On May 19, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine announced the filing of a lawsuit against the alleged operators of a fictitious debt collection enterprise that threatened and harassed consumers, many of whom were not actual debtors.
The Attorney General’s lawsuit, filed in Cuyahoga Common Pleas Court, names Mohan Bagga of Duluth, Georgia; Marcus Brown of
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed on May 18 to hear an appeal from the U.S. Navy’s advertising partner challenging the Ninth Circuit’s remand of a potential class action over allegedly unsolicited text messages, potentially resolving the issue of whether a putative class claim is mooted by an offer of complete relief under Rule 68 of
On May 19, the Federal Trade Commission and all fifty state attorneys general and the District of Columbia charged four cancer charities and their operators with bilking more than $187 million from consumers. The alleged fraud, detailed in a complaint filed in the United States District Court for the District of Arizona, is said to
Despite the rise in student loan balances over the past decade, a new TransUnion study found that student loan obligations have not inhibited younger consumers’ ability to access and repay other consumer credit categories, such as auto loans and mortgages, when compared to their peers without student loans.
According to TransUnion, this is contrary
A district court in Florida quickly denied a motion by Whole Foods Market Group Inc. to stay a proposed class action under the Fair Credit Reporting Act until the Supreme Court rules on the pending matter in Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins, which addresses issues of claimed statutory violations. Whole Foods argued that the proposed
On May 12, in Tamara Diaz v. Kubler Corporation d/b/a Alternative Recovery Management, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 3-0 in favor of a collection agency on issues related to including interest in debt collection notices. The Court of Appeals reversed the district court and held that a collection letter seeking 10 percent
Lawsuits filed by consumers under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Telephone Consumer Protection Act, and Fair Credit Reporting Act all increased from February to March 2015, according to the latest report from WebRecon.
FDCPA lawsuits increased by 3.9 percent (892 to 927), from February to March, and FCRA lawsuits increased 3.3 percent (245 to
On April 27, 2015, the United States Supreme Court granted certiorari in Spokeo Inc. v. Robins, a case which could have wide-ranging implications for lawsuits, including class actions, against businesses under a number of consumer protection statutes.
In a case that the Supreme Court will hear and decide in its next term, the Court will
Authored by Alexandria J. Reyes and Benjamin R. Carlsen
Two federal district courts have dismissed lawsuits filed against debt collectors, holding that filing proofs of claim in a bankruptcy case on debt subject to a statute of limitations defense is not actionable under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
On April 23, the Federal Trade Commission and the Office of the New York Attorney General announced they will host a “dialogue” to discuss consumer protection issues with the debt collection industry, including recent enforcement actions, consumer complaints about debt collection practices, and compliance issues.
The first “Debt Collection Dialogue” in Buffalo, New York will