On October 12, the Ninth Circuit issued a decision, reversing the dismissal of a lawsuit on the grounds that the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) does not extend to unwanted business texts. In Chennette v. Porch.com, the Ninth Circuit held TCPA statutory protections extend not only to individuals, but also to business entities.
Sarah Siu
Sarah Siu leverages her clerkship and litigation experience to help consumer-facing companies navigate the complex world of consumer protection litigation.
No $500M Windfall for Lenders in Mistaken Wire Transfer Case
On September 8, Second Circuit ruled that lenders must return $500 million to Citibank, which had mistakenly wired the funds to them. The decision vacates a 2021 Southern District of New York ruling, which held that the lenders were not on constructive notice of the mistake and could rely on the discharge-for-value doctrine to retain…
AAA Issues Amended Commercial Arbitration Rules
Effective September 1, the American Arbitration Association (AAA) has finally updated its Commercial Rules and Mediation Procedures, concluding a two-year internal review. The amendments provide greater procedural discretion to arbitrators, further streamline expedited arbitrations, change the amount-in-controversy requirements for certain arbitration paths, and provide express confidentiality protections, among other things.
First, the amended…
No Comment Period Extension on FTC Proposed Motor Vehicle Dealers Trade Regulation Rule
As we previously posted on June 23, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC or Commission) released a proposed Motor Vehicle Dealers Trade Regulation Rule. This new rule could allow the FTC to regulate dealers exempt from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) jurisdiction under Section 1029(a) of the Dodd-Frank Act and would impose significant limits on…
Anti-Robocall Litigation Task Force Targets Facilitators of Foreign Illegal Robocalls
Escalating efforts to crack down on illegal robocalls, state attorneys general announced on August 2 that they have established a nationwide Anti-Robocall Litigation Task Force. The task force comprises attorneys general from all 50 states and will investigate and prosecute companies suspected of allowing or using illegal robocalls from foreign entities. While the states have…
Eleventh Circuit Requires Standing for All Class-Action Members, Decertifying TCPA Class Settlement
Class-action plaintiffs do not get a free pass on constitutional standing requirements, as the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals reminded litigants sua sponte in Drazen and Godaddy.com, LLC v. Pinto last week when it vacated a district court’s approval of a $35 million class-action settlement. Although the parties had not briefed the issue before the…
Comments to FTC’s Proposed Motor Vehicle Trade Regulation Rule Due September 12
On July 13, the FTC published its proposed Motor Vehicle Dealers Trade Regulation Rule in the Federal Register. As we covered here, the proposed rule would create a host of new compliance challenges for motor vehicle dealers, including a new national standard for price advertising, trigger disclosures for payments, added paperwork for the…
FTC Proposed Ground-Breaking Federal Regulation of Motor Vehicle Dealer Sales Practices
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has proposed a new and historic federal regulation specific to car dealers to address concerns of consumer deception in the sales process. On June 24, the FTC released a proposed Motor Vehicle Trade Regulation Rule (Rule), which would:
- Require price advertising to be based on a standard formula for presenting
…
California Supreme Court OKs Unlimited Fee Awards Against Holders of Credit Contracts
On May 26, California Supreme Court ruled that the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) “Holder Rule” does not limit the award of attorneys’ fees where a consumer seeks fees from a holder under a state prevailing party statute.
The Holder Rule and Previous California Precedent
The FTC’s Holder Rule permits consumers to bring any legal claims…
Eighth Circuit Holds Text System That Randomly Selects Phone Numbers From Database Does Not Qualify as ATDS
On March 24, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion, upholding separate district court decisions finding that a system that sends promotional text messages to phone numbers randomly selected from a database of customer information is not an automatic telephone dialing system (ATDS) under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). The concise…