On October 29, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals issued a long-awaited ruling in a Fair Debt Collection Practices Act case involving the disclosure of the amount due in a collection letter.  In Derosa v. CAC Financial, the Court affirmed summary judgment in favor of the debt collector and held that, if a debt

In a decision that reversed a $10 million “collective action” arbitration award, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals held that whether class or collective arbitration is authorized by an arbitration agreement is a “gateway” decision to be made by the district court, not the arbitrator.  The case is Herrington v. Waterstone Mortgage Corp., No.

On October 24, the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection entered into a Consent Order with Cash Express, LLC relating to allegations it engaged in deceptive and abusive acts or practices in violation of the Consumer Financial Protection Act, codified at 12 U.S.C. §§ 5531, 5536(a)(1)(B).  Pursuant to the Consent Order, Cash Express agreed to a

On October 15, the Colorado Supreme Court affirmed that state’s Court of Appeals’ decision upholding a trial court’s granting dismissal of a plaintiff’s Colorado Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“CFDCPA”) action.  The central issue in the case was whether a default judgment obtained against a tortfeasor by a law firm on behalf of its

The Ninth Circuit is not going to reconsider a recent ruling that shook the world of Telephone Consumer Protection Act litigation and has thereby set the stage for a confrontation with the Federal Communications Commission’s powers over the TCPA. 

On September 21, the Ninth Circuit issued a decision in Marks v. Crunch San Diego that,

On Friday, October 26th the Ninth Circuit upheld the Central District of California’s dismissal of plaintiff Jalen Epps’s First Amended Complaint for Earth Fare, Inc.’s alleged violation of the TCPA and California’s Unfair Competition Law. Epps is considered an “Opt-Out evader”—she has multiple suits pending against retailers with identical allegations. She consents to receiving text

In its decision, United Food & Commer. Workers Unions & Emplrs. Midwest Health Bens. Fund v. Warner Chilcott Ltd., 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 28920, issued on October 17, the First Circuit held an antitrust case could not go forward as a class action where it was evident that many class members had not suffered

How the FCRA Accurate Reporting Requirement Interacts with Temporary Forbearance Plans

This past summer, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit evaluated a $25-per-month mortgage forbearance plan and concluded that reporting the borrower as delinquent despite her forbearance payments was accurate and not materially misleading.

On September 24, the Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in Patel v. Specialized Loan Servicing, LLC ruled that a group of plaintiffs from Florida and Pennsylvania could not challenge the forced-placed insurance (“FPI”) rate their mortgage servicers charged.  Because the plaintiffs did not purchase homeowner’s insurance, the mortgage servicers purchased FPI for the

The Northern District of Illinois recently held that a collection letter sent to a consumer’s attorney seeking payment on a debt discharged in bankruptcy did not violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act based on the “competent lawyer” standard.  The case is Grajny v. Credit Control, LLC, No. 18-C-2719, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 173682,