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Defamation

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District Court (Cal.) Allows Single Call to Wrong Debtor to Suffice for Rosenthal Act Claim, and for “False Light” Claim against Creditor for Referral to Debt Collection Agency after Previously Confirming that the Plaintiff Was Not Responsible for the Debt

by Scott J. Hyman |

In Ramirez v. Midland Credit Mgmt., No. 22-cv-02772-VC, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 32517, at *1-5 (N.D. Cal. Feb. 27, 2023), Judge Chhabria allowed claims to proceed against a creditor for the act of calling a Plaintiff one time about a debt—and confirming on that same call that the Plaintiff was not the debtor. Capital One's motion to dismiss is denied.… Read More

District Court (Cal.) Addresses Adequacy of FCRA Pleading Requirements; Frivilous FCRA Claims; Finds FCRA Pre-empts Libel Claims

by Scott J. Hyman |

In Vartanian v. Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC, 2013 WL 877863 (C.D.Cal. 2013), Judge Otis Wright III addressed a litany of FCRA and FDCPA claims brought by the Kaas Law Group.  Judge Wright held that a FCRA Plaintiff need not plead that its dispute to the CRA was not frivilous; i.e. non-frivilousness is not an element of a FCRA claim. Contrary… Read More

District Court (Cal.) Finds Plaintiff Failed to Plead FCRA Inaccuracy; Finds FCRA Pre-empts Defamation Claim

by Scott J. Hyman |

In Iyigun v. Cavalry Portfolio Services, LLC, 2013 WL 93114 (C.D.Cal. 2013), Judge Fitzgerald found no FCRA/CCRAA claim properly pleaded for wont of an inaccuracy. Iyigun's claims for violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”) and the California Consumer Credit Reporting Agencies Act (“CCRAA”) fail because the FAC does not sufficiently plead the element of inaccurate credit reporting. The… Read More

Court of Appeal (NJ) Says, with Colorful Language, that FCRA Pre-empts Defamation Claim — Malice or Not

by Scott J. Hyman |

In Dabney v. Total Relocation Services, LLC, Not Reported in A.3d, 2013 WL 68727 (N.J.Super.A.D. 2013), the New Jersey appellate court found, in an unpublished decision, complete preemption of common defamation claims by FCRA. Having canvassed the vast array of judicial opinions dealing with FCRA preemption, we conclude that the straight forward total preemption approach of these courts of appeal is most… Read More

District Court (Cal.) Finds Credit Defamation Claims Pre-empted by FCRA

by Scott J. Hyman |

In Mann v. Wells Fargo Bank, 2012 WL 3727369 (N.D.Cal. 2012), Judge Ryu found defamations completely preempted by FCRA.  The facts, arising out of a mortgage loan, were as follows: In July 2005, Plaintiffs obtained first and second home mortgages in the amounts of $484,000 and $121,000, respectively, on their home and real property located in El Dorado Hills. (Compl.¶ 11.) Wells… Read More

District Court (Cal.) Throws Out Tort-in-Se Nonsense; Rejects Invasion of Privacy Claim; Finds Rosenthal Act Penalty is $1,000 Per Lawsuit, not Per Violation

by Scott J. Hyman |

In Marseglia v. JP Morgan Chase Bank, --- F.Supp.2d ----, 2010 WL 4595549 (S.D.Cal. 2010), Judge Houston put to rest questions about the common law torts of invasion of privacy and “tort-in-se”, as well as the question regarding whether the Rosenthal Act provides multiple penalties for debt collection torts.    As to the invasion of privacy claim deriving from purportedly… Read More