Consumer Finance

Koller v. West Bay Acquisitions, LLC, 2012 WL 2862440 (N.D.Cal. 2012), the District Court held: Plaintiff maintains that because he allegedly acquired extended video rentals and/or the videos themselves without paying for them with late fees or product charges, the Rosenthal Act is applicable. Opp'n at 13. Because there is no binding authority as to whether late fees on video… Read More

  Cases Denying Discovery Hodsdon v. DirecTV, LLC, 2012 WL 5464615 (N.D.Cal. 2012) Plaintiffs move for leave to conduct arbitration-related discovery in order to bolster their contention that DirecTV's arbitration provision is unconscionable. Plaintiffs' argument is premised upon California Civil Code section 1670.5(b) which provides for arbitration-related discovery upon a claim or appearance of unconscionability. (Motion for Leave to Conduct… Read More

In Canning v. NLRB, here, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit held that President Obama did not have the power to make three recess appointments last year to the National Labor Relations Board because the Senate was officially in session — and not in recess — at the time.   The decision could invalidate many decisions made by the NLRB. … Read More

In Moore v. CCB Credit Services, Inc., 2013 WL 211048 (E.D.Mo. 2013), Judge Sippel found no actionable FDCPA harassment, but held the matter over for trial on the issue of consent and charges for calls under the TCPA.  The District Court found that the number of calls did not amount to actionable harassment: It is undisputed that CCB made 65… Read More

In Gragg v. Orange Cab Co., Inc., 2013 WL 195466 (W.D.Wash. 2013), Judge Lasnik found that Plaintiff’s TCPA failed under Iqbal/Twombly due to failure to plead an ATDS.  However, Judge Lasnik set forth the standards for what a Plaintiff would have to allege to properly plead use of an ATDS.  The Plaintiff alleges that he received an unsolicited text message… Read More

In Faulkner v. ADT Sec. Services, Inc., --- F.3d ----, 2013 WL 174368 (9th Cir. 2013), the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit found that Plaintiff failed to properly plead an expectation of privacy.   On March 4, 2010, John Faulkner contacted his security provider, ADT, by telephone to dispute a charge assessed by ADT. Faulkner was transferred to ADT's… Read More

In Bongiovanni v. World Financial Network Nat. Bank Recovery, 2013 WL 142080 (W.D.Wash. 2013), Judge Leighton denied a Plaintiff’s claim that a Bank’s use of the term “Recovery Department” rendered it a ‘debt collector’ under the FDCPA for collecting in the name other than the creditor’s own name.  Plaintiff's lawsuit is based on her claim that the July 28 letter… Read More

In Rojas v. Platinum Auto Group, Inc. --- Cal.Rptr.3d ----, 2013 WL 156561 (Cal.App. 2 Dist. 2013), the California Court of Appeal required strict compliance under Rees-Levering, finding that a dealer’s error of improperly listing a $2,000 ‘down-payment’ on the downpayment line (line 6G) of the standard auto RISC as opposed to the ‘deferred downpayment’ line (line 6D) rendered the… Read More

In Tu v. Camino Real Chevrolet, 2013 WL 140278 (C.D.Cal. 2013), Judge Otis Wright III held that an automobile finance company is not a ‘debt collector’ under the FDCPA. Westlake is in the business of taking assignment of retail installment sales contracts from automobile dealers. (Mot. at 2.) It then becomes the holder in due course of those contracts. The… Read More

In a case that does not involve personal property finance, but which could have far reaching implications in personal property sales and finance litigation, the California Supreme Court held in Riverisland Cold Storage, Inc. v. Fresno-Madera Production Credit Assn., 2013 DAR 561 (2013), that parol evidence is admissible to prove promissory fraud, whether or not the promise directly contradicts the parties'… Read More

In Bank of America, N.A. v. Sea-Ya Enterprises, LLC, 2013 WL 126268 (D.Del. 2013), Judge Andrews found that the purchase of an aircraft was not primarily for personal, family, or household purposes, thus allowing a Bank to pursue a post-repossession/post-sale deficiency balance notwithstanding purported irregularities in the liquidation sale notices. This suit is a loan deficiency action brought by Plaintiff… Read More

Cases Holding that TCPA Does Not Allow Revocation of Consent In Saunders v. NCO Financial Systems, Inc., 2012 WL 6644278 (E.D.N.Y. 2012), Judge Cogan held that when Plaintiff gave his cellular telephone number to incur the debt (for PACER services of all things), Plaintiff consented to be called on his cellular telephone under the TCPA and that such consent could… Read More

In Flores v. West Covino Auto Group, 2013 WL 139200 (2013), the Court of Appeal for the Second District found that the Defendant auto dealer did not waive arbitration by litigating the case while Fisher remained good law and until shortly after Concepcion was decided.  The dealer's delay in seeking arbitration was justified and the car buyer did not show… Read More

In Colonia Chevrolet v. US, Alley's of Kingsport, Inc. v. US, and Spitzer Motor City, Inc. v. US, the Unitied States Court of Federal Claims allowed a Fifth Amendment takings case filed by former GM and Chrysler car dealers against the US Government to proceed past the pleading stage.   The car dealers theorized that the United States imposed its vision… Read More

In Miranda v. Field Asset Services, 124047 (S.D.Cal. 2013), Judge Curiel found that an FDCPA Plaintiff could not bring a creditor under the FDCPA for hiring a third party debt collector.   Plaintiff alternatively argues that OneWest is vicariously liable for FAS's alleged debt collection activities. Plaintiff relies on Fox v. Citicorp and Schutz v. Arrow Fin. Services, both of… Read More

In Kaiser v. BMW of North America, LLC, 2013 WL 100218 (N.D.Cal. 2013), a consumer complained that a vehicle manufacturer improperly sought to offset its lemon law liability by charging the consumer for unreasonable wear and tear on the vehicle.  Judge Ryu allowed the claim to proceed past the pleading stage.   The basic facts were as follows: Shortly thereafter, Kaiser received… Read More

In Ramirez v. Trans Union, LLC, --- F.Supp.2d ----, 2012 WL 4954120 (N.D.Cal. 2012), Judge Corley found no impediment to a Plaintiff maintaining a class action under both FCRA and the CCRAA.  The Action arose from a CRA’s alleged failure to include OFAC alerts in credit reports provided to consumers, even though such OFAC alerts allegedly appeared in consumer reports… Read More

In Worsham v. Accounts Receivable Management, Inc., 2012 WL 5503980 (4th Cir. 2012), the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals found that a debt collection company could call a third party to obtain location information more than one time so long as its belief that the third party had information about the debtor was reasonable. Although third parties may understandably find… Read More

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

In Raab v. Nationwide Collection Agencies, Inc., 2013 WL 53760 (W.D.Mich. 2013), Judge Bell found Plaintiff's threadbare FDCPA claim that defendant wrongfully threatened to garnish her wages failed to state a claim. The statutory violations alleged are simply a formulaic recitation of the prohibitions contained in the statutes. Plaintiff has not alleged what Defendant said or did to represent or imply that… Read More