Consumer Finance

In Kidd v. Thomson Reuters Corp., No. 17-3550, 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 16091 (2d Cir. May 30, 2019), the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that CLEAR was not subject to the FCRA because it required users to certify that the information provided would not be used for the purposes regulated by FCRA. At each gateway to the… Read More

In Mauthe v. Optum Inc., No. 18-2894, 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 15742 (3d Cir. May 28, 2019), the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit held that market surveys were not pretextual advertisements under the TCPA. Commercial entities conducting research sometimes do so by sending faxes. Under Mauthe's theory, these firms would violate TCPA's prohibition on the sending of an… Read More

In Eaton v. Midland Credit Mgmt., No. 16cv3025-MMA (MDD), 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 82346 (S.D. Cal. May 15, 2019), Judge Anello held that TCPA/FDCPA claims survive a Plaintiff’s death. Additionally, the claims pleaded are not extinguished. Decedent asserted claims under the TCPA and FDCPA. See Doc. No. 1-1. The Ninth Circuit has recognized that claims under the [*3]  FDCPA survive the… Read More

Tomorrow is the deadline for fiscal committees to report bills to the floor of the California legislative chambers. So, today,  the Senate Appropriations Committee held a special hearing on all bills previously placed in the suspense file.  For those following the CCPA, the focus was on SB 561 introduced by Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson (D – Santa Barbara), and co-authored by… Read More

In Cooper v. Atl. Credit & Fin., No. 2:18-cv-01254-JHE, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 79011, at *15-16 (N.D. Ala. May 10, 2019), Judge England held that the FDCPA's "catch-all" provision under 1692f has limitations where allegedly offending conduct is expressly permitted under another section of the FDCPA. While Cooper cites a few cases standing for the proposition that certain conduct may… Read More

In Hernandez v. Certified Fed. Credit Union, No. CV 18-10448-CJC (JEMx), 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 79020, at *6-9 (C.D. Cal. May 9, 2019), Judge Carney allowed an FCRA claim to proceed despite a challenge to Plaintiff's Article III standing. Plaintiffs have alleged a sufficiently "concrete and [*7]  particularized" injury. Under the FCRA and CCCRAA, a credit report or credit information is… Read More

Every article regarding any bill referred to the California Senate (or Assembly) Appropriations Committee suspense file begins with a pun about being in suspense, and so does ours.  At a hearing of the California Senate Appropriations Committee on April 29, 2019, Senate Bill 561, written by Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson (D – Santa Barbara), which would add a private right of… Read More

In Timlick v. Nat'l Enter. Sys., No. A154235, 2019 Cal. App. Unpub. LEXIS 3198 (May 7, 2019), the California Court of Appeal found that a type-size error was able to be cured under the Rosenthal Act’s safe harbor. While, strictly speaking, the legislative history of the Consumer Collection Notice law has no bearing in discerning the legislative intent of section… Read More

In Melvin v. Ocwen Loan Servicing LLC, No. 8:18-cv-1911-T-36SPF, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 74995, at *12-14 (M.D. Fla. May 3, 2019), Judge Honeywell found that a TCPA Plaintiff had adequately pleaded use of an ATDS. The Court is persuaded by the reasoning in Gonzalez and Adams and concludes that the portion of the 2003 FCC Order pronouncing that the TCPA… Read More

As FY 2015 came to a close, the FTC asked for commentary on its Holder Rule for assignee liability.  Consumers and Industry responded in early 2016.  Three years in the making, the FTC finally responded, issuing its commentary today in the Federal Register, and it's first official commentary since the Rule was promulgated in 1975.  FTC Commentary on Holder Rule 5-2-19. … Read More