On December 22, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania entered judgment in favor of the defendant in an action involving a Truth in Lending Act claim, and issued a stern rebuke to the plaintiff and his counsel, instituting Rule 11 proceedings and describing the case as “litigation out of control.”
Payment Processing + Cards
California Supreme Court Finds Two Payday Lenders Not Immune From State Lending Laws
On December 22, the California Supreme Court in Owen v. Miami Nation Enterprises, held that payday lending companies failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that they were “arms of” Indian tribes. Therefore, the lenders were not immune from complying with a California state lending law. In its decision, the Court reaffirmed …
CFPB Updates Rulemaking Agenda
On December 2, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a statement highlighting its updated rulemaking agenda for Fall 2016. The Bureau specifically mentioned a number of supervisory and developmental initiatives scheduled for implementation in the coming months.
In the area of mortgages, the CFPB expects to finalize proposed tweaks to the Know Before You Owe…
Southern District of New York Relies on Spokeo to Dismiss TILA Credit Card Suit
By Brooke Conkle & Keith J. Barnett on
On December 16, U.S. District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer dismissed a putative class action suit alleging that Nordstrom department store’s credit card account disclosures violated the Truth in Lending Act (“TILA”). Relying on the Supreme Court’s decision in Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins, the Court concluded that the plaintiff did not have standing to bring …
CFPB Executes Consent Order Against Lender for Misleading Advertising and Violations of EFTA
On December 16, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau executed a consent order with Moneytree, Inc., whereby Moneytree was required to pay $255,000 in redress and an additional $250,000 in civil monetary penalties arising out of the Bureau’s allegations that Moneytree violated the Consumer Financial Protection Act (“CFPA”) and the Electronic Funds Transfer Act (“EFTA”). According…
CFPB Executes Second Consent Order With Military Credit Services
On December 20, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau executed a consent order with Military Credit Services, LLC, whereby the lender was required to pay a $200,000 civil monetary penalty, implement certain compliance measures, and hire an independent consultant to review the company’s compliance with federal laws. The order arose out of Military Credit Services’ alleged …
Seventh Circuit Relies on Spokeo Reasoning to Dismiss FACTA Case for Lack of Standing
By Brooke Conkle & Michael E. Lacy on
On December 13, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the dismissal of a proposed class action alleging that a restaurant did not properly truncate credit card expiration dates on receipts, finding the plaintiff lacked Article III standing.
The plaintiff, Jeremy Meyers, was given a copy of his receipt after dining at Nicolet Restaurant of …
FTC and Florida Settle with More Defendants Involved in Alleged Telemarketing Debt Relief Scam
Approximately a year after filing an amended complaint and three months after settling with a group of co-defendants, the Federal Trade Commission and Florida Attorney General have filed papers seeking entry of agreed permanent injunctions and monetary judgments against a second group of co-defendants involved in an alleged nationwide debt relief telemarketing scam. The…
District Court Rules Credit Card Debt Collection Dispute Must Be Arbitrated
By Brooke Conkle & Michael E. Lacy on
On December 2, Judge Valerie Caproni of the Southern District of New York ruled that a class action suit alleging violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act must be arbitrated. The class plaintiff, Alicia Zambrana, applied for and received a Best Buy-branded credit card from Household Bank N.A. (“HSBC”). While the court could not …
Cross-Motions for Summary Judgment Filed in Costco FCRA Class Action
As we previously reported, the named plaintiff in Paci v. Costco Wholesale Corporation filed a Fair Credit Reporting Act putative class action against Costco alleging that the retailer’s receipts contained more digits of the payment card’s account number than is permitted under the Act.
The parties recently filed cross-motions for summary judgment. Costco argued …