On November 1, President Donald J. Trump signed a resolution passed by Congress to nullify the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Arbitration Rule. As we reported here, the Senate narrowly passed a resolution to repeal the Rule in late October, ensuring that the controversy would make its way to the President’s desk. Trump’s signature ensures
BIPA: Not Just for Cyber Companies
The recent onslaught of putative class actions alleging violations of Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act (“BIPA”), codified at 740 ILCS 14/1 et. seq., has left many Illinois companies scrambling to find answers (and defense lawyers).
While BIPA putative class actions have been filed against web-based companies like Shutterfly, Google, and Facebook, more recently it has
District Court Skeptical of Consent to Obtain Consumer Report
The District Court for the District of Nevada recently addressed the reach of a consumer’s written authorization to obtain a consumer report under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. In Rodriguez v. Your First Choice, LLC, it implicitly limited a business’s ability to obtain a report based on “written authorization” to situations when a permissible
Federal Court Rejects Dish Network’s Motions to Set Aside or Reduce $61M Damages Award in TCPA Class Action
In the past several years, Dish Network, LLC has found itself a target of several class actions for violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. Earlier this year, a jury found Dish Network liable for TCPA violations arising from telemarketing calls. The North Carolina District Court trebled the jury verdict, resulting in a $61 million
Court Grants Summary Judgment to Thomson Reuters; Company Does Not Qualify as Consumer Reporting Agency
In Kidd v. Thomson Reuters, plaintiff Lindsay A. Kidd brought a Fair Credit Reporting Act putative class action claim against mass media and information firm Thomson Reuters after she was allegedly denied a job with the Georgia Department of Public Health based on criminal history information obtained by the Department from Thomson Reuters’ subscription-based
Congress Kills CFPB’s Arbitration Ban for Financial Services Companies, Returning Focus to State v. Federal Court Wars
On Tuesday, October 24, 2017, the Senate voted to nullify the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (“CFPB”) arbitration rule (the “Rule”) in a 51-50 vote. Only two Republicans voted against the measure – Lindsey Graham (SC) and John Kennedy (LA). President Trump praised the vote, saying that he will sign the resolution when it reaches his
FCRA Suits Increase 60% from August to September
According to a litigation statistics report issued by WebRecon LLC, consumer lawsuits alleging violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act increased by nearly 60% in September from the prior month. That increase “keeps it in line with the aggressive growth in recent years.”
FCRA filings increased 58.4% from 351 in August to 556 in September
U.S. Treasury Criticizes Arbitration Rule
On October 23, the U.S. Department of the Treasury released a report objecting to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s arbitration rule. As we previously reported, the rule prevents class action waivers in arbitration provisions for covered entities and also requires covered entities to provide information to the Bureau regarding any efforts to compel arbitration.
Judge Preliminarily Authorizes Settlement in Heartland Payment Systems Case
On October 4, Judge Anne Thompson of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey preliminarily approved a $2.5 million settlement agreement in a proposed class action suit against Heartland Payment Systems.
The agreement would settle a lawsuit, filed by plaintiff Rudel Corporation, which alleges that Heartland charged its customers unauthorized fees
District Court Rejects FCRA Class Action Settlement for Lack of Standing
In Robertson v. Allied Solutions, LLC, plaintiff Shameca Robertson brought a class action claim in the Southern District of Indiana against Allied Solutions under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. In the complaint, Robertson asserted two claims against Allied Solutions: (1) that the company failed to provide her with an FCRA-compliant disclosure informing her that