On January 3, DentalPlans.com (DentalPlans) filed a petition with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) seeking a declaratory ruling that: (1) renewal notifications do not constitute telemarketing or advertising under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), and (2) the language in its online enrollment forms and used by its customer service representatives during telephone conversations with
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced Tuesday that it has opened a new portal which private companies can use to report suspected robocalls and illegal call spoofing of their numbers. The portal, titled the Private Entity Robocall and Spoofing Portal, is designed to provide companies with a tool to combat spam callers using a legitimate
Do the text messages that Facebook sends to your phone with birthday reminders violate the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA)? According to the Ninth Circuit in a recent decision, the answer is no because users provided their phone numbers to Facebook and, in order to qualify as an automatic telephone dialing system (ATDS) under
On November 21, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a Declaratory Ruling and Order finding that companies must obtain consent before sending a “ringless voicemail” to a consumer’s phone because it constitutes a “call” made using an artificial or prerecorded voice and is subject to the provisions of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). “Ringless
Do text messages sent by a chatbot fall within the provisions of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) prohibiting unsolicited calls made using an “artificial or prerecorded voice?” According to the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, the answer to that question is no.
In Risher v. Adecco, Inc., the litigation
On November 17, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced it is seeking public comment on its proposal to develop a new data set to better monitor the auto loan market. According to the CFPB, greater visibility into market trends would allow lenders and investors to spot emerging opportunities, improve risk management practices, and ultimately
Please join Troutman Pepper Partner Chris Willis and his guest and colleague Brooke Conkle as they discuss the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) recent consent order with Passport Auto Group. The FTC alleged Passport violated the law in three areas: Passport had a practice of marking up fees from the advertised price; Passport had a discretionary markup practice that caused Black and Latino customers to pay higher fees; and it charged Black and Latino customers additional fees for markups for extra services. The consent order requires Passport to pay $3.38 million, with the FTC redistributing the money to affected customers. Chris and Brooke further discuss the FTC’s proposed rule relating to disclosure of fees and how this affects auto dealerships.
More than two years ago, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in Johnson v. NPAS Solutions, LLC, 975 F.3d 1244 (11th Cir. 2020) that incentive payments for lead plaintiffs in class-action lawsuits are improper. After being denied rehearing en banc, the plaintiff has filed a petition for writ of certiorari for the
As part of its ongoing initiative to scrutinize so-called “junk fees,” the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) published guidance on two practices that it opines potentially violate the Consumer Financial Protection Act’s prohibition on unfair practices. Specifically, the CFPB published a compliance bulletin, cautioning against charging across-the-board depositor fees to consumers who deposit a
On October 6, the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) announced a consent order with Rhinebeck Bank (Rhinebeck) to resolve allegations that, in violation of New York Executive Law Section 296-a, the bank instituted discretionary dealer markup policies that resulted in a disparate impact that negatively affected members of minority groups.
In addition