Consumer Finance

In Altanie Hansen, Plaintiff, v. Santander Bank, N.A.; UAR Direct, LLC, d/b/a United Auto Recovery; 11th Hour Recovery, LLC, Defendants, No. 22-CV-3048 (SRN/TNL), 2023 WL 5533536, at *2–3 (D. Minn. Aug. 28, 2023), Judge Nelson found that a repossession company and the assignor were both subject to the FDCPA/1692a(6). To be bound by the provisions of the FDCPA, Defendants must… Read More

In Hagey v. Solar Serv. Experts, LLC, No. G061836, 2023 WL 5602365, at *3–4 (Cal. Ct. App. Aug. 30, 2023), the Court of Appeal held that a solar panel contract constituted a "consumer credit contract" under the Rosenthal FDCPA.  First, the Court of Appeal addressed the "due and owing" phrase in the Rosenthal Act's definition section. The question before us… Read More

In Loretta Williams v. DDR Media, LLC, et al., No. 22-CV-03789-SI, 2023 WL 5352896, at *3–5 (N.D. Cal. Aug. 18, 2023), United States District Court Judge Susan Illston held, on a motion to dismiss, that Jornaya's recording of Plaintiff's website activity for the operator's later use did not violate CIPA.  Specifically, Plaintiff argues that Jornaya violated the second prong of… Read More

In CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU, Plaintiff, v. CRAIG MANSETH, et al., Defendants. Additional Party Names: Darren Turco, Jacob Adamo, JTM Cap. Mgmt., LLC, UHG I LLC, UHG II LLC, UHG, LLC, United Debt Holding LLC, No. 22-CV-29-LJV, 2023 WL 5400235, at *8–9 (W.D.N.Y. Aug. 22, 2023), Judge Vilardo allowed the CFPB to proceed over objections from some defendants that they… Read More

In Bohnak v. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc., No. 22-319, 2023 WL 5437558, at *1 (2d Cir. Aug. 24, 2023), the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit addressed Article III standing requirements and a framework in data breach cases where an individual whose personally identifying information (“PII”) is exposed to unauthorized actors, but has not (yet) been used for… Read More

In In re Marriott Int'l, Inc., No. 22-1744, 2023 WL 5313006, at *6 (4th Cir. Aug. 18, 2023), the Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit rejected class certification in a data breach case.  First, the Court of Appeals found that addressing the Defendant's contractual class-action waiver defense needed to be done prior to class certification and not after. The… Read More

In Trim v. Reward Zone USA LLC, No. 22-55517, 2023 WL 5025264, at *3–4 (9th Cir. Aug. 8, 2023), the Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit held that to be a prerecorded voice message under the TCPA, the message must be audible.  Prerecorded text messages which have no sound component are not voice messages within the statute's meaning even… Read More

Judge Larry Alan Burns of the Northern District of California addressed four different arguments on a Motion to Dismiss a CCPA cause of action. Holding No. 1:  allegations that a business failed to utilize alleged industry technology was sufficient to plead a failure to implement and maintain reasonable security measures. [Defendant] argues that the CCPA doesn't impose a duty to… Read More

In Brown v. Google LLC, No. 4:20-CV-3664-YGR, 2023 WL 5029899, (N.D. Cal. Aug. 7, 2023), United States District Court Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers details what constitutes standing to defeat a motion for summary judgment on breach of contract and various privacy violation claims: “To have Article III standing to sue in federal court, plaintiffs must demonstrate, among other things, that… Read More

In People v. Ct. Ventures, Inc., No. G061093, 2023 WL 4673750, at *3–4 (Cal. Ct. App. July 21, 2023), the Court of Appeal in an unpublished decision limited the scope of the CRA to current owners/licensees of PII. Civil Code section 1798.82 provides in relevant part: “(a) A person or business that conducts business in California, and that owns or… Read More

In Chavez v. Golden Auto Grp., Inc., No. E078712, 2023 WL 4875175, at *1–2 (Cal. Ct. App. Aug. 1, 2023), the Court of Appeal found in an unpublished decision that a deferral agreement to pay a downpayment in installments that was not reflected on the RISC violated Rees-Levering. The ASFA requires car dealers to disclose all the terms of a… Read More

The CFPB be issued an Advisory Opinion this Spring prohibiting a debt collector from suing or threatening to sue on a time-barred debt. Regulation F prohibits a debt collector from suing or threatening to sue to collect a timebarred debt. 14 As the CFPB explained in finalizing this prohibition, “a debt collector who sues or threatens to sue a consumer… Read More

In Scherrer v. FPT Operating Co., LLC, No. 19-CV-03703-SKC, 2023 WL 4660089, at *2–4 (D. Colo. July 20, 2023), Magistrate Crews denied a motion to dismiss a TCPA case addressing whether the Five9 system was an ATDS. The Supreme Court then continued in Footnote 7 to reject Duguid's argument that the patent cited by the Amici Curiae brief (and thus… Read More

In Rojas v. HSBC Card Servs. Inc., No. D077931, 2023 WL 4635056, at *1–2 (Cal. Ct. App. July 20, 2023), the Court of Appeal waded into an employer's recording of all calls of its employees whose job it is to communicate with the employers' customers. Rojas received hundreds of personal calls from her daughter Alejandra, an employee at an HSBC… Read More

The Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued the Sessa decision last week: Sessa v. TRANS UNION, LLC, Court of Appeals, 2nd Circuit 2023.   This line of cases, following the 9th Circuit’s Gross decision, continues to wrestle with the distinction between a legal and factual dispute under the FCRA, which is also complicated by evolving standards applicable to furnishers… Read More

The CFPB issued its Summer 2023 Supervisory Highlights, including a section on security protocols. "The CFPB’s Supervision program evaluates information technology controls at supervised institutions that may impact compliance with Federal consumer financial law or implicate risk to consumers. The CFPB assesses the effectiveness of information technology controls in detecting and preventing data breaches and cyberattacks. For example, inadequate security… Read More

United States District Court Judge Cynthia Bashant, of the Central District of California, ruled on several privacy claims on a motion to dismiss. Addressing injury in fact: "Plaintiff alleges Defendant collected his personal information in violation of the California Constitution and various California statutes. (Am. Compl. ¶ 1.) Among the collected data are his “geolocation, ... communications related to his… Read More

A District Court in Washington dismissed Plaintiffs' claim for statutory damages because they failed to give pre-suit notice under the CCPA.  The Court dismissed the request for statutory damages without prejudice meaning Plaintiffs can give notice (despite the pending action) and then seek to amend and add back in a request for statutory damages. Plaintiffs ... insist that they seek… Read More

In Brown v. Transworld Sys., Inc., No. 22-35244, 2023 WL 4536970, at *4–5 (9th Cir. July 14, 2023), the Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit affirmed its prior decision in Walls v. Wells Fargo. We held that Walls did not preclude his claim because “whether an unfair debt collection practice occurred does not depend on issuance or enforcement of… Read More

In Hall v. Smosh Dot Com, Inc., No. 22-16216, 2023 WL 4281815 (9th Cir. June 30, 2023), the Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit found Art. III standing for a phone subscriber suing under the TCPA for a DNC violation. Hall sued Dot Com and Mythical Entertainment, LLC for sending five text messages to a cell phone number that… Read More