Consumer Finance

In Bitzko v. Weltman, No. 1:17-CV-00458 (BKS/DJS), 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 161495 (N.D.N.Y. Sep. 23, 2019), the District Court held that having to inquire about the consumer nature of a debt from putative class members in an FDCPA class action did not defeat class certification. Defendant asserts that using its records to identify potential class members, and then asking those… Read More

In Kayyal v. Enhanced Recovery Co., No. 17 CV 2718, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 161475 (N.D. Ill. Sep. 23, 2019), the District Court denied summary judgment to a debt collector who as alleged to have harassed a wrong-number customer. Distilled to its essence, the parties disagree about whether ERC called Kayyal after being told it had the wrong number and… Read More

In Gonzalez v. Sallie Mae Bank, No. 18cv2457, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 157007, at *3-5 (S.D. Cal. Sep. 12, 2019), Judge Burns held that a debt collector must meet the definition of a debt collector under the FDCPA, not just "hold out" inferences that it might be one. SMB points out that it is a lender, not a debt collector… Read More

They used to write the Official Staff Commentary, and give "Informal Staff Opinion" letters to industry to assist industry in complying with the FDCPA.  Now, the FTC has filed a Comment in response to the CFPB's Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that can be found at https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/advocacy_documents/comment-staff-federal-trade-commissions-bureau-consumer-protection-matter-proposed-rule-request/final_-_cfpb_debt_coll_draft_comment_9-13_v2_1pm_ver_to_comm.pdf  The FTC devotes almost half of their comment to reminding the CFPB that the… Read More

The Firm’s depth and expertise in consumer privacy has been recognized through the publication of two of the definitive practice guides on privacy in California and on the California Consumer Privacy Act. Joe Guzzetta in the Firm’s San Francisco Office was retained by The Rutter Group to publish its California Practice Guide on Privacy Law, which is an in depth… Read More

In Smith v. Premier Dermatology, No. 17 C 3712, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 152887 (N.D. Ill. Sep. 9, 2019), Judge Alonso found that no ATDS was used to send text messages and granted summary judgment against a TCPA Plaintiff. While this Court might quibble with the grammatical analysis of Pinkus in some particulars, it agrees with its central insight that… Read More

In In re Facebook, Inc., No. MDL No. 2843, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 153505 (N.D. Cal. Sep. 9, 2019), Judge Chhabria allowed some claims to proceed against Facebook arising out of the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Facebook's motion to dismiss is littered with assumptions about the degree to which social media users can reasonably expect their personal information and communications to… Read More

In Brown v. Ocwen Loan Servicing Llc, No. 8:18-cv-136-T-60AEP, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 151236, at *11-15 (M.D. Fla. Sep. 5, 2019), Judge Barber granted in part and denied in part summary judgment brought by a TCPA defendant, distinguishing between pre-recorded and non-prerecorded calls. Ocwen contends summary judgment on the Browns' TCPA claims is warranted because its Aspect dialer is not… Read More

In Berman v. Freedom Fin. Network, No. 18-cv-01060-YGR, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 150810, at *3 (N.D. Cal. Sep. 4, 2019), Judge Gonzalez-Rogers found no good faith defense to a TCPA claim. The alleged facts were as follows: In the instant action, plaintiff Daniel Berman, on behalf of himself and a putative class, alleges violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act… Read More

In Franklin v. Navient Corp., Civil Action No. 17-1640-RGA, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 150902, at *14-19 (D. Del. Sep. 5, 2019), the District Court declined to follow the Second Circuit's Reyes decision. The Court turns next to the calls placed [*15]  to Plaintiff prior to the November 2015 TCPA amendment. The evidence of record indicates that in each of Plaintiff's deferment requests,… Read More