On May 18, the Southern District of New York rendered a long–awaited opinion on “current account balance” cases, holding that current balances referenced in collection letters, with no mention of accruing interest or fees, do not violate Section 1692e of the Fair Debt C
Supreme Court Rules That Filing a Proof of Claim on a Time-Barred Debt Does Not Violate the FDCPA
On May 15, 2017, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the Eleventh Circuit erred when it found a debt buyer liable under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act for filing proofs of claim in bankruptcy on debts that had become time-barred. A copy of the Court’s opinion can be found here.
Background
In
Join Us for the ISSA Summit in LA on May 18-19
We are pleased to announce that Troutman Sanders partner Ronald Raether will be a featured speaker at the Ninth Annual Information Security Summit hosted by the Los Angeles Chapter of the Information Systems Security Association (ISSA) at the Universal City Hilton. During a lunch panel discussion on May 19, Ron will address emerging topics in
District Court Rules SeaWorld Breached Customer Contracts and Violated Electronic Funds Transfer Act
A federal district court in Florida entered summary judgment against SeaWorld in a class action case, finding the theme park violated the Electronic Funds Transfer Act (EFTA) by renewing class members’ contracts during their one-year term and collecting unauthorized payments after the contracts expired.
Lead Plaintiff Jason Herman commenced the action in December 2014, alleging
U.S. Supreme Court Scoffs at Kentucky Supreme Court’s Decision to Disregard Federal Arbitration Act
On May 15, the United States Supreme Court reversed and remanded a state court decision that invalidated an arbitration agreement. In a visceral 7-1 decision, the Supreme Court sent a clear message to Kentucky that the state cannot circumvent the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) merely because the court does not like arbitration clauses.
In Kindred
Spokeo Strikes Again: Fourth Circuit Reverses and Dismisses $12 Million FCRA Class Action on Spokeo Grounds
In one of the most significant post-Spokeo decisions to date, the Fourth Circuit unanimously reversed and dismissed a nearly $12 million Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”) class action judgment, finding plaintiff, Michael T. Dreher, lacked Article III standing to bring his claims. The decision provides much needed clarity from the Fourth Circuit on the
Court Rejects Bona Fide Error Defense for Collector Who Failed to Maintain Policies and Procedures
On May 8, an Arizona federal judge held that a defendant debt collector was not entitled to a “bona fide error” defense in a claim brought under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act because the collector failed to show it had either a policy or procedure in force to address the specific error in the
Chipotle Discloses Data Security Breach Related to Network Supporting Payment Processing for Restaurant
In its Form 10-Q dated April 25, 2017 for the quarterly period that ended on March 31, 2017, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. announced that it had detected a data security breach in its electronic processing and transmission of confidential customer and employee information. Specifically, Chipotle’s information security team detected unauthorized activity on the network that
State Banking Regulators File Suit Challenging OCC Fintech Charter
On April 26, a group of state bank regulators filed a lawsuit to block the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency from issuing special charters to fintech firms. The regulators argue that the OCC fintech charter will improperly displace already effective state laws regulating fintech companies, that the OCC lacks the authority to issue
CFPB Files Suit Against Four Online Lenders Operated by Native American Tribe
On April 27, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau filed a lawsuit in an Illinois federal court against four online installment loan companies operated by a California Native American tribe. Although the tribe operates the installment loan companies, the CFPB’s complaint alleges that the defendants are not “arms of the tribe” and therefore