Regulatory Enforcement + Compliance

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On October 30, a California appellate court approved a settlement in two class actions challenging Visa and MasterCard’s allegedly anti-competitive debit and credit policies.  According to the court, the revised version of the $31 million settlement fixed an improper release of claims.  The court said the revised deal properly takes into account the value of…

California Attorney General Kamala Harris released a report on October 28 on the growing threat of data breaches on California residents.  According to the report, data breaches in California jumped 28 percent last year, from 131 reported incidents in 2012 to 167 in 2013.  The breaches affected 18.5 million Californians by putting their personal information…

The Federal Communications Commission took its first step into the field of data security regulation on October 24 when it hit two telecommunications companies with a $10 million fine for allegedly failing to adequately safeguard customers’ sensitive information.

The two companies – TerraCom, Inc. and YourTel America, Inc. – were fined for allegedly placing the…

On October 17, the Congressional Budget Office responded to a request from the House Financial Services Committee and issued certain cost estimates associated with the implementation of the proposed “Financial Regulatory Clarity Act of 2014.” Specifically, the CBO estimated that the bill would cost the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau $7 million between 2015 and 2024,…

In Marks v. Crunch San Diego, LLC, Judge Bashant, a district court judge for the Southern District of California, found that the FCC lacks the authority to change the statutory definition of “automated telephone dialing system” (“ATDS”) under the TCPA.  Judge Bashant determined that the FCC only has rulemaking authority over sections 227(b) and…

On October 17, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finalized an administrative rule, first proposed in May, that allows qualifying financial institutions to post their privacy policies online in lieu of sending the policies to customers personally. The rule, an amendment to a regulation known as “Regulation P,” 12 C.F.R. Part 1016, applies both to…

Earlier this month, the Fourth Circuit issued an unpublished opinion holding a debt collector’s autodialed calls to a residential landline with VoIP service violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act due to the fact that the consumer was charged for each call.

In Lynn v. Monarch Recovery Management, Inc., No. 13-2358, 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS…

In Alexander v. Coast Professional, Inc., No. 12-cv-1461, (E.D. Pa. Sept. 5, 2014), the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania certified a class of Pennsylvania residents with defaulted student loans serviced by Coast Professional.  The class action under the FDCPA is based on the allegations that Coast Professional failed to…

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation has ordered Merrick Bank to pay $16.1 million to settle charges related to the marketing of a credit card add-on product. According to the terms of the settlement agreement, Merrick will pay a $1.1 million penalty and $15 million in restitution costs stemming from violations of the Federal Trade Commission…

On October 16, the Second Circuit in Nigro v. Mercantile Adjustment Bureau, LLC, ruled against a debt collector by holding that the agency violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act when it repeatedly called the plaintiff about his deceased mother-in-law’s debt.  Despite the plaintiff providing the number called to the creditor, the Court of Appeals…