As Troutman Sanders LLP previously reported, earlier this month the Federal Communications Commission issued a sweeping 147-page Declaratory Ruling and Order expanding the definition of an automatic telephone dialer system (ATDS), clarifying revocation of consent, and providing limited exceptions for reassigned numbers, health care, and financial calls and text messages. Since then, three entities
FTC Extends “Debt Collection Dialogues” Road Tour to Dallas and Atlanta
As previously discussed in our June 15 post titled “New York DFS Clarifies Debt Collection Requirements,” the Federal Trade Commission co-hosted the first “Debt Collection Dialogue” in Buffalo, New York, together with the New York Attorney General’s Office. As part of that event, FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection Director Jessica Rich and
Senate Finance Committee Votes to Extend Mortgage Debt Forgiveness
The Senate Finance Committee voted 23-3 in favor of extending a package of business and individual tax provisions known as “tax extenders,” including one that will ensure that mortgage debt that has been forgiven by a lender will be excluded from the borrower’s personal income.
Under current law, taxpayers who have mortgage debt canceled or
Senator Schumer Introduces Bill to Criminalize Certain Robocalls
On June 25, Senator Schumer of New York introduced a bill poetically titled the Act to Quell Unnecessary, Intentional, and Encroaching Telephone Calls Act of 2015 (the “QUIET Act”) that would criminalize the knowing use of telemarketing robocalls without the prior express consent of the recipient.
Under the QUIET Act, it would be illegal to
CFPB Delays By Two Months the Effective Date of The “Know Before You Owe” Mortgage Disclosure Rule
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a final rule that delays the effective date of the Know Before You Owe mortgage disclosure rule to October 3, 2015. This news follows on the announcement by the CFPB on June 24 of its proposed amendment to the rule, also known as the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure rule (“TRID”),
Do Statutes Of Limitation Apply To The CFPB After All?
On July 14, a federal judge in Atlanta denied Frederick J. Hanna & Associates’ motion to dismiss in Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v. Frederick J. Hanna & Associates PC, which the CFPB filed against the law firm arising out of alleged violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and Consumer Financial Protection Act.
Congress Trying Again To Reform or Eliminate the CFPB
On July 22, the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government approved a spending bill for the 2016 fiscal year that would change the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) leadership structure by replacing the CFPB director with a five-member commission.
The bill also would bring funding for the CFPB’s budget under the annual
Eleventh Circuit Reinstates Class Action in Federal Court Notwithstanding State Prohibition On Class Actions Under The Statute At Issue
Although most states have consumer protection laws that provide for private rights of action, certain states also hold that such remedies cannot be invoked and pursued on behalf of a class. However, when such a case is filed in federal court, such state-based restrictions conflict with the class action mechanism that is set forth under
Eleventh Circuit Holds That the FDCPA Applies to Statement Made In Court Documents Directed to a Consumer’s Attorney
On June 30, in Miljkovic v. Shafritz and Dinkin, P.A., the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit held in a case of first impression that representations made by an attorney in court filings during the course of debt-collection litigation are actionable under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”) but that
Seventh Circuit Finds Plaintiffs Have Standing in Neiman Marcus Data Breach Suit
On July 20, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a group of plaintiffs who sued Neiman Marcus over the theft of their credit card information in a data security breach had standing to sue for fraudulent charges, as well as fraud-prevention expenses and credit monitoring. The appellate court reversed a prior decision from