The Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection division recently issued a staff perspective paper on the consumer protection issues facing small business financing. The paper follows the agency’s “Strictly Business” forum, held in May 2019, which examined trends in the marketplace, including online loans and alternative financing products. “The agency remains committed to protecting
In Allen v. Credit Collection Services, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California recently ruled that a Fair Debt Collection Practices Act plaintiff’s vague, self-serving testimony of oral revocation was insufficient to trump a debt collector’s detailed call records that contained no evidence of revocation. The court’s decision illustrates the
2019 was a transformative year for the consumer financial services world. As we navigate an unprecedented volume of industry regulation, Troutman Sanders is uniquely positioned to help its clients find successful resolutions and stay ahead of the compliance curve.
In this report, we share developments on consumer class actions, background screening, bankruptcy, consumer credit
The United States District Court for the District of Idaho in Dorfman v. Albertson’s, LLC recently granted a Telephone Consumer Protection Act defendant’s motion to deny class certification – not once, but twice – based on the emergency purposes exception to TCPA liability. This exception does not require prior consent to receive autodialed calls or
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recently affirmed judgment in favor of two debt collectors and against a debtor for claims arising under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and the Wisconsin Consumer Act (“WCA”). In its ruling, the Court held that the debtor did not create a triable issue of material
On June 25, a group of twenty education organizations and individuals sent a letter to Congress urging it to regulate the use of income share agreements, or “ISAs” – an increasingly popular means of financing higher education. The letter was sent to the House Financial Services Committee and Senate Finance Committee, requesting legislation “that provides
On June 24, the Consumer Education Foundation (“CEF”), a California-based nonprofit consumer organization, filed a petition with the Federal Trade Commission requesting that it investigate the use of so-called “Secret Surveillance Scores” in the consumer market. The complaint alleges that consumer data points are covertly tracked and amassed by private firms to create a single
The District Court for the Southern District of Texas recently awarded a defendant summary judgment because the defendant’s call records directly contradicted the plaintiff’s vague recollection of events. The Plaintiff in Young v. Medicredit Inc., No. H-17-3701, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 71020 (S.D. Tex. Apr. 26, 2019), asserted claims against Defendant Medicredit Inc. (“Medicredit”)
The District Court for the Northern District of Ohio denied defendant JTM Capital Management, LLC’s motion to dismiss consumer plaintiff Carolyn Holloway’s Fair Debt Collection Practices Act complaint in Holloway v. JTM by ruling that JTM’s inquiry into Holloway’s consumer credit report qualifies as an attempt to collect a debt because JTM sought information for
The District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas granted summary judgment in favor of defendant debt collector ProCollect, Inc. in Jennifer Fox v. ProCollect, Inc. by ruling that ProCollect did not violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act by making two phone calls to a wrong number after first learning the number was not