Vanessa Smith was involved in a traffic accident in Arkansas and received a citation. In connection with the accident, Nationwide Mutual Insurance and Investments obtained a default judgment against Smith. The insurer then assigned the judgment to The McHughes Law Firm, LLC for collection. Smith subsequently entered into a payment plan with McHughes
On March 18, New Jersey governor Phil Murphy signed a bill that prohibits discrimination against cash-paying retail customers. The new law bans retailers who sell goods or services from requiring buyers to use a credit card or prohibiting the use of cash as payment for the goods or services. The new law takes effect immediately.
Parties to a class action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania have asked for final approval of a $4 million proposed Telephone Consumer Protection Act settlement in a “wrong number” case. Plaintiff Robert Ward alleged that defendant Flagship Credit Acceptance, LLC called him in violation of the TCPA, as
A new Florida class action alleges that a car dealership misrepresented that it would make a “soft” credit inquiry, or pull, rather than a “hard” pull – and then made a hard pull. While the lawsuit alleges a straight-up misrepresentation causing harm to the consumer’s credit standing, the lawsuit illustrates the importance of accuracy in
On February 22, the Federal Trade Commission published a final decision in its investigation and enforcement action against online lender Social Finance, Inc. (“SoFi”). The action concerned the FTC’s allegation that SoFi made false statements in its advertising regarding the amount student loan borrowers could save by refinancing with SoFi.
According to the FTC, SoFi
The FTC announced that its roundtable discussion with state attorneys general, which had been set for March 25, will be postponed due to logistical issues. A new date is not yet available on the FTC’s Hearings Calendar, and an agenda has not been posted. This scheduled hearing is part of a larger series of
On March 19, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois ruled in favor of a defendant debt collector because the plaintiff failed to submit extrinsic evidence showing an unsophisticated consumer would find the letter at issue to be misleading, false, or deceptive.
In Lemke v. Escallate, LLC, No. 1:17-cv-5234, 2019
The District Court for the Northern District of Ohio denied defendant JTM Capital Management, LLC’s motion to dismiss consumer plaintiff Carolyn Holloway’s Fair Debt Collection Practices Act complaint in Holloway v. JTM by ruling that JTM’s inquiry into Holloway’s consumer credit report qualifies as an attempt to collect a debt because JTM sought information for
The Eastern District of Texas recently adopted a report from Magistrate Judge Christine A. Nowak finding that the Court lacked personal jurisdiction over an attorney and law firm in a pro se plaintiff’s Telephone Consumer Protection Act lawsuit. The case is Cunningham v. Mark D. Guidubaldi & Assocs., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 38652 (E.D.
In light of recent challenges to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act on First Amendment grounds, a recent decision from the Middle District of Florida provides yet another clear example of the TCPA’s content-based discrimination.
The case, Gaza v. Navient Solutions LLC, No. 8:18-cv-1049, concerned calls made to a cell phone to collect a student