Going Remote: Due Process and Self-Represented Debt Collection Defendants During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

In consumer debt collection lawsuits, the vast majority of cases end in default judgment entered against the defendant and the debtor never makes an appearance in court or seeks legal help. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the need for remote services delivery, courts made a rapid pivot to provide technology-based solutions for access to court processes. In 2020, when the courts closed to the public, and many lawyers started working from home, some counties among the 58 that comprise the California state court system continued to allow electronic filings. Analysis of court record data shows that debt collectors continued to file new cases even though e-filing was not available to unrepresented parties and the courts were closed for in-person services. This Essay posits that technology can be helpful in a time of crisis but poses a risk as an intervention that may cause additional harm and exacerbate inequities in the civil legal system if it does not make an affirmative effort to reach those struggling to access the justice system. In a look at the pandemic-era data in a populous and high poverty-rate county, the research behind this Essay identifies possible and actual risks to the due process rights of self-represented litigants posed by rapid conversion to new legal technologies in a pandemic or other crisis.

Keywords: access to justice, legaltech, legal technology, due process, COVID-19, technology and courts, civil process and procedure, unrepresented litigants, self-represented litigants, debt collection, state courts, consumer