We've seen a lot of them come and go in the last 12 years. Often emulated but never duplicated, our weblog surpassing 2,500 consumer finance decisions has become both a research and news tool for our multitude of subscribers. We celebrate 12 years since we first began this weblog, first as www.calautofinance.com and later migrated onto the Firm's website. Thank… Read More
In Hogue v Silver State Schools Credit Union, the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed dismissal of an FCRA case due to lack of Article III standing. First, Hogue has not shown actual harm to his concrete interests. The district court found that “no third parties made an adverse credit decision as to [Hogue] based on this disputed… Read More
In Hernandez v. Apple Auto Wholesalers of Waterbury Llc, No. 3:17-cv-1857 (VAB), 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 86672 (D. Conn. May 18, 2020), Judge Bolden certified an FTC Holder Rule question to the Connecticut Supreme Court. The FTC Holder Rule language "preserves a consumer's right to assert the same legal claims and defenses against the assignee of a credit contract as… Read More
In Calhoun v. FLRish, Inc., No. 19-cv-08212-JCS, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 84485, at *5-7 (N.D. Cal. May 13, 2020), Judge Spero stayed a TCPA pending the outcome of the SCOTUS' decision in Barr v. AAPC. A number of other district courts have stayed TCPA cases claiming violations of the ATDS prohibition pending a decision in AAPC. See, e.g., Lacy v.… Read More
In Isenbergh v. S. Chi. Nissan, 2020 IL App (1st) 190849-U, ¶¶ 43-49, the Illinois Court of Appeal found no TILA violation in a vehicle sale transaction. Plaintiff further contends that the circuit court erroneously rejected his claim that South Chicago did not make the disclosures required under the TILA. The TILA "is not a general prohibition of fraud in… Read More
In Plumb v. Prof'l Account Servs., No. 3:19-cv-00085-SLG, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 84064, at *7 (D. Alaska May 13, 2020), Judge Gleason dismissed an FDCPA action based on communications between counsel. Counts I and II of the FAC arise from Ms. Sanders's fax to Plaintiff's counsel ("the Fax"). In Count I, Plaintiff alleges that the Fax falsely represents that Ms.… Read More
In Denan v. Trans Union LLC, No. 19-1519, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 14930 (7th Cir. May 11, 2020), the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held that a CRA, under the guise of determining accuracy, was not obligated to adjudicate the consumer claims that the debt was not valid. Here, plaintiffs contend not only that Trans Union had a… Read More
In Tailford v. Experian Info. Sols., No. SACV 19-02191JVS(KESx), 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 84658 (C.D. Cal. May 12, 2020), Judge Selna dismissed a claim against Experian for failure to disclose in a “file” under the FCRA behavioral data that it maintained on the consumer. The data the Experian maintained was as pleaded as follows: Experian also collects "non-traditional" consumer data… Read More
In Jantzer v. Elizabethtown Cmty. Hosp., No. 8:19-cv-00791 (BKS/DJS), 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 83207 (N.D.N.Y. May 12, 2020), Judge Sannes dismissed a data breach class action for lack of standing. The facts were as follows: UVM Health is Vermont Corporation headquartered in Burlington, Vermont that consists of a "six-hospital and home health & hospice system" located in "Vermont and northern… Read More
In In re Solara Med. Supplies, LLC Customer Data Sec. Breach Litig., No. 3:19-cv-2284-H-KSC, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 80736 (S.D. Cal. May 7, 2020), Judge Huff allowed a data breach claim to proceed. The facts were as follows: On November 13, 2019, Solara Medical Supplies, LLC ("Solara") notified its customers of a security incident that may have compromised the information… Read More
In Bennett v. Cielo Homeowners Ass'n, No. 19-cv-2131-WQH-BLM, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 78850, at *17-20 (S.D. Cal. May 4, 2020), Judge Hayes addressed principal/agent liability under the FDCPA. "Seeking somewhat to level the playing field between debtors and debt collectors, the FDCPA prohibits debt collectors 'from making false or misleading representations and from engaging in various abusive and unfair practices.'"… Read More
In Stasi v. Inmediata Health Grp. Corp., No. 19cv2353 JM (LL), 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 79303, at *1-4 (S.D. Cal. May 5, 2020), Judge Miller dismissed a nationwide identity theft/data breach class action. The facts were as follows: Plaintiffs allege that in January of 2019, Inmediata learned it was experiencing a large "data security incident" resulting in the exposure of… Read More
In June 2018, Alastair MacTaggart and Rick Arney of Californians for Consumer Privacy managed to get the California Legislature to pass the most sweeping privacy legislation in the country - the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (“CCPA”). However, as we reported on September 27, 2019, it turns out that they were just getting started with CCPA. On September 25,… Read More
On May 6, the Supreme Court heard oral argument on the constitutionality of the TCPA in Barr v. American Association of Political Consultants Inc. As oral argument was held by teleconference, a video transcript of the proceedings can be found at the link below. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JK4ylRQTkwo Read More
Judge Richard G. Stearns granted ACA International's request for a temporary restraining order (TRO) against Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey's emergency rules that prohibit debt collectors from making outbound telephone calls and bringing legal enforcement actions against consumers. A copy of the order can be found here. Read More
In Manuel v. Merchs. & Prof'l Bureau, Inc., No. 19-50814, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 13779, at *8 (5th Cir. Apr. 29, 2020), the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that a dunning letter on a time-barred debt was deceptive, and outlined the standards for letters seeking to collect on time-barred debts. Our decision in Daugherty is central to… Read More
On April 1, 2020, the California Supreme Court granted review in Smith v. LoanMe. Recently, Judge Hayes in Brinkley v. Monterey Fin. Servs., LLC, No. 16-cv-1103-WQH-WVG, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 70025 (S.D. Cal. Apr. 20, 2020) stayed reconsideration of his ruling in favor of the Plaintiffs, in light of the Supreme Court granting review in Smith. Judge Hayes explained that Monterey sought… Read More
In Medley v. Dish Network, No. 18-13841, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 14052, at *13-18 (11th Cir. May 1, 2020) , the Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit followed the Second Circuit's Reyes decision, finding that contractual consent cannot be revoked under the TCPA. Finally, Medley appeals the district court's ruling in favor of DISH on her TCPA claim. The… Read More
In Wagoner v. Npas, Inc., No. 3:18-CV-520 DRL-MGG, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 73381 (N.D. Ind. Apr. 27, 2020), Judge Leichty granted summary judgment under the FDCPA to an ‘early out’ debt servicer. NPAS serves as an "early-out" collector and extended business office for healthcare systems. A company hired to service the debt of another—i.e., send bills and collect routine payments—falls… Read More
In Krier v. United Revenue Corp., No. 3:19-CV-2954-G, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 74844 (N.D. Tex. Apr. 28, 2020), Judge Fish allowed an FDCPA claim premised on 15 USC 1692e(8) because the debt collector did not report the account a disputed. Krier claims that United violated Section 1692e(8) of the FDCPA by failing to include notice of Krier's dispute in the… Read More
