Last month, the Ninth Circuit affirmed dismissal of a putative class action that challenged certain fees imposed for property inspections conducted after the named plaintiffs had defaulted on their mortgages. Demonstrating the value of the increased pleading requirements set by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 9, the Ninth Circuit’s decision in…
On March 15, 2017, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) entered into a consent order with national nonbank mortgage lender that requires the lender to pay a $1.75 million civil monetary penalty to resolve alleged violations of the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA). The CFPB alleged that the mortgage lender violated HMDA, 12 U.S.C. § 2803,…
On March 16, Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh announced a settlement between his Consumer Protection Division and five California law firms that allegedly collected illegal advance fees from consumers for debt settlement services and used the payments to pay themselves thousands of dollars. Maryland’s Debt Settlement Services Act prohibits…
On March 14, 2017, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it would settle its charges against a Los Angeles-based automotive group for deceptive and unfair sales and financing practices, with the auto group agreeing to pay more than $3.6 million for return to customers. The FTC charged the auto…
Earlier this month, the Northern District of Illinois struck the class allegations in Cholly v. Uptain Group, Inc., a single-count TCPA case filed against a medical services provider and a debt collector based on allegedly autodialed calls the plaintiff received. The defendants had sought to dismiss the complaint on several…
Last week, the Central District of California granted summary judgment in a TCPA case involving a single prerecorded call from the plaintiff’s medical insurance company. In Smith v. Blue Shield of California, the plaintiff alleged that her medical insurance provider violated the TCPA by placing a prerecorded call to her…
On December 13, 2016, the Ninth Circuit heard oral argument in Robins v. Spokeo (No. 11-56843) on remand from the Supreme Court. We wrote extensively (here, here, and here) about Spokeo before and after the Supreme Court’s May 16, 2016 decision. As readers may recall, the Central District of California had…
On November 23, 2016, the Second Circuit issued its opinion in Strubel v. Comenity Bank, a putative Truth in Lending Act (TILA) class action with both standing and substantive TILA implications. In Strubel, the plaintiff challenged the disclosures Comenity provided in connection with a retail store credit card. The opinion summarizes the plaintiff’s…
On October 31, 2016, the Supreme Court of Georgia issued a lengthy opinion ruling against payday lenders in two cases consolidated on appeal. The two cases (Western Sky Financial, LLC v. State of Georgia, No. S16A1011 and State of Georgia v. Western Sky Financial, LLC, No. S16X1012) involved state regulation…
On October 13, 2016, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida denied class certification in a Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) suit. In Newhart v. Quicken Loans Inc., Case No. 9:15-cv-81250, the plaintiff alleged that he received a number of calls on his cell phone from…
On September 2, 2016, the Eleventh Circuit affirmed dismissal of a civil RICO claim in Ray v. Spirit Airlines, Inc., a case that challenged Spirit Airlines’ reporting of fees to customers. The Eleventh Circuit’s affirmance focused on the plaintiffs’ failure to allege the hidden fees were the proximate cause of…
On August 3, 2016, Goodwin filed an amicus brief in the Washington Supreme Court on behalf of the Mortgage Bankers Association and the Consumer Mortgage Coalition. The case—Jordan v. Nationstar Mortgage LLC—involved a challenge to a servicer’s default-servicing practice of rekeying the lock on the front door of seemingly abandoned…
Last week, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia rejected a constitutional challenge to rules promulgated by the CFPB. In State National Bank of Big Spring v. Geithner, the plaintiffs (a small Texas bank and other interested parties) challenged the Bureau’s regulatory authority on separation-of-power and recess-appointment…
Today, the Supreme Court released its opinion in Spokeo v. Robins, vacating the Ninth Circuit’s decision and remanding the case for further proceedings. Our earlier posts on the case (here, here, and here) provide more detailed background on the facts of the case, but by way of short introduction, Spokeo…
The CFPB’s assault on payday lenders is nothing new (see our coverage of the Bureau’s proposed Payday lending rules here and Enforcement Watch’s coverage of a payday-lending-based consent order here), but the Bureau has now gone international. CFPB v. NDG Financial Capital (Case No. 15-cv-05211), currently pending in the Southern District of…
On March 22, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Tyson Foods, Inc. v. Bouaphakeo. For those unfamiliar with the case, Tyson Foods is a Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) case that involved an alleged failure to pay overtime to employees who spent significant time “donning and doffing” (putting on…
On February 19, the Federal Reserve noticed an information collection regarding recent changes to Regulation Z. The Notice (81 Fed. Reg. 8492) explains that the Federal Reserve is planning to update Regulation Z to include a number of regulatory requirements implemented in the past three years—particularly those promulgated by the…
On December 3, 2015, the Eleventh Circuit issued an opinion that has carved a path for plaintiffs challenging their communications with loan servicers. The decision, Prescott v. Seterus, Inc., reversed a grant of summary judgment in favor of the defendant, Seterus, Inc. — Fed.Appx. —, 2015 WL 7769235 (S.D. Fla.,…
On December 9, 2015, the House Financial Services Committee reported a Bill to Congress that would impact the cybersecurity compliance of financial services companies. The Bill, H.R. 2205, would set standards for development and implementation of cybersecurity protocols; require investigation and notification of breaches; and allow administrative enforcement. One of…
Facing yet another issue involving the arbitration of consumer disputes, the United States Supreme Court on December 14, 2015 held that a class action waiver clause was valid even when the contract incorporated state law standards that would have voided the waiver. The decision continued the Court’s trend toward enforcement…