As we discussed last year, the Federal Trade Commission announced in May 2014 that it settled charges against Asset Capital and Management Group for illegally extracting payments from consumers for credit card debt that it had purchased from creditors.
In addition to banning the defendants – which includes individuals behind the scheme, a network
On June 18, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau filed a consent order and announced an enforcement action against a company specializing in medical debt collection for mishandling consumer credit reporting disputes and preventing consumers from exercising important debt collection rights. The CFPB is ordering the company to provide over $5.4 million in relief to harmed
On June 18, 2015, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) voted 3-2 to approve an order that promises to have major and negative impacts on companies who use modern telephone technology to text and call consumers.
The stark increase in the number of lawsuits that were filed under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) has been
On June 16, 2015, the New York State Department of Financial Services (“DFS”) released additional guidance related to its recently enacted debt collection regulations. The new clarifications supplement DFS’ initial set of “Frequently Asked Questions” released in February, with new guidance beginning at Question #17. DFS announced publication of the supplemental guidance during a “Debt
In In Touch Concepts, Inc. d/b/a ZCOM v. Cellco Partnership, the Second Circuit joined the Seventh Circuit in holding that a federal court retains subject matter jurisdiction over a case that had previously been removed to federal court under the Class Action Fairness Act (“CAFA”), even after the plaintiff amended the complaint to remove
On June 15, the Federal Trade Commission and the Office of the New York State Attorney General hosted a “Debt Collection Dialogue” in Buffalo, New York. FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection Director Jessica Rich and New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman delivered opening remarks, and officials from the New York State Department of Financial
In Simon v. FIA Card Services, N.A., the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey addressed whether the defendants engaged in false, misleading, or deceptive conduct in connection with their service of a subpoena for a Rule 2004 examination in the context of a bankruptcy proceeding. In granting the defendants’
On June 5, 2015, the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (the “CFPB”) argued that a lawsuit against four payment processors for their involvement in a debt collection scheme should not be dismissed. According to the CFPB’s complaint (found here), filed on March 26, 2015, this scheme involved Marcus Brown and Mohan Bagga and their
In a matter of first impression, a New Jersey appellate court found that whether a class is ascertainable – a factor that is commonly analyzed in federal court – played no role in its consideration of a “low-value” consumer class action. In Daniels v. Hollister Co., the court determined that ascertainability is not
Federal courts in New York and Georgia have granted the Federal Trade Commission’s request to temporarily stop certain debt collection practices that the FTC alleges violate federal law. Specifically, the FTC alleges that the unlawful and scandalous activity includes threatening and deceiving consumers through text messages, emails, and certain types of phone calls.
On May