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Scott is a consumer data and privacy specialist. He regularly defends against data breach lawsuits and class action claims asserted under federal and state consumer-protection statutes (FCRA, FDCPA, TCPA, UCC, UDAAP, RICO). Scott represents companies on an array of data privacy issues, including background screening, consumer reporting, data breaches, ransomware attacks, and related regulatory investigations by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and state attorneys general.

According to a study released by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on May 5, 26 million Americans have no credit rating at all, making them “credit invisible.”  The report found that one in 10 adults have no credit history – many of them black, Hispanic, or living in low-income neighborhoods.

In broad terms, consumers with

On April 9, PayPal Holdings Inc. (“PayPal”) issued a regulatory filing indicating that it may soon face a lawsuit from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.  The CFPB is targeting the activities of PayPal’s payments service, which lets consumers buy products before paying for them.  In August 2014 and January 2015, the CFPB requested

On April 15, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a final rule suspending for one year the requirement under the Truth in Lending Act and implemented by Regulation Z that credit card issuers submit their card agreements to the CFPB on a quarterly basis.  The CFPB publishes the agreements to a public database on its

On April 14, a putative class action was filed in Wisconsin federal court against the Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin, claiming that they failed to comply with the credit card receipt truncation requirement of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (“FACTA”).  According to the named plaintiff, the Oneida Tribe included more than the

On April 6, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced its next Community Bank Advisory Council meeting, which will be held at 3:00 p.m. EDT on April 22 in the CFPB’s offices at 1275 First Street, N.E., in Washington, D.C.  The meeting will focus on credit scores and consumer reporting as well as implications for small

On March 25, the Network Branded Prepaid Card Association (“NBPCA”) announced that it had lodged a formal request with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to prevent the imposition of overly broad restrictions on prepaid accounts.  The NBPCA is a non-profit trade association that supports the growth and success of network branded prepaid cards and represents

On March 17, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced it is seeking public comment on how the credit card market is functioning and the impact of credit card protections on consumers and issuers.  This public inquiry will focus on issues including credit card terms, the use of consumer disclosures, credit card debt collection practices, and

On March 12, 2015, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court’s decision to grant a motion for judgment on the pleadings in a putative class action alleging that a collection law firm violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) by seeking attorneys’ fees from a consumer who defaulted on a credit

On February 25, the Superintendent of the New York Department of Financial Services (“DFS”), Benjamin M. Lawsky, spoke at Columbia Law School regarding the increased role of states as regulators, especially in the case of emerging risks such as cybersecurity.  The speech, titled “Financial Federalism: The Catalytic Role of State Regulators in a Post-Financial Crisis

On March 3, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, in Stalley v. ADS Alliance Data Systems, Inc., No. 14-10872, held that a servicer of credit card accounts did not violate the Florida Security Communications Act (FSCA) when it recorded conversations with consumers in the ordinary course of business without the consent of all parties.

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