On November 24, 2015, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a Compliance Bulletin (2015-06), warning companies that they must ensure that consumer authorization is obtained before automatically debiting a consumer’s account and that required notifications to consumers must clearly describe the terms of the preauthorized electronic funds transfers (EFTs).
Importantly, for the first
On November 20, the CFPB once again released its latest rulemaking agenda update. The previous update, issued last May, extended debt collection rulemaking pre-rule activities from April 2015 until December 2015. This latest update extends debt collection pre-rule activities scheduled through February 2016.
In extending the pre-rulemaking period, the CFPB stated as follows:
The
On November 18, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau filed an administrative action against online lender Integrity Advance, LLC, and its CEO, James R. Carnes, for deceiving consumers about the cost of short-term loans.
According to a press release, the CFPB alleges that Integrity Advance violated the Truth in Lending Act and the
On November 13, 2015, an administrative law judge dismissed the Federal Trade Commission’s action against LabMD, ruling the FTC failed to show that the laboratory’s alleged conduct caused or would cause harm to consumers. The decision represents a significant blow to the FTC and its ability to bring actions under the unfairness prong of Article
On November 2, President Obama signed a two-year budget deal recently passed by Congress, which generated considerable press because it averted legislative battles over the debt limit and a potential government shutdown, at least until 2017. Much less attention was paid to other provisions within the legislation, which includes a modification of the Telephone Consumer
Despite the anti-American sentiments resulting from the Snowden revelations, governments from all over the world have been increasingly demanding data from social media companies. According to Facebook’s latest report on government requests, a growing number of governments are demanding that Facebook turn over data to aid law enforcement investigations. Ironically, other counties are increasingly stepping
We are pleased to announce that Troutman Sanders partner Ashley L. Taylor, Jr. will be a featured speaker on a panel entitled “State Attorneys General: Emerging Leaders in Consumer-Related Issues” at the Corporate Counsel Institute on Friday, December 11 in Atlanta.
The Federal Trade Commission has announced the topics of the two panels at its upcoming Debt Collection Dialogue in Atlanta. Sam Olens of the Office of the Georgia Attorney General will co-host the event. Earlier Dialogues were held in Buffalo and Dallas. This is the third and final scheduled Dialogue.
The first panel in Atlanta,
According to the October debt collection litigation and complaint statistics report from WebRecon, consumer litigation in October under the FDCPA, TCPA, and FCRA marked the first time since September 2011 that an increase from both the prior month and year-to-date occurred. “For the first time in several years, overall consumer litigation is up dramatically,”
On November 16, the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Trade Commission released a memorandum of understanding designed to formalize their plans to coordinate consumer protection efforts.
The FCC is charged with regulating all interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable, while the FTC is primarily responsible for preventing unfair or