Photo of Kathleen Hutchenreuther

Kathleen is an associate in the Consumer Financial Services Practice Group which includes work in consumer law, business disputes, and commercial litigation in both federal and state court. Specifically, Kathleen focuses on defending against claims arising under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) and Regulation X, Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), as well as other federal and state statutes, and common law.

In response to the global coronavirus (“COVID-19”) pandemic, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced that it has postponed certain data collections from the financial services industry related to CFPB rules. This extension of flexibility to the financial services industry is intended to facilitate companies focusing their resources on consumers during this time.

CFPB Director Kathleen

In Meier v. Allied Interstate, LLC, Judge Gonzalo P. Curial found that while LiveVox HCI could store numbers as required by the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, because each call required human intervention, it did not qualify as an automatic telephone dialing system within the definition of the TCPA.

Plaintiff Richard Meier brought an action

In Flecha v. Medicredit, Inc., the Fifth Circuit decertified a Fair Debt Collection Practices Act letter class and noted that the putative class “present[ed] substantial questions of Article III standing.” In doing so, the Fifth Circuit became part of a growing trend of circuit courts that are raising significant questions as to whether a

In Dancel v. Groupon, Inc., No. 19-1831 (7th Cir. Oct. 9, 2019), the Seventh Circuit split with the Eleventh Circuit regarding jurisdictional discovery to prove federal subject matter jurisdiction under the Class Action Fairness Act (“CAFA”).

This case involved a claim brought by Christine Dancel regarding the unauthorized use of Dancel’s image in Groupon

On November 7, the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee addressed the issue of whether it is a violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act for a creditor to report a charged-off account with a monthly payment due. In Ruvye Cowley v. Equifax Info. Servs., LLC, et al., the Court

In Frank v. Cannabis & Glass, LLC, No. 2:19-cv-00250-SAB (E.D. Wash. Oct. 1, 2019), the federal court for the Eastern District of Washington held that a minor role in a causal chain was not sufficient to “make” a call for purposes of liability under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

This case arose after Roberta

In Roman v. RGS Financial, Inc., No. 2:17-cv-04917-ADS-AKT (E.D.N.Y. Sept. 6, 2019), Judge Arthur D. Spatt held that RGS did not violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act by failing to disclose that interest, late fees, and/or other fees were accruing.

Plaintiff Stephanie Roman alleged that RGS violated the FDCPA when it sent a

In Brooks v. The Kroger Co., No. 3:19-cv-00106 (S.D. Cal. Aug. 12, 2019), Judge Anthony J. Battagalia found that automated calls from grocery retailer The Kroger Company warning about salmonella fit within the emergency exception to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

Plaintiff Derrick Brooks claimed that Kroger called him “for marketing purposes” using an

Aspiring plaintiffs continue to litigate the issue of an attorney’s role in sending debt collection letters. Under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, a debt collector may not use false or misleading representations in the collection of a debt. 15 U.S.C. § 1692(e). In Bencomo v. Forster & Garbus LLP, et al., No.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recently reiterated that the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act was not intended to penalize a company that made an honest mistake that resulted in no harm to the borrower. 

In Casillas v. Madison Avenue Associates, Inc., No. 17-3162, Slip Op. (7th Cir. June 4,