Judge Beth Labson Freeman for the United States District Court for the Northern District of California recently joined numerous other courts across the country in staying a putative FCRA class action pending the outcome of the Supreme Court’s decision in Spokeo Inc. v. Robins.

The underlying action in the California court challenged the defendant’s

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recently issued its annual Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”) report, which provides a comprehensive overview of both the CFPB’s and Federal Trade Commission’s enforcement efforts throughout 2015.  The report specifically provides a background of the debt collection market, an overview of consumer complaints, a description of the CFPB’s

On March 21, the Federal Trade Commission issued a warning that portfolios of alleged payday loan debts serviced by AMG Services are bogus.  The alleged lenders – USFastCash, 500FastCash, OneClickCash, Ameriloan, United Cash Loans, AdvantageCashServices, and StarCash Processing – never authorized, assigned, or sold any of their loans for third-party collection.  Consumers may not even

On March 16, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey announced a $7.4 million settlement with two national auto lenders, American Credit Acceptance LLC (“ACA”) and Westlake Services LLC (“Westlake”).  The settlement resolves claims against the lenders that they charged excessive interest rates on subprime automotive loans.  ACA settled for $1.7 million, and Westlake for $5.7 million.  

A proposed class action against Dave & Buster’s Inc., accusing the restaurant and entertainment chain of violating the Fair Credit Reporting Act by using background checks to make adverse employment decisions without sharing the results with employees or applicants, was dismissed with prejudice after the parties submitted a joint stipulation for dismissal.  The suit was

A federal judge recently dismissed a plaintiff’s Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) claim, holding that the consumer had given prior express consent to be contacted by her creditor’s collection agents regarding the underlying credit card debt.

Ashley Schwartz-Earp provided her cell phone number to a JC Penney cashier as part of a store credit card

In 2015, Congress amended the Telephone Consumer Protection Act to create an exemption to the statute’s autodialer restrictions for calls made solely to collect a debt owed to or guaranteed by the United States.  On March 31, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California gave this amendment retroactive effect, to the

Commissioner Julie Brill with the Federal Trade Commission recently announced that she will step down at the end of this month to enter private practice. 

Brill was appointed by President Obama and sworn in on April 6, 2010.  Prior to joining the FTC, Brill was the Senior Deputy Attorney General and Chief of Consumer Protection

On February 29, the Supreme Court denied certiorari review in Mullins v. Direct Digital, LLC, No. 15-1776.  The Mullins decision, which arose out of the Seventh Circuit, created a circuit split with the Eleventh and Third circuits with respect to the implicit “ascertainability” requirement that those two circuits had found precluded class certification.