Consumer Finance

In Mercedes v. Nat'l Bus. Factors, No. 19-16055, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 25996 (9th Cir. Aug. 17, 2020), the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit rejected application of the bona fide error defense where the debt collector outsourced its compliance obligations through a boilerplate agreement with the creditor. The parties do not dispute that NBF unintentionally violated the FDCPA… Read More

In Komaiko v. Baker Techs., No. 19-cv-03795-DMR, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 143953 (N.D. Cal. Aug. 11, 2020), Magistrate Judge Ryu denied a stay in a TCPA case pending SCOTUS review of the Duguid case. At issue in Duguid is the definition of ATDS in the TCPA, and specifically whether that definition "encompasses any device that can 'store' and 'automatically dial' telephone… Read More

In Mey v. DIRECTV, LLC, No. 18-1534, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 24993 (4th Cir. Aug. 7, 2020), the Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit enforced an arbitration clause in a TCPA class action.  DIRECTTV, who was an affiliate of AT&T, was entitled to enforce the agreement. As an initial matter, we conclude—as the district court appears to have acknowledged… Read More

In Vargas v. Vehicle Sols. Corp., No. 8:19-cv-1109-T-60AAS, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 141526 (M.D. Fla. Aug. 7, 2020), Judge Barber found  standing under the TCPA. The facts were as follows: The son of Plaintiff Yajairis Vagas incurred a debt to Defendant Vehicle Solutions Corp. ("VSC") to purchase a car. Because her son worked for Plaintiff's company, Plaintiff made payments on… Read More

In Tillman v. Mich. First Credit Union, No. 19-12860, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 139056 (E.D. Mich. Aug. 5, 2020), Judge Lawson declined to exercise jurisdiction over a collection counter-claim in an FCRA case. Nonetheless, federal courts have had little trouble finding that supplemental jurisdiction is proper over counterclaims like the one pleaded here where the underlying dispute is between a… Read More

In Muñoz v. JLO Auto., Inc., No. 3:19-cv-01793 (MPS), 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 136552 (D. Conn. July 31, 2020), Judge Shea refused to enter a default judgment against a car dealer based on the consumer’s claim that she was falsely told that GAP was required as part of the transaction. Just below this language is the cost ($752), the term… Read More

  In Zablocki v. Merchs. Credit Guide Co., No. 19-2045, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 23737 (7th Cir. July 28, 2020), the Court of Appeals dismissed an FDCPA claim premised on a debt collectors failure to aggregate debts into a single account when reporting to the CRAs. Viewing Merchants's separate reporting of debts from the perspective of an unsophisticated but reasonable… Read More

  In Caplan v. Budget Van Lines, No. 2:20-CV-130 JCM (VCF), 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 136865 (D. Nev. July 31, 2020), Judge Mayan denied a ringless technology defendant’s motion to dismiss a TCPA claim The second issue is whether RVMs constitute calls under the TCPA. RVM technology allows a message to be placed in a recipient's voicemail without the recipient's… Read More

In Allan v. Pa. Higher Educ. Assistance Agency, No. 19-2043, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 23935 (6th Cir. July 29, 2020), the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit followed Mark’s interpretation of the TCPA as to what constitutes an auto dialer. Here, again, we agree with the Second and Ninth Circuits [*15]  that the structure and context of the autodialer ban support… Read More

In Molinari v. Fin. Asset Mgmt. Sys., No. 18 C 1526, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 134045 (N.D. Ill. July 29, 2020), Judge Ellis denied class certification in a TCPA/FDCPA class action Under Rule 23(a)(2), a party seeking class certification must show commonality by identifying "questions of law or fact common to the class." Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a)(2). "The key… Read More