On August 24, 2015, the Third Circuit affirmed the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey’s denial of a motion to dismiss in FTC v. Wyndham Worldwide Corp. In Wyndham, the Federal Trade Commission brought suit against Wyndham in the wake of three cybersecurity attacks that allegedly…
On August 21, 2015, the Sixth Circuit issued its widely anticipated decision in Hill v. Homeward Residential, Inc., No. 14-4168 (6th Cir. August 21, 2015), which affirmed a jury verdict that found Homeward Residential, Inc. had plaintiff Hill’s prior express consent to call him using an auto-dialer. The case is significant because plaintiff Hill…
Joe Yenouskas, a partner in Goodwin Procter’s Consumer Financial Services Litigation Group, will speak on October 7, 2015 at DRI’s 2015 Annual Meeting in Washington, DC about MERS Litigation. His presentation will focus on the nationwide claims asserted by county recorders against Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems (MERS) alleging that the…
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York recently did a study which found that, while mortgage loan originations increased through the second quarter of 2015, the increase is only for borrowers with credit scores above 660). See Liberty Street Economics, “Just Released: Releveraging the Consumer Credit Panel with Two New Charts,” August…
Student lending continues to remain in the crosshairs of federal and state consumer finance regulators during the summer months, with over five enforcement actions and investigations in recent weeks. As covered in both LenderLaw Watch (LLW) and Consumer Finance Enforcement Watch (CFEW), this is a small part of a larger…
In Hart v. FCI Lender Services, Inc., the Second Circuit made it clear that servicers should pay close attention to initial communications with borrowers upon commencing loan servicing when it determined in an August 12, 2015 ruling that FCI Lender Services, Inc.’s (FCI) initial communication with a borrower was not merely…
On August 3, 2015, the 11th Circuit held in Ewing Industries Corp. v. Bob Wines Nursery, Inc., No. 14-13842, 2015 WL 4605234 (11th Cir. Aug. 3, 2015) that the pendency of a purported class action does not toll the limitations period for a later class action seeking to represent the same…
Last week, the Seventh Circuit reversed its prior circuit precedent regarding whether a Rule 68 offer of judgment moots a case. In Chapman v. First Index, Inc., the Seventh Circuit considered the question of mootness as well as whether the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois erred…
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has set its sights on debt collection practices again. In April, we wrote about the CFPB’s $63 million settlement with a mortgage servicer, Green Tree Mortgage, in part for Green Tree’s alleged treatment of mortgage debt. On July 8, 2015, the CFPB once again demonstrated it was…
On June 25, 2015, the CFPB published nearly 8,000 consumer complaint narratives on its website for the first time. The CFPB complaint database has been “live” since June 2012. However, the database initially included only basic, anonymized data about the nature of the complaint; including subject matter and a general…
Goodwin Procter partner and chair of the firm’s Consumer Financial Services Litigation Practice, Thomas Hefferon, will serve as the conference co-chair and speak on a panel titled “Consumer Finance Class Action Litigation and Settlement Trends and New and Emerging Procedural Considerations: Certification and Other Procedural Developments, Offers of Judgment/Full Relief,…
On July 9, 2015, the CFPB published a set of Consumer Protection Principles it believes should guide the financial industry in the development of newer, faster methods of payment. These Principles, though merely suggestions, may help members of the financial industry anticipate the expectations of their regulators and develop new…
On July 10, 2015, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released its TCPA Omnibus Declaratory Ruling and Order. We wrote about this order on June 29, previewing the FCC’s focus on consumers’ ability to opt out of certain calls, its reiteration of its definition of what constitutes an autodialer, and its…
On June 18, the Federal Housing Administration provided lenders with a new Defect Taxonomy for Single Family Housing Loans, or Loan Quality Assessment Methodology. It has been working on the new taxonomy for almost a year, and the final product is very similar to what it presented for comment in September…
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s recent action against two credit card vendors regarding credit monitoring and identity theft protection services is a reminder of the legal risks associated with certain add-on products. The July 1 settlement, in which the CFPB found that the vendors misled customers about the benefits of…
On June 22, 2015, the US Attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania filed an information charging Adrian Rubin of Jenkintown, PA, with: (1) one count of conspiracy to violate RICO, 18 U.S.C. § 1962(d); (2) one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud, 18 U.S.C. §…
For the second time in recent weeks, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) delayed the launch of the new integrated disclosures for residential mortgage loans under the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) and Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA). The launch date, now set for Saturday, October 3, was announced…
On June 18, 2015, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC” or the “Commission”) issued a package of declaratory rulings (“FCC 15-72”) related to telemarketing. Although FCC 15-72 has yet to be officially released, the Commission indicated the measure is significant, particularly in the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) realm. A federal law…
On June 10, 2015, the CFPB issued a Final Rule amending the scope of its regulatory authority to include “larger participants” of the automobile financing industry. Under the Final Rule, the CFPB will supervise certain nonbank auto finance companies that (1) originate loans for the purchase of automobiles; (2) refinance…
On June 8, 2015, the 8th Circuit reversed the Eastern District of Missouri and revived class claims in Golan et al. v. Veritas Entertainment, LLC et al. In Golan, the plaintiff alleged that the defendants—producers of the movie, “Last Ounce of Courage”—robo-called consumers to promote the film in violation of…