The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recently sued three law firms in the United States District Court for the Central District of California for collecting advance fees from consumers seeking debt relief.  CFPB Director Richard Cordray stated that “[t]he defendants exploited consumers who were already suffering financial difficulties by tricking them into paying steep, illegal fees.”…

On January 25, the United States District Court for the District of Kansas granted partial preliminary approval to the class settlement in Lengel v. HomeAdvisor, Inc., No. 15-2198-KHV.  The plaintiff, Emerald Lengel, brought a class action lawsuit in January 2015, alleging that HomeAdvisor, her then-potential employer, violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act.  Lengel …

The parties in Soular v. Northern Tier Energy, LP et al. recently filed a motion for preliminary approval of a $3.5 million Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) class action in the District of Minnesota.  The three named plaintiffs in the case alleged that they received unsolicited marketing text messages from the …

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau maintains an online portal for consumers to submit complaints across a wide variety of regulated industries, including credit reporting, background screening, and debt collection.  The CFPB has announced that it will upgrade its online portal system in early 2017.  The CFPB has released a preview document, which states that the …

On February 27, the Federal Trade Commission filed a stipulated order, which includes a $9 million judgment, against another debt relief provider, United Debt Counselors, LLC, its owners, and officers (collectively “United”) for violating the FTC Act and the Telemarketing Sales Rule.  This serves as another warning from the FTC that debt relief companies need …

The District of Arizona recently granted a Spokeo motion filed by CenturyLink, holding that plaintiff Lydia Bultemeyer lacked standing to bring a purported class action under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

In her suit, Bultemeyer alleged that CenturyLink violated the FCRA when it accessed her credit report when she visited the company’s …

A New York payment processor successfully defended one personal jurisdiction challenge, but lost the other in the Northern District of Texas.  The case represents an attempt by TransFirst Group, Inc. to collect a $4.5 million judgment it obtained against Dominic “Nick” Magliarditi in 2013 related to the group’s purchase of Magliarditi’s payment processing company, Payment …

We are pleased to announce that Troutman Sanders partners David Anthony, Cindy Hanson,  Ron Raether, and Ashley Taylor will be featured panelists at the National Association of Professional Background Screeners (“NAPBS”) 2017 Mid-Year Legislative & Regulatory Conference to be held March 20-21 in Arlington, Virginia. 

In an interview-style format, David will have …

On February 28, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released its monthly snapshot highlighting consumer complaints about credit reporting.  A copy of the CFPB’s report can be found here.

Debt collection, student loan, and credit reporting were the top three most-complained about consumer financial products and services, representing about 60 percent of complaints submitted in…

Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, when an employer is considering rejecting an applicant based on a background check (often referred to as a consumer report), it must follow certain “pre-adverse” action procedures.  Specifically, an employer must provide the applicant with a copy of his or her background check and a summary of rights under…