing for out-of-network emergency care. - **R.C. 1751.60** — Ohio prohibits HMO-contracted providers from billing enrollees beyond copays. - **Reasonable-value challenge** — medical debt is contract for services; charges must reflect reasonable value if no agreed price. - **R.C. Chapter 3727** hospital-debt rules. ### 4. Auto-deficiency action Plaintiff is auto-finance company after repossession. **Core defenses:** - **Commercially reasonable sale** — UCC R.C. 1309.610(B) requires commercially reasonable disposition. *Coxson v. Commonwealth Bank*, 43 Ohio App.3d 31, is leading cite. - **Notice of disposition** — R.C. 1309.611 requires pre- sale notice to debtor; failure to give notice bars or reduces deficiency under R.C. 1309.626. - **Retail Installment Sales Act** — R.C. Chapter 1317 (`oh-law-references/references/oh-statutes-debt/RC-Chapter-1317.md`): most auto financing is a retail installment contract, so RISA's contract-form and notice/cure requirements apply on top of Article 9. - **Lien perfection on the title** — R.C. Chapter 4505 (`RC-Chapter-4505.md`); the security interest is perfected by notation on the certificate of title (R.C. 4505.13). Test whether the plaintiff actually holds a perfected, properly assigned interest. - **Insurance / GAP credit** — verify any GAP insurance was applied before deficiency calculated. ### 5. Garnishment / supplemental proceedings Default judgment already entered; plaintiff is now collecting via wage garnishment, bank attachment, or debtor exam. **Core defenses:** - **R.C. 2329.66 exemptions** — Ohio personal property exemption is generous (wildcard $1,475; tools of trade $2,800; household goods $13,400; homestead $161,375 as of 2024 adjustment). Ohio uses state exemptions, not federal Bankruptcy Code exemptions. - **CCPA garnishment cap** — 15 U.S.C. § 1673 caps wage garnishment at 25% of disposable earnings or amount above 30x federal minimum wage. - **R.C. 2329.07** — judgment dormant after 5 years if not executed upon; revival required. ## Ohio CSPA — the centerpiece counterclaim The **Ohio Consumer Sales Practices Act** (R.C. Chapter 1345) is the Ohio analog of the federal FDCPA + Washington's CPA and is **substantially more powerful** than the federal FDCPA on its own. ### Coverage - **R.C. 1345.01(A)** defines "consumer transaction" — sale / lease / assignment / award / other transfer of an item / service to an individual for personal / family / household use. - **R.C. 1345.01(C)** defines "supplier" — a seller, lessor, assignor, or other person engaged in the business of effecting consumer transactions. **Debt collectors and debt buyers are "suppliers" within the CSPA** per *Brown v. Liberty Clubs, Inc.*, 45 Ohio St.3d 191 (1989), and *Celebrezze v. United Research, Inc.*, 19 Ohio App.3d 49. ### Prohibited acts - **R.C. 1345.02** — unfair / deceptive acts in connection with a consumer transaction. - **R.C. 1345.03** — unconscionable acts. - **OAC 109:4-3-XX** — Attorney General's substantive regulations adding per-industry prohibitions; debt- collection-specific rules at **OAC 109:4-3-11**. ### Damages - **R.C. 1345.09(A)** — actual damages. - **R.C. 1345.09(B)** — election of remedy: (1) triple actual damages, OR (2) $200 per violation. **Three times damages with no cap is the headline.** - **R.C. 1345.09(F)** — **attorney's fees are mandatory** on prevailing-consumer CSPA judgments where supplier acted knowingly. *Bittner v. Tri-County Toyota*, 58 Ohio St.3d 143 (1991) is the leading fee-award standard (lodestar with Ohio modifications). ### SOL - **R.C. 1345.10(C)** — 2 years from occurrence of violation OR from rescission becoming impossible / inapplicable. - This is **2-year, not 6-year** — common pitfall. ## Federal overlays The federal layer applies in parallel: - **FDCPA** (15 U.S.C. §§ 1692-1692p) — applies to all third-party debt collectors (debt buyers, collection agencies, attorneys collecting consumer debt). Original creditors collecting their own debt are excluded. - **Reg F** (12 C.F.R. Part 1006) — CFPB's 2021 codified rules: 7-7-7 contact limit, validation notice, time-of- day restrictions. - **FCRA** (15 U.S.C. §§ 1681-1681x) — credit-report furnisher rules; § 1681s-2(b) provides private right of action after dispute via CRA. - **TCPA** (47 U.S.C. § 227) — robocall + autodialed-text restrictions; collection calls within scope. Verbatim text for all federal sources lives in `oh-law-references/references/federal-debt-laws/` (symlinked into the shared `claude-legal-federal-laws` plugin). ## Chain of title — debt-buyer defense backbone Every debt-buyer plaintiff must prove unbroken chain from original creditor. Build the discovery plan around: ### What to demand 1. Original cardmember agreement signed by consumer. 2. All monthly statements covering the account life. 3. Each Assignment / Bill of Sale in the chain (typically: original creditor → debt-buyer-warehouse → plaintiff; sometimes 3-4 hops). 4. Account-level data file accompanying each Bill of Sale (the actual transaction record proving THIS account was in the portfolio sold). 5. Affidavit of seller-side custodian at each hop (not just buyer's custodian). 6. Power-of-attorney chains where applicable. ### Common failures - **Generic Bill of Sale** without account-level data file. - **Custodian affidavit from buyer** purporting to authenticate seller's records — fails Civ. R. 803(6) / 901. - **Missing intermediate assignment** (Citibank → CCS Inc. → LVNV → Resurgent, but only CCS→LVNV produced). - **Account-level data with discrepancy** in charge-off date, charge-off balance, or last-payment date. ## Discovery playbook The `oh-discovery` skill covers the procedural framework. Subject-specific: - **RFP bank for debt buyers** — request the chain components above. - **RFA bank** — request admissions on each foundation element (authenticity, custody, completeness). - **Interrogatories** — Ohio Civ. R. 33(A) caps at 40 including subparts; allocate carefully. - **Motion to compel** — Civ. R. 37; require meet-and- confer per Civ. R. 37(E). ## Composition with other oh- skills - `oh-first-30-days` — answer / Civ. R. 12(B)(6) triage - `oh-discovery` — discovery mechanics - `oh-draft-motion` — Civ. R. 56 / Civ. R. 12(B)(6) / Civ. R. 60(B) frameworks - `oh-post-judgment` — exemptions + garnishment defense - `oh-fact-check` — Ohio public-domain citation format - `oh-statewide-format` — Civ. R. 10 caption + filing ## Critical SOLs in one place | Claim | SOL | Statute | |---|---|---| | Written contract | 6 yr | R.C. 2305.06 | | Oral contract | 6 yr | R.C. 2305.07 | | Account stated | 6 yr | R.C. 2305.07 | | UCC negotiable instrument | 4 yr | R.C. 1303.16 | | Tort (personal injury) | 2 yr | R.C. 2305.10 | | Libel / slander | 1 yr | R.C. 2305.11 | | **Ohio CSPA** | **2 yr** | **R.C. 1345.10** | | FDCPA | 1 yr | 15 U.S.C. § 1692k(d) | | FCRA | 2 yr (discovery rule) | 15 U.S.C. § 1681p | | Judgment enforcement | 5 yr (renewable) | R.C. 2329.07 |