In Francisco v. Midland Funding, LLC, No. 17 C 6872, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 42349 (N.D. Ill. Mar. 15, 2019), Judge Lefkow held that unclean hands is not an affirmative defense to an FDCPA section 1692e(8) claim even where the debtor’s attorney allegedly timed the dispute letter to coincide with the debt collector’s bi-monthly credit reporting. Because the unclean hands defense… Read More

In Auto. Fin. Corp. v. Nunez (In re Nunez), Nos. 17-33845-hdh7, 18-03004, 2019 Bankr. LEXIS 824 (Bankr. N.D. Tex. Mar. 15, 2019), Judge Hale denied a Floorplan lender’s non-dischargeability claim. The Plaintiff alleges that the Defendant committed fraud in securing advances from the Plaintiff and by transferring the Secured Vehicles without being paid in full. The Plaintiff also alleges the… Read More

In Folkerts v. Seterus, Inc., No. 17 C 4171, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 42347 (N.D. Ill. Mar. 15, 2019), Judge Zee found that manually dialed calls did not involve use of an ATDS under the TCPA. Plaintiffs have failed to point to any evidence that either SynTelate or the manual phone has that capacity. Certainly, once the Avaya Proactive Contact… Read More

Today, the FCC issued its 2018 Privacy and Data Security Update, a compendium for attorneys, business executives, and others who are long on interest, but short on time. It summarizes the seven zones that were central to the FTC’s 360° approach in 2018.  The Report can be found in embedded links with the FCC’s press release today. https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/blogs/business-blog/2019/03/ftcs-2018-privacy-data-security-update-what-it-means-your?utm_source=govdelivery Read More

In Eckhardt v. State Farm Bank FSB, No. 1:18-cv-01180, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 40196 (C.D. Ill. Mar. 12, 2019), Judge McDade found that State Farm Bank properly treated a Plaintiff’s purchase of cryptocurrency on his State Farm credit card as a cash-advance subject to cash advance fees rather than as a purchase of goods. The facts were as follows: Plaintiff… Read More

SCOTUS is using a TCPA case to decide whether the Hobbs Act requires district courts to accept the FCC’s pronouncements on the TCPA in PDR Network, LLC v. Carlton & Harris Chiropractic Inc., Docket No. 17-1705.  On November 13, 2018, the SCOTUS granted certiorari after the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit vacated a district court opinion on what… Read More

On March 5, 2019, the California Attorney General held the seventh and final public forum regarding its rulemaking authority under the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (the “CCPA”) at Stanford Law School in Palo Alto, California.  The forum was well-attended, with approximately 50-75 attendees, 26 of whom spoke at the forum.  The forum was hosted by three representatives from the… Read More

The CFPB just issued it’s Supervisory Highlights, paying particular attention to automobile finance and issues regarding ancillary products. The Bureau continues to examine auto loan servicing activities, primarily to assess whether servicers have engaged in unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices (UDAAPs) prohibited by the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 (CFPA). Recent auto loan servicing examinations identified unfair… Read More

The Court should have just denied class cert.  But, having already certified a class, the Court had to then wrestle with a class notice with regard to an unascertainable class.  In Lavigne v. First Cmty. Bancshares, Inc., No. 1:15-cv-00934-WJ/LF, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 37724 (D.N.M. Mar. 7, 2019), Judge Johnson ignored those errors in the process and allowed a “reverse-lookup”… Read More

In Kolbasyuk v. Capital Mgmt. Servs., LP, No. 18-1260-cv, 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 7204 (2d Cir. Mar. 12, 2019), the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed judgment in favor of a debt collector as to the manner in which the collector stated the amount of the debt in its debt validation letters. Plaintiff-Appellant Yuri Kolbasyuk received a debt… Read More