In Bob Smith Automotive Group, Inc. v. Ally Financial, Inc. 2016 WL 3613402 (Md. 2016), the Maryland Court of Appeals was asked to decide a rather unremarkable legal question of whether certain documents were part of a contract. But, in doing so, the Court of Appeals gave a succinct explanation of what Floorpan Lending: The Automotive Sales Industry 101. 4.... [I]t… Read More
In Mey v. North American Bancard, 2016 WL 3613395, at *3-4 (C.A.6 (Mich.), 2016), the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit held that payment of actual cash did not moot a TCPA class action under Campbell-Ewald. In an effort to tee up that question, NAB responded to Campbell-Ewald by mailing Mey's attorney a cashier's check for $4,500, apparently for three calls… Read More
In Bacharach v. Suntrust Mortgage, Incorporated, 2016 WL 3568059, at *1-2 (C.A.5 (La.), 2016), the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that the FCRA does not provide protection against commercial losses. Bacharach argues that due to SunTrust's alleged FCRA violations that resulted in the reporting of misinformation to various credit agencies, she was unable to purchase property at 2841… Read More
In Central Alarm Signal, Inc. v. Business Financial Services, Inc. 2016 WL 3595627, at *2 (E.D.Mich., 2016), Judge Whalen allowed a TCPA class action plaintiff to conduct discovery of faxes beyond the scope of what was attached to the complaint or defined by the class. That Plaintiff attached only a single fax to the FAC does not circumscribe the class allegations… Read More
In Church v. Accretive Health, Inc., here, the Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit held that collection on a debt that was not in default at the time of the assignment does not trigger the FDCPA. Thus, if the debt at issue was not in default at the time it was obtained by a third party agency, the agency’s… Read More
Judge Bashant approved a $4.5M TCPA class action settlement, a copy of the preliminary order is here: Sanders-v.-RBS-Citizens-NA-Order-Granting-Motion-for-approval-of-class-settlement Read More
In Ellis v. Phillips and Cohen Associates, Ltd., 2016 WL 3566981, at *3-5 (N.D.Cal., 2016), Judge Davila found a triable issue of material fact as to whether a debt incurred by Plaintiff's corporation, for which she denied responsibility, was a "commercial" debt under the FDCPA. As this court previously observed when addressing Defendant's motion to dismiss, a “consumer debt” qualifying… Read More
In Klein v. Just Energy Group, Inc., 2016 WL 3539137, at *2 (W.D.Pa., 2016), Judge Conti granted summary judgment to an energy company who's debt collectors placed wrong-party calls to Klein over Klein's Google VoiP. Because Klein's VoIP number had been erroneously recorded as the number for P.S., Commerce Energy, Inc. d/b/a Just Energy provided Klein's VoIP number to Collectcents… Read More
In Radney v. Bayview Loan Servicing, LLC, 2016 WL 3551677, at *3 (N.D.Ill., 2016), Judge Darrah denied a motion to dismiss a FCRA claim arising out of a creditor's post-discharge credit reporting. Bayview argues that Plaintiff's allegations are refuted by the documents attached to his Amended Complaint. Specifically, Bayview references a corrected credit report dated September 4, 2015, from Experian,… Read More
In Mora v. Zeta Interactive Corp., 2016 WL 3477222, at *2-3 (E.D.Cal., 2016), Judge Drozd denied a motion to dismiss filed by a TCPA blast-fax's CEO who was named in a TCPA case against his company. In the instant case, defendants argue that the allegations specifically leveled against defendant Steinberg lack details of his direct participation in any wrongdoing and… Read More
In Stoops v. Wells Fargo Bank, here, Judge Gibson held that a TCPA Plaintiff cannot set up an enterprise designed to obtain TCPA damages and still have constitutional standing to sue under the TCPA. Plaintiff’s testimony once again establishes that she has not suffered an injury-in-fact. It is well settled that a plaintiff “cannot manufacture standing by choosing to make… Read More
In Dixon v. Monterey Financial Services, Inc., 2016 WL 3456680, at *4-5 (N.D.Cal., 2016), Judge Chesney denied a TCPA defendant’s summary judgment motion on the basis that triable issues of fact existed whether the Plaintiff revoked consent. Initially, the Court finds unpersuasive defendant's argument that the statements, which were recorded by defendant at the time they were made, are insufficient… Read More
In Dr. Robert L. Meinders D.C., Ltd v. Emery Wilson Corporation, 2016 WL 3402621, at *4-5 (S.D.Ill., 2016), Judge Yandle certified a TCPA blast fax class action. Sterling is a corporation that provides management training and consulting services to entrepreneur and business clients (Doc. 69-8, p. 18). To promote its business, Sterling sends faxes to existing and potential customers promoting… Read More
In Garcia v. CreditorS Specialty Service, Inc., 2016 WL 3345459, at *1 (N.D.Cal., 2016), Judge Freeman allowed a glassine window case to proceed past the pleadings stage. Visible on the face of the envelope was Defendant CSS's name, its return address, and a “large red dollar sign logo,” id. at ¶ 21; Exh. 1 to SAC at 2, ECF 74-1,… Read More
In Campbell v. American Recovery Services Incorporated, 2016 WL 3219866, at *3 (C.D.Cal., 2016), Judge Wright dismissed an FDCPA grounded in the contention that a collection letter failed to adequately identify the creditor. Section 1692g(a) of the FDCPA provides that within five days after the initial communication with a consumer in connection with the collection of any debt, a debt… Read More
In Izsak v. Draftkings, Inc., 2016 WL 3227299, at *3-5 (N.D.Ill., 2016), Judge Wood found that a TCPA Plaintiff pleaded enough to get past the pleadings stage. This Court agrees with the view that where a fact—here, use of an ATDS—is itself an element of the claim, “it is not sufficient to recite that fact verbatim without other supporting details.”… Read More
In Lyons v. Michael & Associates, 2016 WL 3192623 (9th Cir. 2016), the Court of Appeals applied the discovery rule to an FDCPA case. Deborah Lyons appeals the district court's dismissal of her case against Lina Michaels and Michael & Associates on the ground that it was time-barred. Lyons alleges that the defendants are debt collectors who violated the Fair Debt… Read More
In Datta v. Asset Recovery Solutions, LLC, 2016 WL 3163142, at *5-10 (N.D.Cal., 2016), Judge Koh granted summary judgment to a debt collector who was sued under the Third Circuit's glassine window theory in Douglass. Notably, district courts in both the Central and Southern Districts of California have adopted the benign language exception. In Masuda v. Thomas Richards & Co.,… Read More
In Waterbury v. A1 Solar Power Inc., 2016 WL 3166910, at *3 (S.D.Cal., 2016), Judge Anelo found that a TCPA plaintiff had not adequately pleaded the use of an ATDS. Defendants contend Plaintiff Bell has not stated a claim under the TCPA because she has not adequately alleged that Defendants used an ATDS. Plaintiff Bell alleges Defendants violated a provision… Read More
In Noori v. Bank of America, here, Judge Andre Birotte granted summary judgment to a bank in an FCRA case. Judge Birotte found that the Plaintiff produced no evidence that the CRAs ever forwarded a dispute to the furnisher and, accordingly, no FCRA claim could lie. "Plaintiff has produced no evidence that BofA received, from any CRA, a notice of dispute through… Read More
