BrandRep, the defendant in a Telephone Consumer Protection Act putative class action lawsuit pending in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, recently settled putative nationwide class claims on an individual basis, resulting in dismissal of the case. The settlement came on the heels of BrandRep’s assertion of counterclaims that put
Court Preliminarily Approves $1.2M FACTA Class Action Settlement Against Microsoft
The United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida recently granted preliminary approval of a Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (“FACTA”) class action against Microsoft Corporation.
In Guarisma v. Microsoft Corp., the named plaintiff, Carlos Guarisma, filed a putative class action against Microsoft in November
FTC Releases Annual Summary of Consumer Complaints
The Federal Trade Commission has released its annual summary of consumer complaints for 2016, contained in the FTC’s latest Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book. The FTC compiles the report annually based on complaints received by the Consumer Sentinel Network. Complaints include those made directly by consumers to the FTC, as well as complaints received
Federal Reserve Board Expands Financial Stability Presumption for Decisions on M&A Proposals under the Bank Holding Company Act
On March 16, 2017, the Federal Reserve Board (the “Board”) issued an order approving the merger of two bank holding companies, People’s United Financial, Inc. and Suffolk Bancorp, under Section 3 of the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 (the “Act”).1 Although the approval of the merger itself is relatively insignificant, the order expanded
Maryland AG Announces Settlement with Debt Collection Firms
On March 16, the Consumer Protection Division of the Maryland Attorney General’s Office announced a settlement with five California law firms and Mandip Purewal , the owner of the firms. The Attorney General alleged that the firms illegally collected advance fees from consumers, ostensibly to settle the consumers’ debts. In actuality, the
Join Us on March 23 for a Complimentary Webinar on Electronic Fund Transfer Act (EFTA) – Latest Trends and Developments
Over the past few years, Regulation E, which implements the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, has been cited by federal regulators in rulemaking, enforcement actions and bulletins. The CFPB has not only used the EFTA in its rulemaking concerning prepaid accounts, but it has filed enforcement actions for alleged violations of EFTA and issued bulletins concerning
DOJ Brief Opposing CFPB Brings More Uncertainty
On March 17, the U.S. Department of Justice submitted a brief to the D.C. Circuit asserting that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s single-director structure violates the Constitution’s separation of powers in the CFPB v. PHH Corporation case.
CFPB’s Single Director Structure
The Democratic-controlled 111th Congress created the CFPB as part of the Dodd-Frank Act in
Offshore Call Center Bill Reintroduced in Congress
Congress recently reintroduced a bill titled United States Call Center Worker and Consumer Protection Act of 2016, which attempts to deter companies from employing offshore call collection centers.
The bill would require a business that employs 50 or more call center employees to notify the Department of Labor at least 120 days before relocating
Courts Approve $950,000 FCRA Class Action Settlement Against McDonald’s
On March 15, the United States District Court for the Central District of California granted final approval of a Fair Credit Reporting Act class action against fast food restaurant McDonald’s.
The named plaintiff, James Wesley Carter, originally brought the action against McDonald’s in July 2015 alleging that McDonald’s violates the rights of consumers by failing
TCPA Class Action Dismissed Based on Lack of Vicarious Liability
The United States District Court for the Southern District of California recently granted summary judgment in favor of defendant United Student Aid Funds, Inc. (“USAF”) in a Telephone Consumer Protection Act class action, holding that the plaintiff had failed to prove that USAF is vicariously liable for the acts of its third party servicers.