On May 8, 2023 the FTC announced that it filed complaints against two loan forgiveness and debt relief companies on April 24, 2023 alleging that they falsely claimed to be affiliated with the Department of Education. The companies allegedly told students that certain fee payments would count toward repayment programs and student…
On May 5, 2023, the CFPB announced it would be sending $22.3 million in refund checks to consumers who lost money in credit card relief schemes. The CFPB sent 6,523 refund checks to damaged consumers. The relief is part of a settlement the CFPB reached with a Maryland-based debt-relief and credit-repair…
On February 27, 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it had entered into a consent order with a mortgage lender, resolving allegations that the lender engaged in “a series of repeat offenses,” including violating a 2015 order prohibiting the lender from engaging in allegedly deceptive advertising. According to the CFPB, the lender sent advertisements to…
On February 15, 2023, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) announced that it has issued letters to four entities demanding that they cease and desist from certain statements they made about FDIC deposit insurance. The entities consist of a cryptocurrency exchange, a non-bank financial provider, and two websites. The FDIC alleges that…
On December 14, 2022, the Colorado Attorney General (AG) announced that it entered into a consent order with a California-based debt management company and its sister lending company, resolving the AG’s examination findings that those companies violated Colorado’s Uniform Consumer Credit Code, C.R.S. § 5-1-101, et seq. (“UCCC”) and Debt Management Services Act, C.R.S. § 5-19-201…
On June 25, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court decided TransUnion LLC v. Ramirez, revisiting some of the Article III standing principles it had set forth in Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins, 578 U.S. 330 (2016), and addressing their application to Rule 23 class actions. Keith Levenberg discusses this decision and its…
On February 25, 2019, the United States Supreme Court accepted appeal from the Third Circuit’s decision in Rotkiske v. Klemm et al., No. 16-1668 (3d Cir. May 15, 2018). The Court is now primed to answer whether the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) encompasses the “discovery rule”—which tolls the…
On September 20, 2018, the Ninth Circuit issued an opinion finding that the Telephone Consumer Protection Act’s (TCPA’s) “automatic telephone dialing system” (ATDS) definition is vague and ambiguous, and interpreting the statutory definition anew. More specifically, in Marks v. Crunch San Diego, LLC, the court interpreted the TCPA’s ATDS definition…
On August 28, 2018, the Ninth Circuit affirmed Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers’ decisions in two putative class actions challenging Citibank’s and J.P. Morgan Chase’s default servicing practices. In Stitt v. Citibank, N.A. and Ellis v. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., the Ninth Circuit concluded that Judge Rogers had correctly dismissed…
On July 26, 2018, the Northern District of Illinois granted a Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) defendant judgment on the pleadings because plaintiff failed to allege a required element of his claim—the use of an automatic telephone dialing system (ATDS). Pinkus v. Sirius XM Radio, Inc., 2018 WL 3586186 (N.D. Ill….
On June 26, 2018, the Third Circuit affirmed summary judgment in favor of defendant Yahoo, Inc. in a putative Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) class action, Dominguez v. Yahoo, Inc., because plaintiff had failed to provide any relevant and admissible evidence that Yahoo’s systems met the TCPA’s automated telephone dialing…
At the end of May 2018, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released an analysis of consumer debt collection complaints highlighting several issues that often arise in those complaints. In light of Acting Director Mulvaney’s comment in his January 2018 staff memo that debt collection complaints made up the majority…
On May 8, 2018, the Sixth Circuit affirmed dismissal of a Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) claim against Bristol-Myers Squibb and Pfizer. As the Sixth Circuit noted at the start of its opinion in Health One Medical Center, Eastpointe P.L.L.C. v. Mohawk, Inc. et al., “[s]ome questions seem to arise…
On April 2, 2018, the Superior Court of Suffolk County, Massachusetts denied Equifax, Inc.’s motion to dismiss the Commonwealth’s case against it related to the company’s widely publicized 2017 data breach. Although the ruling does not determine who will ultimately prevail in the action, it outlines several key considerations for…
On February 13, 2018, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois decertified a Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) text-message class in light of new evidence of consent obtained during the class-member identification process. Johnson v. Yahoo! Inc., No. 1:14-cv-02028 (N.D. Ill. Feb. 13, 2018), is instructive for TCPA defendants…
On January 16 and 17, 2018, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released two statements signaling that yet more change is on the horizon for the agency. Close on the heels of similar announcements regarding potential changes to its Home Mortgage Disclosure Act and prepaid card rules, the Bureau announced…
On December 21, 2017, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced delays and potential changes to its Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) and pre-paid card regulations. Both sets of regulations have been subject to criticism by industry participants and others. Although lenders will have to comply with the CFPB’s HMDA…
On November 16, 2017, the Southern District of California dismissed TCPA claims on standing grounds, finding that the plaintiff had not alleged a concrete injury. In Selby v. Ocwen Loan Servicing, no. 3:17-cv-00973 (S.D. Cal), Judge Bencivengo concluded that the telephone calls the plaintiff allegedly received were not “telemarketing” calls…
On October 20, 2017, the Ninth Circuit reversed the Southern District of California’s remand of a putative class action alleging that defendant Monterey Financial Services improperly recorded calls to individuals in California and Washington. In Brinkley v. Monterey Financial Services, Inc., the Ninth Circuit held that the plaintiff had not…
On September 27, 2017, the Southern District of Florida dismissed a Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) suit against Burger King on standing grounds. In Gesten v. Burger King Corp., Case No. 1:17-cv-22541 (S.D. Fla), the Court joined numerous other courts finding that, where a FACTA plaintiff’s only alleged…