Consumer financial services companies are hopeful that the Supreme Court’s pending decision in Timbs v. Indiana will provide a Constitutional basis for challenging fines and penalties levied by state attorneys general and regulators. The Supreme Court heard oral argument on November 28 on the issue of whether the Excessive Fines Clause has been (or should
The district court in the Northern District of Illinois granted summary judgment to the defendant in a TCPA case on the grounds that its dialing system no longer fit the definition of an automatic telephone dialing system (“ATDS”) because it dialed numbers from a stored list. In doing so, the Court reversed its
The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection has continued its series of guidelines specifically addressing servicemembers’ purchases of automobiles. Recent posts on the Bureau’s blog have provided advice for servicemembers on shopping for auto financing, options for buying new cars versus used cars, as well as recommendations on how to trade in a vehicle.
With regard
On December 4, the Federal Trade Commission announced that it is seeking comment on whether the agency should make changes to rules requiring that financial institutions and creditors take certain steps to detect signs of identity theft that may affect their customers.
In a press release, the FTC stated that as part of its
On November 21, in Sweely Holdings LLC v. SunTrust Bank et al., the Supreme Court of Virginia issued an opinion that is beneficial to the mortgage industry in Virginia because it upheld a bank’s right to foreclose, even if it could have pursued other options under a forbearance agreement. In doing so, the Court
On November 28, Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) introduced the REAL PEACE Act, short for “Robocall Elimination At Last Protecting Every American Consumer’s Ears.” The goal of the legislation is to provide the Federal Trade Commission with the power to regulate companies that facilitate robocalls and, of particular importance,
Effective July 1, 2018, Virginia’s unlawful detainer laws were amended to include new language beneficial to mortgagees and other foreclosure sale purchasers who seek to recover possession of foreclosed property by filing suit in a general district court.
A new subsection of the statute, Virginia Code § 8.01-126(C)(4), codifies common law and confirms that a
On November 27, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a district court’s dismissal of a second putative Telephone Consumer Protection Act class action on the grounds that the American Pipe tolling principles did not apply, meaning the plaintiff’s claims on behalf of himself, his company, and the purported class were untimely.
In Weitzner v.
A United States district court in Illinois recently granted a non-resident defendant’s motion to strike the class definition in a putative nationwide TCPA class action, pursuant to Bristol-Meyers Squibb, broadly holding that due process “bars nationwide class actions in fora where the defendant is not subject to general jurisdiction.” The case is Mussat v.
On November 16, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued a memorandum opinion in Crystal Davis v. Credit Bureau of the South denying counsel’s statutory attorney’s fees for a successful Fair Debt Collection Practices Act claim. The opinion—which is well worth the read—can be accessed here.
The appellant consumer, Crystal
