On January 21, a bipartisan coalition of 22 state attorneys general, along with the Hawaii Office of Consumer Protection, sent a letter to Comptroller Joseph M. Otting of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, objecting to a proposed rule that may extend the right of national banking and savings associations preemption of state
Consent and revocation of consent are the mainstay issues in Telephone Consumer Protection Act litigation. On December 11, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia reminded litigants of the requirements to assert a claim under the TCPA.
In Oatman v. Augusta Collection Agency, plaintiff Junior Oatman sued collection company Augusta
On November 14, the House Financial Services Committee passed the following bills which would amend the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and other consumer protection statutes and regulations. Next, the entire House of Representatives will consider the following bills:
On October 17, the Consumer Data Industry Association filed a lawsuit in the District of New Jersey seeking to block a New Jersey state law requiring credit reports to be made available in eleven foreign languages, if requested by the consumer. Specifically, the Association argues that the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act preempts the law
On August 30, the California Senate Appropriations Committee failed to approve A.B. 1270 which would extend the California False Claims Act to include tax matters, joining Illinois and New York as the only states that allow whistleblowers to file claims against companies alleging violations of the tax code. Notably, the Federal False Claims Act specifically
On June 19, Maine Governor Janet T. Mills signed a new law, H.P 553 – L.D. 748, that provides relief for consumers suffering from “economic abuse.” Going into effect on September 19, 2019, the new law provides a set of procedures for debt collectors and credit reporting agencies to follow when consumers present evidence
The Southern District of Indiana recently issued a positive decision for debt buyers and collectors defending Fair Debt Collection Practices Act lawsuits premised on a directly communicating with a consumer who had previously notified the creditor she was represented by an attorney.
In Pennell v. Global Trust Management, LLC, No. 1:18-cv-01698-JRS-DLP, 2019 U.S. Dist.
On November 27, 2019, a New Jersey law requiring that student loan servicers obtain a license from the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance will go into effect.
The new law, among other things, will require the Department to appoint a student loan ombudsman to help student loan borrowers with understanding loan agreements
On August 22, state attorneys general from all fifty states and the District of Columbia, in conjunction with large telecom companies, unveiled a new agreement to combat robocalls. This is the latest step from the government and the telecom industry to address this growing problem as Americans get nearly 5 billion automated calls every month.
On July 18, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released a report analyzing market data from 2004 through 2018 on third-party debt collections tradelines reflected on credit reports compiled by the nationwide consumer reporting agencies. The CFPB segmented the report into two parts: buyers (entities that purchase debts and then collect on them) and non-buyers (entities