In Modica v. Green Tree Servicing, LLC, the Northern District of Illinois limited the scope of what constitutes an Automatic Telephone Dialing System (ATDS) under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.  Judge Zagel found that a system requiring an agent to manually access a consumer’s telephone number from a computer server and then “click” to …

In a speech made on May 12 to the National Association of Realtors, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray addressed questions surrounding the three-day requirement of the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure Rule (“TRID”) and said it “should not interfere with a successful closing, as some have claimed.  In fact, there has been some serious misunderstanding …

As we discussed in March, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is soliciting public comment on how the credit card market is functioning and the impact of credit card protections on consumers and issuers.

To allow interested persons additional time to consider and submit their responses, the CFPB announced it is extending the comment period on…

On May 12, in Tamara Diaz v. Kubler Corporation d/b/a Alternative Recovery Management, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 3-0 in favor of a collection agency on issues related to including interest in debt collection notices.  The Court of Appeals reversed the district court and held that a collection letter seeking 10 percent …

Lawsuits filed by consumers under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Telephone Consumer Protection Act, and Fair Credit Reporting Act all increased from February to March 2015, according to the latest report from WebRecon.

FDCPA lawsuits increased by 3.9 percent (892 to 927), from February to March, and FCRA lawsuits increased 3.3 percent (245 to…

Starting June 1, Alison Kutler will be the new acting chief of the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, the division of the Federal Communications Commission that oversees the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.  Kutler will replace current acting CGB bureau chief Kris Monteith who will remain at the FCC as deputy chief of the Wireline Competition…

On May 4, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau revised its mortgage origination examination procedures to provide guidance on how it will conduct compliance exams for the TILA-RESPA integrated disclosures that become effective on August 1, 2015.

The CFPB has revised version 2.0 of its Supervision and Examination Manual numerous times since it was released on…

In an April letter to Congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-Mo.), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau refused to provide a grace period for enforcement of the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure Rule (“the Integrated Disclosure Rule”), which has an effective date of August 1, 2015.

Director Richard Cordray’s letter provides information about the CFPB’s work to support implementation of…

On May 5, Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe signed an executive directive which sets enhanced security requirements for the purchase card program used by state agencies, including the implementation of “chip and pin” technology by December.  The directive further instructed Virginia’s treasurer, comptroller, and secretaries of finance and technology to implement enhanced payment technologies that “meet…

On May 5, the Federal Trade Commission obtained court approval of a settlement against CardFlex, Inc. and its CEO and President, Andrew Phillips, and Executive Vice President of Operations, John Blaugrund.  The lawsuit, captioned FTC v. CardFlex Inc. et al., No. 3:14-cv-00397 (D. Nev.), involved allegations that the defendants operated a $26 million credit…