Consumer Finance

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued an advisory yesterday, alerting companies who engage with victims of ransomware attacks of potential sanctions risks for facilitating ransomware payments.  This advisory highlights OFAC’s designations of malicious cyber actors and those who facilitate ransomware transactions under its cyber-related sanctions program. It identifies U.S. government resources for reporting… Read More

In Isler v. GE Emples. Fed. Credit Union, No. 3:18-cv-00867 (MPS), 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 176562 (D. Conn. Sep. 25, 2020), Judge Shea clarified when a Furnisher is and is not required to report an account as “disputed”. Plaintiff [*22]  also argues that GE Credit Union was negligent in failing at least to mark Plaintiff's account as disputed. Some courts have… Read More

On September 25, 2020, Governor Newsom signed a number of bills, including AB 1864, which established the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (“DFPI”) in place of the Department of Business Oversight (“DBO”), and SB 908, the Debt Collection Licensing Act. Both bills were passed by the California legislature in late August 2020, and are touted by Governor Newsome as… Read More

In Camacho v. Hydroponics, Inc., No. EDCV 20-980 JGB (KKx), 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 174379 (C.D. Cal. Sep. 22, 2020), Judge Bernal denied a stay in a TCPA case. The TCPA defines an ATDS as "equipment which has the capacity (A) to store or produce telephone numbers to be called, using a random or sequential number generator; and (B) to… Read More

AB 1864 has now passed California’s legislature and is another California fire with which Governor Newsom must deal.  This Bill seeks to rename the Department of Business Oversight as the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (“DFPI”), and is expected to be signed by Governor Newsom. Earlier, Governor Newsom proposed the CFPL in his 2020-2021 budget frame-work. The goal, according to Newsom,… Read More

In Hammer v. Equifax Info. Servs., No. 19-10199, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 28800 (5th Cir. Sep. 9, 2020), the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that no claim arose under the FCRA for failure to report a trade line in the consumer’s consumer report. Hammer alleges that Equifax violated the FCRA because it had favorable information about his… Read More

In Nagan v. Solutions, No. 19-C-170, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 155492 (E.D. Wis. Aug. 27, 2020), Judge Griesbach held that Wisconsin residents are not protected by California’s Rosenthal Act. The Rosenthal Act Plaintiff also asserts a claim under the Rosenthal Act, California's counterpart to the FDCPA that protects residents of California. Because Plaintiff was never a resident of California, the… Read More

When California Governor Gavin Newsome signed the Budget Act of 2020 at the end of June, the budget allocated $10.2 million in 2020-21, growing to $19.3 million in 2022-23 to the Department of Business Oversight, contingent upon enactment of the California Consumer Financial Protection Law. As previously posted, the California Consumer Financial Protection Law (“CCFPL”) sought to rename California Department… Read More

The Federal Trade Commission announced that it is seeking comment on proposed changes that would bring several rules implementing parts of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) in line with the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act). In separate Notices of Proposed Rule Making (NPRMs), which will be published in the Federal Register shortly, the FTC… Read More

In Jensen v. Roto-Rooter Servs. Co., No. C20-0223-JCC, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 151256 (W.D. Wash. Aug. 20, 2020), Judge Coughenour stayed a TCPA case pending SCOTUS’ review of what constitutes an ATDS. Defendant moves to continue the stay in this case because the Supreme Court's decision in Duguid will resolve the circuit split of what constitutes an auto dialer under… Read More

In Warford v. Memphis City Emples. Credit Union, No. 2:19-cv-02403-JPM-cgc, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 150173 (W.D. Tenn. Aug. 19, 2020), Judge McCalla found that a credit union’s disclosures of an irregular payment schedule for purchase of a vehicle violated TILA.  The facts were as follows: The following facts are undisputed for purposes of summary judgment. On or about December 27,… Read More

In Calogero v. Shows, Cali & Walsh, L.L.P., No. 19-30558, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 26109 (5th Cir. Aug. 17, 2020), the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit said that the US Government’s retention of private debt collectors to collect overpayment of compensation to victims of Hurricane Katrina arose out of a “transaction” under the FDCPA. When Congress passed the… Read More

In Elbert v. Roundpoint Mortg. Servicing Corp., No. 20-cv-00250-MMC, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 150341 (N.D. Cal. Aug. 19, 2020), Judge Chesney dismissed a Rosenthal Act claim because the account was not in delinquent. In Count II, Elbert asserts RoundPoint has violated the Rosenthal Act, which Act provides that "[n]o debt collector shall collect or attempt to collect a consumer debt… Read More

In Lawrence v. First Fin. Inv. Fund V, No. 2:19-cv-00174-RJS-CMR, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 149122 (D. Utah Aug. 17, 2020), Judge Shelby certified an FDCPA class after the class representative abandoned any claim for emotional distress because such damage claim could not be pursued on a representative basis. Next, First Financial argues Lawrence's claims are atypical of the proposed classes… Read More

In Mercedes v. Nat'l Bus. Factors, No. 19-16055, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 25996 (9th Cir. Aug. 17, 2020), the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit rejected application of the bona fide error defense where the debt collector outsourced its compliance obligations through a boilerplate agreement with the creditor. The parties do not dispute that NBF unintentionally violated the FDCPA… Read More

In Komaiko v. Baker Techs., No. 19-cv-03795-DMR, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 143953 (N.D. Cal. Aug. 11, 2020), Magistrate Judge Ryu denied a stay in a TCPA case pending SCOTUS review of the Duguid case. At issue in Duguid is the definition of ATDS in the TCPA, and specifically whether that definition "encompasses any device that can 'store' and 'automatically dial' telephone… Read More

In Mey v. DIRECTV, LLC, No. 18-1534, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 24993 (4th Cir. Aug. 7, 2020), the Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit enforced an arbitration clause in a TCPA class action.  DIRECTTV, who was an affiliate of AT&T, was entitled to enforce the agreement. As an initial matter, we conclude—as the district court appears to have acknowledged… Read More

In Vargas v. Vehicle Sols. Corp., No. 8:19-cv-1109-T-60AAS, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 141526 (M.D. Fla. Aug. 7, 2020), Judge Barber found  standing under the TCPA. The facts were as follows: The son of Plaintiff Yajairis Vagas incurred a debt to Defendant Vehicle Solutions Corp. ("VSC") to purchase a car. Because her son worked for Plaintiff's company, Plaintiff made payments on… Read More

In Tillman v. Mich. First Credit Union, No. 19-12860, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 139056 (E.D. Mich. Aug. 5, 2020), Judge Lawson declined to exercise jurisdiction over a collection counter-claim in an FCRA case. Nonetheless, federal courts have had little trouble finding that supplemental jurisdiction is proper over counterclaims like the one pleaded here where the underlying dispute is between a… Read More

In Muñoz v. JLO Auto., Inc., No. 3:19-cv-01793 (MPS), 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 136552 (D. Conn. July 31, 2020), Judge Shea refused to enter a default judgment against a car dealer based on the consumer’s claim that she was falsely told that GAP was required as part of the transaction. Just below this language is the cost ($752), the term… Read More