Consumer Finance

In Jones v. AD Astra Recovery Services, Inc. 2016 WL 3145072, at *6 (D.Kan., 2016), Magistrate Judge Birzer denied a stay of a TCPA case pending outcome of the DC Circuit proceedings. In Lee, and to maintain consistency in its rulings, here the Court finds, in conjunction with the existence of the full legal authority of the 2015 FCC Ruling,… Read More

In Oleos v. Bank of America, 2016 WL 3092194, at *2 (S.D.Cal., 2016), the District Court found that a TCPA Plaintiff pleaded enough. Courts facing a motion to dismiss on the grounds that the allegations of use of an ATDS are insufficient have taken two approaches. Maier, at *3. Under the first approach, courts allow a plaintiff to make minimal allegations… Read More

In Johnson v. Midland Funding, LLC, 2016 WL 2996372, at *1 (C.A.11 (Ala.), 2016), the Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit affirmed its previous ruling in Crawford -- namely, that the FDCPA prohibits a debt collector from filing proofs of claim for time barred debts. Under the Bankruptcy Code (“Code”), a “creditor ... may file a proof of claim” in a… Read More

In McFarland-Rourk v. Drive Time Credit, Inc., 2016 WL 3014679, at *2-3 (M.D.Ga., 2016), Judge Land exercise jurisdiction and found an auto finance company's post-discharge of a consumer's vehicle to be proper. The general rule is that “[u]nless a lien is avoidable and the debtor has taken timely steps to avoid it, the lien survives the discharge in bankruptcy.” Holloway… Read More

In Sykes v. Mel Harris & Assoc., Inc., 2016 WL 3030156 (S.D.N.Y., 2016), Judge Chin affirmed a $60M class action settlement. In this class action, Plaintiffs allege that Defendants -- a debt-buying company, a law firm, a process service company, and affiliated entities and individuals -- engaged in abusive debt collection practices to obtain default judgments against hundreds of thousands of… Read More

In Pagazani v. Equifax Information Services, LLC, 2016 WL 2997586, at *5-6 (S.D.Fla., 2016), Judge Bloom granted summary judgment to a consumer reporting agency against a debtor who claimed that the bank's furnishing of information to the CRA was inaccurate because he had a defense to the underlying debt itself -- namely, that he was only an "authorized user" on… Read More

In Reyes v. Educational Credit Management Corporation, 2016 WL 2944294, at *3 (S.D.Cal., 2016), Judge Bashant granted summary judgment to a TCPA defendant on the basis that the Plaintiff gave express consent to be called on his cellular telephone.  As to one of the calls wherein the Plaintiff gave oral consent during that call, the Court found that the Plaintiff had… Read More

In Goad v. Censeo Health, LLC., 2016 WL 2944658, at *2-3 (E.D.Ark., 2016), Judge Holmes granted summary judgment to a TCPA defendant, finding that no autodialer was used due to the requirement of human intervention. “The term ‘automatic telephone dialing system’ means equipment which has the capacity (A) to store or produce telephone numbers to be called, using a random or… Read More

In Milligan v. Ally Financial, Inc., 2016 WL 2939786, at *1 (D.Md., 2016), Judge Chmsanow granted summary judgment to Ally against a customer who refused to believe that the RISC had been assigned to Ally.    On May 10, 2014, Plaintiff purchased a used vehicle from Waldorf Chevrolet Cadillac (the “Dealership”) in Waldorf,  Maryland by entering into a Retail Installment Sale… Read More

In Errington v. Time Warner Cable Inc., 2016 WL 2930696, at *3-4 (C.D.Cal., 2016), Judge Lew stayed a TCPA case pending the outcome of the ACA proceedings, but did not want to wait and see what the 9th Circuit did with Spokeo on remand.  Defendant placed calls to Plaintiff's number in an attempt to collect a debt that belonged to… Read More

In Jackson v. Experian Information Solutions, Inc., et. al., 2016 WL 2910027, at *3-5 (N.D.Ill., 2016), Judge Kennelly found that a Chapter 13 debtor stated a claim that a loan servicer's post-Chapter 13 bankruptcy reporting remained inaccurate even after the furnisher made corrections because it did not correct all the inaccuracies in the consumer's report. In count 2 of his complaint, Jackson… Read More

In St. John v. Cach, LLC, 2016 WL 2909195, at *2-3 (C.A.7 (Ill.),2016), the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held that a debt collector who files lawsuits hoping for settlement or default judgment does not violate the FDCPA by dismissing contested actions. The plaintiffs' principal argument on appeal is both novel and straightforward. They begin by asserting that… Read More

In Beaulieu v. Wells Fargo, Judge Kelly granted a Motion for a Protective Order that broadly sought discovery of other complaints against the defendant in order to refute the Defendant’s anticipated arguments regarding the fact they have little, if any, business records supporting Plaintiff’s alleged oral revocations.  The Court found the deposition and document requests to be overbroad.   Read More

 In Fauley v. Royal Canin U.S.A., Inc., 2016 WL 2766286, at *1-2 (N.D.Ill., 2016), Judge Bucklo vacated Plaintiffs' "placeholder" class cert. motion, and denied the Defendant's motion to lift a stay in a TCPA case so that Defendant could tender to the Plaintiff. In a motion styled “to modify stay,” defendants profess their intent to “exercise the option left open by the… Read More

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Today the Supreme Court issued its long-awaited opinion in Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins, -- S.Ct. --, No. 13-1339, 2016 WL 2842447, at *6 (U.S. May 16, 2016).  In a victory for defendant Spokeo, the Supreme Court reversed the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, on grounds that the lower court—in finding Robins had Article III standing to sue—had erroneously focused only… Read More

In Boydstun v. U.S. Bank National Association, N.D., 2016 WL 2736104, at *1 (D.Or., 2016), Judge Hernandez precluded Plaintiff's expert in a FCRA case from testifying about commercial losses because FCRA affords no remedy for them.  Plaintiff Robert Boydstun sought to introduce expert testimony about the economic damages he suffered after a failed attempt to secure financing for a forklift to be used… Read More

In Siding and Insulation Co. v. Alco Vending, Inc., 2016 WL 2620507, at *4-5 (C.A.6 (Ohio),2016), the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit held that the FCC's 2006 amended definition of "sender" did not apply retroactively to faxes sent in 2005.  More importantly, however, the Court of Appeals found that common law agency principles did not govern the concept… Read More

In Morales v. Barberino Brothers, Inc., 2016 WL 2626826, at *4-7 (D.Conn., 2016), Judge Haight dismissed a TILA claim brought by a consumer against a car dealer who inflated the car's purchase price to account for the vehicle that the customer traded in. Two provisions of TILA are at issue. Section 1638(a)(2)(B) requires in certain instances that a creditor provide a… Read More

 In Lindblom v. Santander Consumer USA, Inc., 2016 WL 2625925, at *3-7 (E.D.Cal., 2016), Chief Judge O'Neill allowed Plaintiff's Rosenthal Act claim to proceed past the pleading stage.Plaintiff made payments on the loan by phone and online through Western Union's “Speedpay” service. To do so, Plaintiff was required to pay a fee to Western Union.   Plaintiff alleges Western Union then remitted… Read More