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,
Despite two controlling decisions by the Second Circuit in Avila and Taylor, claims involving the “amount of debt” disclosure under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”) continue to evolve thanks to the relentless efforts by the New York plaintiffs’ bar. But these permutations of the “amount of debt” claims continue to be successfully
Citing Seventh Circuit precedent, the Eastern District of Wisconsin recently held the broad scope of the Fair Credit Reporting Act’s permissible purpose includes use that disregards an attempted restriction requested by the consumer.
In Long v. Bergstrom Victory Lane, Inc., No. 18-cv-688, 2018 WL 4829192 (E.D. Wis. Oct. 4, 2018), consumer Emily Long alleged
On July 4, 2017, W. Va. Code § 46A-5-108 went into effect, requiring West Virginia consumers to send a written “Notice of Right to Cure” to a creditor or debt collector prior to instituting any action under Articles 2, 3, or 4 of the West Virginia Consumer Credit and Protection Act (the WVCCPA).
The American Bar Association proposed Resolution 104B this past July to urge policymakers to adopt specific regulations governing auto dealerships and vehicle financing. While the Resolution failed to win approval, it is not necessarily dead.
As proposed, Resolution 10B would do five things:
The Federal Trade Commission announced in mid-July that it conducted the first compliance sweep of car dealerships since the effective date of its revised Used Car Rule requiring use of a new Buyers Guide sticker. The sweep took place between April and June 2018 in 20 cities nationwide. The FTC coordinated its efforts with
On May 31, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a $150,000 sanctions award against three consumer attorneys and their law firms for bad faith conduct and misrepresentations.
The opinion reads like a detective story and lays out, in the Court’s own words, “a mosaic of half-truths, inconsistencies, mischaracterizations, exaggerations, omissions, evasions, and failures to
On May 21, President Donald Trump signed a bill repealing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Bulletin 2013-02, a controversial bulletin addressing auto finance. As we reported here, the House passed a resolution officially disapproving of the Bulletin in early May, following in the footsteps of the Senate, which passed the same resolution a few
On May 8, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution officially disapproving Bulletin 2013-02, issued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in early 2013. The Senate passed a similar measure on April 18, meaning the resolution moves to President Trump’s desk for signature. Though the Senate resolution passed narrowly in a party-line vote, the
New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal and the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs have filed a complaint against luxury used-car dealership 21st Century Auto Group, Inc. and its owner, Dmitry Zeldin, accusing the dealership of violations of state consumer protection laws. According to the Office of the Attorney General, 21st Century fails to