Consumer Finance

In Woodard v. O'Brien, No. 2:18-cv-1523, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 228608 (S.D. Ohio Dec. 4, 2020), Judge Marbley addressed the standards for an ID theft victim to prove an FDCPA claim. When determining if an individual is a "consumer" under the FDCPA, the typical inquiry is to ask whether the debt was for "personal, family, or household purposes." Martin v.… Read More

In In re Haw. Motorsports, No. 20-10006-BPH, 2020 Bankr. LEXIS 3428 (Bankr. D. Mont. Dec. 7, 2020), the Bankruptcy Court found that AHFC did not own the retailer’s collateral, but retained an unperfected security interest pursuant to a Wholesale Financing Agreement. In its Motion and accompanying Brief, Honda asserts that stay relief is appropriate because Debtor is in possession of inventory… Read More

In Clare v. Clare, (9th Cir. 2020) 2020 DAR ___, the Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit held that the Stored Communications Act (18 USC 2701, 2707 creates a private right of action against a person who intentionally accesses, without authorization, an electronic communication system, thereby obtaining an electronic communication in the system's electronic storage.  For this purpose, electronic storage… Read More

In Gatanas v. Am. Honda Fin. Corp., No. 20-07788 (KM) (JBC), 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 228973 (D.N.J. Dec. 7, 2020), Judge McNulty allowed an FCRA claim to proceed against an auto finance company. Gatanas contracted with Honda for an auto loan. (See Compl. ¶ 1.) He paid off that loan, and the account was closed. (See id. ¶ 15.) Honda… Read More

After SCOTUS punted on whether Chevron deference need be given to the FCC’s Fax Rule, so too did the 4th Cir. in Carlton & Harris Chiropractic v. Pdr Network, No. 16-2185, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 38073 (4th Cir. Dec. 7, 2020).  First, the Court of Appeals held that the Rule was interpretive and not legislative since the FCC had not… Read More

The DFPI provided information on its second “Listening Session” on December 8, 2020.   https://dfpi.ca.gov/2020/11/06/november-2020-monthly-bulletin/   For information on the the DFPI’s session or the implementation of the California Consumer Financial Protection Law (CCFPL), generally, contact Laszlo Ladi at ll@severson.com   Read More

Usually, when the Court starts out this way, it doesn’t end well for the defendant: After Navient Solutions, LLC and its affiliate, Student Assistance Corporation ("SAC"), called Joel Lucoff's cell phone almost 2,000 times concerning his unpaid student loan, Lucoff sued Navient and SAC alleging violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 ("TCPA"), 47 U.S.C. § 227. The… Read More

In Bureau of Consumer Fin. Prot. v. Fair Collections & Outsourcing, No. GJH-19-2817, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 223797, at *14-21 (D. Md. Nov. 30, 2020), Judge Hazel found constitutional ratification after SCOTUS' decision in Seila Law v. CFPB, 140 S.Ct. 2183 (2020). The Court next turns to a question left unanswered by Seila Law: whether the current CFPB Director properly… Read More

In Chinitz v. Intero Real Estate Servs., No. 18-cv-05623-BLF, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 224999, at *8 (N.D. Cal. Dec. 1, 2020), Judge Freeman approved a class administration plan in a TCPA class action that included "reverse lookup". First, Intero objects to TransUnion running a reverse lookup on the bases that this method is not reasonably calculated to notify class members… Read More

In Barbosa v. Midland Credit Mgmt., No. 19-1896, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 37174 (1st Cir. Nov. 25, 2020), the First Circuit Court of Appeal affirmed referring a matter to arbitration. A resident of Massachusetts, Barbosa opened a credit card account with Barclays Bank Delaware ("Barclays") in April 2011. The last payment she made on the account was in November 2012.… Read More

In Nelson v. Mortgage, No. 19-01005-WS-B, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 222396 (S.D. Ala. Nov. 25, 2020), the District Court granted summary judgment to a mortgage company on an FCRA claim. Nationstar counters, however, that plaintiffs have made no showing that any such emotional distress damages resulted from the alleged FCRA violation, which is a legal requirement of the claim. See,… Read More

In Manikan v. Peters & Freedman, L.L.P., No. 19-55393, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 37176 (9th Cir. Nov. 25, 2020), the 9th Cir. distinguished its Walls decision to allow an FDCPA claim to proceed because the claim did not depend on the issuance or enforcement of the discharge order. P&F contends that Walls categorically bars a discharged debtor's FDCPA claims brought against… Read More

In Elbert v. RoundPoint Mortg. Servicing Corp., No. 20-cv-00250-MMC, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 221611 (N.D. Cal. Nov. 25, 2020), Judge Chesney allowed a Rosenthal Act claim to proceed against a mortgage servicer based on charges assessed when the consumer made payments by telephone. As noted, a violation of the FDCPA constitutes a violation of the Rosenthal Act as well. See… Read More

In Neff v. Towbin Dodge LLC, No. 2:20-cv-00261-JAM-DMC, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 217045 (E.D. Cal. Nov. 18, 2020), Judge Mendez found that a TCPA Plaintiff properly sued in his home venue. The parties agree venue is not proper in the Eastern District of California under § 1391(b)(1), as neither Defendant is a resident of California. See FAC ¶¶ 7-10; Towbin's… Read More

In Marchetti v. Ford of Simi Valley, No. B297026, 2020 Cal. App. Unpub. LEXIS 7639 (Nov. 19, 2020), in an unpublished decision, ordered a case to arbitration under a RISC despite the Customers’ payment of full price and not financing the purchase.  The Court of Appeal found an assent to the arbitration agreement despite no financing taking place. The Marchettis… Read More

In Stasi v. Inmediata Health Grp. Corp., No. 19cv2353 JM (LL), 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 217097 (S.D. Cal. Nov. 19, 2020), Judge Miller allowed a data security breach class action to proceed.  The basis of the class action was as follows: According to Plaintiffs' FAC,1 Inmediata provides billing and health record software and service solutions to healthcare providers. (FAC ¶¶… Read More

At an industry “listening session” on November 16, the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) (formerly DBO) estimated a timeline for both the licensing requirement under the Debt Collectors Licensing Act (DLCA) and the registration requirement under the California Consumer Financial Protection Law (CCFPL). Both laws were enacted in the fall of 2020 and take effect January 1,… Read More

InHernandez v. Specialized Loan Servicing Llc, Nos. 19-55163, 19-56313, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 36064 (9th Cir. Nov. 17, 2020), an unpublished decision, the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit found against an FCRA Plaintiff. As to the FCRA claims, plaintiffs failed to establish that SLS neglected its duty to conduct reasonable investigations of the dispute notices it received from… Read More

In Adkins v. Facebook, Inc., No. C 18-05982 WHA, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 214006 (N.D. Cal. Nov. 15, 2020), Judge Alsup granted preliminary approval of the Facebook data breach class action. This case arises from the September 2018 hack of Facebook. A prior order detailed the facts (Dkt. No. 153). In brief, certain access tokens permitted access to Facebook users'… Read More

In Frantz v. Factor, No. 20-cv-1012-MMA (KSC), 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 213941 (S.D. Cal. Nov. 13, 2020), Judge Anello stayed a TCPA case pending the outcome of the Duguid decision by the SCOTUS.   The Court described the split of authority succinctly. Under the TCPA, it is "unlawful for any person within the United States . . . (A) to make… Read More