Consumer Finance

In De Amaral v. Goldsmith & Hull, 2014 WL 572268 (N.D.Cal. 2014), Judge Orrick granted summary judgment to an FDCPA Plaintiff who found falsity in a debt buyer’s identification in the state court complaint that it was an entity to whom the plaintiffs are “indebted” and who “provided” credit pursuant to a “written agreement.” Judge Orrick found that allegation deceptive… Read More

In Tuttle v. Sallie Mae, Inc., 2014 WL 545379 (N.D.Ind. 2014), Judge DeGuilio ordered a TCPA claim to arbitration, finding that the TCPA claim was within the scope of the arbitration clause. The Court rejects Ms. Tuttle's argument that the TCPA claim is either collateral to the Note or arises independently from the Note. In support of this argument, Ms.… Read More

In Coats v. Mandarich Law Group, LLP, 2014 WL 545432 (E.D.Cal. 2014), Magistrate Brennan dismissed an FDCPA Plaintiff’s claim that the debt collector failed to properly validate the debt, finding that the information that the debt collector provided to the debtor was sufficient under the FDCPA. Plaintiff alleges that defendants failed to cease collection efforts upon plaintiff disputing the alleged… Read More

In Kolinek v. Walgreen Co., 2014 WL 518174 (N.D.Ill. 2014), Judge Kennelly granted a drug store's motion to dismiss a TCPA claim.  The Plaintiff claimed that he received autodialed calls on his cellular telephone reminding him of his prescription, to which he did not consent.  Judge Kennelly disagreed, and granted the pharmacy's motion to dismiss. “[P]rior express consent” under the TCPA is… Read More

In Jackson v. Cavalry Portfolio Services, LLC, WL 517490 (E.D.Mo. 2014), Judge Jackson granted summary judgment to a TCPA defendant who submitted an affidavit of its paralegal stating that the calls were manually dialed. The TCPA prohibits persons from (1) making “any call (other than a call made for emergency purposes or made with the prior express consent of the called party)”… Read More

In Dayhoff v. Wells Fargo Home Morg., Inc., 2014 WL 466151 (M.D.Fla. 2014), Judge Dalton dismissed a collection action without prejudice, finding that it was a permissive counter-claim to the federal TCPA claim. Here, the Court has federal question subject matter jurisdiction over Plaintiff's TCPA claim. Mims v. Arrow Fin. Servs., LLC, ––– U.S. ––––, ––––, 132 S.Ct. 740, 745, 181 L.Ed.2d… Read More

In Hadsell v. CACH, LLC, 2014 WL 497433 (S.D.Cal. 2014), Judge Lorenz, within the context of a motion for reconsideration, granted partial summary judgment and denied partial summary judgment to an FDCPA defendant alleged to have violated a Cease-and-Desist letter from the debtor and to have violated the FDCPA by praying for 10% interest in the Prayer for Relief in… Read More

In Stern v. DoCircle, Inc., 2014 WL 486262 (C.D.Cal. 2014), Judge Guilford certified a TCPA text message class.  The facts were as follows: Defendant DoCircle is a business that offers an online service allowing its customers to send text messages. (Rhie Depo., Dkt. No. 42–2 Ex. 2, at 10–11.) Marc Sporn, a third party who conducts business under the name… Read More

Yes, you read it right. In Gragg v. Orange Cab Co., Inc., --- F.Supp.2d ----, 2014 WL 494862 (W.D.Wash. 2014), Judge Lasnik held that a TCPA did not use an ATDS within the meaning of the TCPA.  The facts were as follows: Defendant Orange Cab Company, Inc. (Orange Cab) utilizes TaxiMagic, a Ridecharge, Inc. product, as a means of remaining… Read More

In Boon v. Professional Collection Consultants, --- F.Supp.2d ----, 2014 WL 353813 (S.D.Cal. 2014), Judge Huff dismissed a Rosenthal Act claim against a debt collector who had filed and dismissed a state court collection action. Filing a debt collection lawsuit is not a violation of the FDCPA or Rosenthal Act, “even if the debt collector does not at the time… Read More

In Hunt v. 21st Mortg. Corp., 2014 WL 426275 (N.D.Ala. 2014), Judge Acker struck Plaintiff's TCPA ATDS Expert  Robert Biggerstaff as being incompetent on the subject of whether Defendant used an ATDS.  However, Judge Acker found a factual questions nevertheless on whether a ATDS was used. In its Opinion and Order of September 17, 2013 (Doc. 31), this court joined the Ninth… Read More

In Webb v. Healthcare Revenue Recovery Group LLC, 2014 WL 325132 (N.D.Cal. 2014), Judge Seeborg ordered a TCPA class action defendant to produce an outbound call list, evidence of “express consent”, and its hardware and software manuals for its dialer. HRRG contends that in light of its concession that it called at least 100 cellular telephone numbers utilizing an artificial… Read More

In Baird v. Sabre Inc., 2014 WL 320205 (C.D.Cal. 2014), Judge Wilson distinguished Satterfield and held that the Plaintiff, who provided her cellular telephone number to book a flight on Hawaiian Airlines, consented to receive texte messages from Sabre, who contracts with Hawaiian Airlines to provide traveler notification services to passengers. The text message invited Baird to reply “yes” to… Read More

In Robins v. Spokeo, Inc., --- F.3d ----, 2014 WL 407366 (9th Cir. 2014), the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that Article III standing exists under FCRA even in the absence of actual damages suffered by the consumer, In standing cases that analyze statutory rights, our precedent establishes two propositions. First, Congress's creation of a private cause… Read More

In Sherman v. Yahoo!, Inc., 2014 WL 369384 (S.D.Cal. 2014), Judge Curiel denied Yahoo’s Motion for Summary Judgment that sought to validate it’s “Yahoo! Messenger” system under the TCPA. Defendant describes Yahoo! Messenger as an instant messaging client and associated protocol provided by Yahoo! free of charge that can be downloaded and used by anyone registered as a user with… Read More

In Lachi v. GE Capital Bank --- F.Supp.2d ----, 2014 WL 304436 (S.D.Cal. 2014), Judge Curiel found that a third party lacked standing to assert a violation of a cease and desist letter from the Doan Law Firm.  The facts were as follows: Plaintiff alleges that “Defendants and each of them” claim Plaintiff owes them a debt and that, on November 9,… Read More

In Clark v. Avatar Technologies Phl, Inc., 2014 WL 309079 (S.D.Tex. 2014), Judge Atlas granted a Motion to Dismiss under the TCPA filed against a VoIP service provider. Plaintiff alleges that, in July 2013, Avatar made a call to his cellular telephone using an “artificial or prerecorded voice.” See  id., ¶ 14. Plaintiff alleges that Avatar made the call using… Read More

In two cases from the Northern District of California, Le v. Sunlan corporation, 2014 WL 296032 (N.D.Cal. 2014)and Skinner v. Mountain Lion Acquisitions, et. al., 2014 WL 314425 (N.D.Cal.), borrowers brought a suit alleging FDCPA violations and malicious prosecution against debt buyers.  The two debt buyers purchased the borrowers’ payday loans from the originating lender, and subsequently sued to collect… Read More

In In re Monitronics Intern., Inc., Telephone Consumer Protection Act Litigation, 2014 WL 316476 (N.D.W.Va. 2014), Judge Kaull ordered discovery of other claims against a TCPA defendant in a TCPA telemarketing claim: Mey alleges that Versatile Marketing Solutions (“VMS”) acting on behalf of Monitronics and UTC, telephoned her multiple times between November 16, 2009, and December 20, 2011, despite the… Read More

In Smith v. Microsoft Corp., --- F.R.D. ----, 2014 WL 323683 (S.D.Cal. 2014), Judge Sammartino denied class certification in a TCPA text-message case arising from Microsoft’s sending unauthorized text messages promoting Microsoft's Xbox to cellular telephones in purported violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.  Judge Sammartino was neutral on whether the Plaintiff’s interest was paramount and, in doing so,… Read More