Consumer Finance

In Jacobson v. Persolve, LLC, No. 14-CV-00735-LHK, 2015 WL 3523696, at *10 (N.D. Cal. June 4, 2015), Judge Koh granted, in part, class certification in an FDCPA class action despite the fact that the FDCPA's $500,000 penalty cap would result in deminimus recover to the large number of individual class members. In opposition, Defendants do not dispute that individual class members… Read More

The staff of the Federal Trade Commission has provided its 2014 Annual Financial Acts Enforcement Report to the CFPB on enforcement and related activities regarding Regulation Z (Truth in Lending Act), Regulation M (Consumer Leasing Act), and Regulation E (Electronic Fund Transfer Act).    The report on TILA, CLA and EFTA addresses, among other things, the FTC’s enforcement actions related to… Read More

In Sears v. Baretta Fin., No. 7:14CV00036, 2015 WL 3507694, at *3 (W.D. Va. June 3, 2015), Judge Conrad found that a debt collection agency's letter mentioning a "caption" and "case number" when no lawsuit had been filed violated the FDCPA. According to the complaint, Baretta Financial “regularly collects or attempts to collect, directly or indirectly, debts owed or due or… Read More

In Gillard v. Receivables Performance Mgmt., LLC, No. CIV.A. 14-02392, 2015 WL 3456751, at *6 (E.D. Pa. June 1, 2015), Judge Pappert largely denied both parties' claims for relief under the TCPA. RPM moves for summary judgment in its favor on the same issue. (Def.'s Mem. Supp. Mot. Summ. J. at 10, Doc. No. 45–1). It also moves for summary judgment… Read More

In Gustafson v. Experian Info. Solutions Inc., No. 2:14-CV-01453-ODW EX, 2015 WL 3477071, at *6 (C.D. Cal. June 2, 2015), Judge Wright granted summary judgment to a debt collector on a Plaintiff's FCRA claim, alleging that the debt was "double-reported". “[S]ummary judgment is not precluded altogether on questions of reasonableness,” but “[i]t is only appropriate ‘when only one conclusion about the… Read More

In Derby v. AOL, Inc., No. 15-CV-00452-RMW, 2015 WL 3466213, at *3-4 (N.D. Cal. June 1, 2015) amended at Derby v. AOL, Inc., No. 15-CV-00452-RMW, 2015 WL 3477658 (N.D. Cal. June 1, 2015), Judge Whyte dismissed Plaintiff's TCPA case on a Motion to Dismiss. This case arise arises out of three unsolicited text messages that plaintiff received through defendant's AOL Instant Messenger (“AIM”) service,… Read More

In Camacho v. Jefferson Capital Sys., LLC, 2015 WL 3454070, at *3-4 (N.D. Cal. 2015), Judge Freeman rejected a debt collector's contention that the words used by the debtor's counsel did not convey that the debtor was represented by counsel. Under both the FDCPA and Rosenthal Act, a debt collector may not directly communicate with an individual debtor in connection… Read More

The FCC today announced its intention to issue its proposed declaratory ruling on the TCPA.  A copy of the announcement is here. Read More

In Balschmiter v. TD Auto Finance LLC, 2015 WL 2451853E.D. Wis. 2015), Judge Stadtmueller denied Plaintiff’s request to use a classmember list provided under a protective order to give pre-trial notice to putative classmembers after the Court (and 7th Circuit) already had denied class certification. The Court will not expend its resources, limited as they are, elaborating on the defendant’s… Read More

In Madden v. Midland Funding, LLC, --- F.3d ----, 2015 WL 2435657 (2d Cir. 2015), the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit found that the NBA did not pre-empt New York state usury claim arising out of debt collector’s attempt to collect the credit card issuer’s interest that was permissible as to the credit card issuer out of Delaware… Read More

In Hofer v. Synchrony Bank,  2015 WL 2374696, at *2-4 (E.D. Mo.  2015), Judge Perry declined to stay a TCPA case based on the Primary Jurisdiction Doctrine.  The Court found that the question of whether an ATDS was used did not justify staying the Action. The FCC has already considered the first question proffered by Synchrony at least twice. See Prater… Read More

In Taylor v. Universal Auto Grp. I, Inc.,  2015 WL 2406071, at *4-5 (S.D. Ohio 2015), Judge Black affirmed a Magistrate's order compelling disclosure, pre-certification, of TCPA class members' names and addresses. OneCommand's primary argument is that the requested information is not relevant because the underlying action is in the pre-certification stage and that Plaintiff could only use this information to… Read More

We have transcribed for our reader's perusal the oral argument in the Sanchez arbitration case. Sanchez - Transcription of Oral Argument 5-6-15 Read More

In Story v. Mammoth Mountain Ski Area, LLC, 2015 WL 2339437 (E.D. Cal. 2015), Judge Mendez applied the Primary Jurisdiction Doctrine to stay a TCPA class action arising out of a ski-resort purportedly leaving pre-recorded advertisements on the putative class members' cellular telephones. In 2012, the FCC issued a Report and Order entitled “In the Matter of Rules and Regulations Implementing the… Read More

In Altman v. J.C. Christensen & Associates, Inc., 2015 WL 2242398--- F.3d ---- (2d Cir. 2015), the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit found no FDCPA violation for failing to advise a debtor that a settlement resulting in debt relief to the debtor would result in tax consequences. Altman argues that, by specifying the savings that he would enjoy… Read More

We previously reported on the Gomez v. Campbell-Ewald matter (http://www.calautofinance.com/?p=5343), wherein the 9th Circuit found that a consumer's failure to accept advertiser's offer of judgment did not render action moot.  Today, the SCOTUS granted cert.  Campbell-Ewald Company v. Gomez, 2015 WL 246885-, -- S.Ct. ---, 83 USLW 3637 (2015).  The Petition for Cert. offered 3 potential issues: 1.Whether a case… Read More

In Marcotte v. Bank of America, 2015 WL 2184369 (S.D. Tex. 2015), Judge Rosenthal found that an FDCPA Plaintiff failed to state a claim against a credit card issuer under the FDCPA’s “false-name” exception so as to trigger the Act against a creditor. The false name exception does not apply in this case. The billing statement from Barclays that the… Read More

I know it's a real property case, but the argument is something that we've seen a bit of in California on the personal property side.  In Groff v. Wells Fargo Home Mortg., Inc., 2015 WL 2169811 (E.D. Mich. 2015), Judge Lawson found that the defendant did not violate the Fair Credit Reporting Act when it reported that the plaintiff’s bankruptcy-discharged… Read More

In Savage v. Citibank N.A., 2015 WL 2214229 (N.D. Cal. 2015), Judge Freeman denied a petition to compel arbitration of a TCPA lawsuit because the lawsuit did not fall within the terms of the arbitration clause. Defendants contend that Plaintiff’s claims in this lawsuit—premised upon collection activity in connection with a Macy’s card issued by DSNB—fall within the scope of… Read More

In Diaz v. Kubler Corp, 2015 WL 2214634, -- F.3d. – (9th Cir. 2015), the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit found that a debt collector’s dunning letter did not violate the FDCPA/Rosenthal Act by seeking collection of statutory pre-judgment interest in addition to the liquidated debt. It is quite plain that Kubler would have been entitled to prejudgment… Read More