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A. Eli Kaplan

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Eli is an attorney in the firm’s Consumer Financial Services Practice Group, where he represents clients in consumer law, business disputes, and commercial litigation.

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In a recent decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit clarified the expectations for furnishers when investigating consumer disputes under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). In Suluki v. Credit One Bank, No. 23-721 (2d Cir. May 28, 2025), the Second Circuit emphasized that the FCRA requires furnishers to conduct reasonable, not perfect, investigations into disputed accounts. The opinion also cements the fact that summary judgment is possible — and appropriate — when a furnisher conducts a reasonable investigation of a credit dispute.

In Martinez v. Celtic Bank, the Southern District of New York recently denied a motion for summary judgment finding that a jury could consider an investigation reckless when a furnisher fails to review any records other than a payment history in response to a dispute that an account was erroneously reported as delinquent.

We are pleased to share our annual review of regulatory and legal developments in the consumer financial services industry. With active federal and state legislatures, consumer financial services providers faced a challenging 2023. Courts across the country issued rulings that will have immediate and lasting impacts on the industry. Our team of more than 140 professionals has prepared this concise, yet thorough analysis of the most important issues and trends throughout our industry. We not only examined what happened in 2023, but also what to expect — and how to prepare — for the months ahead.

In Heinz v. Carrington Mortgage Services LLC, the Eighth Circuit held that the mere inclusion of boilerplate disclosure language does not transform an otherwise benign informational communication into one meant to induce payment by the debtor under the “animating purpose” test, which makes a holistic consideration of an individual communication’s purpose to determine whether…

In Mikhael v. Credit Corp Solutions, Inc., the Eastern District of New York held that a letter alluding to the possibility of referring an account to an attorney for review does not constitute a threat to take imminent action that “cannot legally be taken or that was not intended to be taken” under the…

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals recently upheld a ruling that reporting a judgment as “satisfied” was accurate under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) when the underlying lawsuit was dismissed by stipulation as “settled” without the prior judgment being vacated. The Second Circuit further held that entities alleged to have willfully violated the FCRA…

In Cassandra Valentine v. Unifund CCR, Inc. et al., the District Court of New Jersey dismissed the plaintiff’s claim that a benign company name appearing on a debt collection letter through the glassine window of an envelope constituted a violation of the FDCPA if an internet search could reveal the name as belonging to…

2020 was a transformative year for the consumer financial services world. As we navigate an unprecedented volume of industry regulation, Troutman Pepper is uniquely positioned to help its clients find successful resolutions and stay ahead of the compliance curve.

In this report, we share developments in 2020 on consumer class actions, background screening, bankruptcy,…

In True Health Chiropractic Inc., et al. v. McKesson Corp., et al., the Northern District of California held that it was divested of jurisdiction by the Hobbs Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2342, and thus could not reconsider the validity of a declaratory ruling rendered by the Consumer and Government Affairs Bureau of the Federal…

In Riccio v. Client Services, Inc., the District Court of New Jersey dismissed a class action lawsuit finding that a failure to assure a consumer that statements in a letter would not change in the future was not materially misleading under the least sophisticated debtor test.

On February 13, 2020, Joanne Riccio received a…