Judge Beth Labson Freeman for the United States District Court for the Northern District of California recently joined numerous other courts across the country in staying a putative FCRA class action pending the outcome of the Supreme Court’s decision in Spokeo Inc. v. Robins.
The underlying action in the California court challenged the defendant’s
In 2015, Congress amended the Telephone Consumer Protection Act to create an exemption to the statute’s autodialer restrictions for calls made solely to collect a debt owed to or guaranteed by the United States. On March 31, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California gave this amendment retroactive effect, to the
Commissioner Julie Brill with the Federal Trade Commission recently announced that she will step down at the end of this month to enter private practice.
Brill was appointed by President Obama and sworn in on April 6, 2010. Prior to joining the FTC, Brill was the Senior Deputy Attorney General and Chief of Consumer Protection
On February 29, the Supreme Court denied certiorari review in Mullins v. Direct Digital, LLC, No. 15-1776. The Mullins decision, which arose out of the Seventh Circuit, created a circuit split with the Eleventh and Third circuits with respect to the implicit “ascertainability” requirement that those two circuits had found precluded class certification.
In the FTC’s annual report detailing consumer complaints, complaints against debt collectors topped the list for the first time in 15 years.
The FTC received more than 3 million complaints in 2015. That’s up from 2.5 million in 2014. Some of the increase can be attributed to the fact that more people know to
In Lee v. Dollar Thrifty Auto. Group, Inc., the plaintiffs brought a class action lawsuit alleging multiple violations of the employment background check provisions of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”). Specifically, the plaintiffs claimed that the defendants failed to provide them with disclosures properly informing them that a background check would be
In Robrinzine v. Big Lots Stores, Inc., the plaintiff brought what has become a familiar class action claim against employers under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”). According to the complaint, when Robrinzine applied for employment with Big Lots, she received a disclosure form informing her that a background check would be procured. She
On January 29, Illinois enacted Senate Bill 1369. The bill makes certain revisions and amendments to the prior debt collection requirements that were enacted within the state in 2015. The law is effective immediately.
Among other provisions, the law adds the following definitions to the debt collection statute:
Last week, through the issuance of an executive order, the City of Birmingham became the first city in Alabama to “ban the box” on its hiring applications. The prohibition applies to municipal positions within the city, and it prevents an inquiry into an applicant’s criminal history at the application stage. The executive
As part of the Federal Trade Commission’s systematic review of all current FTC rules and guides, the agency recently announced a modified 10-year regulatory review schedule. To ensure that its rules and industry guides stay relevant and are not overly burdensome, the FTC reviews them at 10-year intervals. The review schedule is published each