On December 22, the Federal Trade Commission announced a settlement of a pending lawsuit brought under the Telemarketing Sales Rule against participants in an alleged credit card “laundering” scheme. According to the FTC’s complaint, PayBasics, Todd Hatch, and Jimmy Shin took an active role in helping the defendants behind the Tax Club fraud to open
FTC and Oracle Reach Settlement Regarding Java Security Updates
The Federal Trade Commission has settled claims against Oracle that it deceived consumers about security updates to Oracle’s Java Platform, Standard Edition software (Java SE). Java SE, which is used for interactive web browsing, is installed on more than 850 million personal computers.
In its complaint, the FTC alleged that Oracle has known of
New Supreme Court Arbitration Decision Foreshadows Confrontation With CFPB
The Supreme Court’s latest arbitration decision is but the latest in a long line of decisions enforcing the strong federal policy enforcing arbitration clauses in consumer contracts. In DirecTV v. Imburgia, a 6-3 decision, Justice Breyer held that the Federal Arbitration Act preempts state laws, in this instance California’s, that invalidate arbitration clauses if
LifeLock Pays $100 Million to Settle FTC Claim That it Violated 2010 Order Regarding Consumer Security and Deceptive Advertising
The Federal Trade Commission today announced that LifeLock has agreed to pay $100 million to settle charges that it had violated the terms of a 2010 order by the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, requiring LifeLock to secure customer data and change its advertising practices.
The FTC alleged, among other
Coalition of Trade Groups Files Amicus Briefs in Support of TCPA Lawsuit Against FCC
We have previously reported on ACA International’s appeal from the Federal Communications Commission’s July 2015 Order interpreting the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (“TCPA”) in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, including the joint brief recently filed by petitioners on November 25.
In addition to that joint brief,
Supreme Court Will Review FDCPA Case Targeting Ohio Special Counsel Law
On December 11, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear a case involving Ohio’s “special counsel” law under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”), 15 U.S.C. § 1692-1692p, a case that is likely to have much wider implications involving the standard for determining whether a debt-collection method is “false, deceptive, or misleading.”
According
Congressional Staff Report Criticizes CFPB Tactics and Predicts Next Supreme Court Disparate-Impact Battle
Last month, Republican staff members on the Committee of Financial Services in the U.S. House of Representatives issued a Report criticizing tactics used by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in the auto finance area. The Staff Report generally questions the CFPB’s disparate-impact claims under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (“ECOA”) and the Bureau’s use of
Petitioners File Joint Brief Seeking to Overturn FCC’s July 2015 TCPA Order
As we previously reported, several legal challenges to the Federal Communications Commission’s July 10, 2015 order (the “FCC Order”) interpreting the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (“TCPA”) were consolidated with the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals as ACA International, et al. v. Federal Communications Commission et al. The challengers believe the
Senate Democrats Look to Roll Back Recent TCPA Exception
As we previously reported, the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, which was passed by Congress and signed by President Obama on November 2, amended the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991. The TCPA limits the usage of automatic telephone dialing systems and artificial/prerecorded messages. The recent modification allowed an exception to TCPA restrictions for
The CFPB Issues Warning and Guidance on Obtaining Consumer Authorization for Preauthorized Electronic Funds Transfers that Confirms a Recording of a Consumer’s Oral Authorization Can Satisfy Regulation E’s Requirements
On November 24, 2015, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a Compliance Bulletin (2015-06), warning companies that they must ensure that consumer authorization is obtained before automatically debiting a consumer’s account and that required notifications to consumers must clearly describe the terms of the preauthorized electronic funds transfers (EFTs).
Importantly, for the first