In a recent decision, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois granted a debt collector’s motion to dismiss a debtor’s breach of contract claim in a putative class action, leaving for adjudication the debtor’s claims under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”). The case is Burdette-Miller v. Williams & Fudge,
On January 3, 49 state attorneys general announced a settlement with Career Education Corporation (“CEC”), a for-profit education company, to resolve claims that CEC engaged in unfair and deceptive practices. The settlement requires CEC to forgo any collection efforts against $493.7 million in outstanding loan debt held by nearly 180,000 former students. It also imposes
In December, Judge Robert D. Mariani denied Navient’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, ruling that the suit is not pre-empted by a similar case filed against the company by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. In the suit, the Commonwealth seeks to hold Navient liable for student loan collection activity
A wave of lawsuits filed under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, especially in the Second Circuit, continues regarding disclosures of interest and fees in collection letters. Consumers have complained about failure to warn of interest and fees continuing to accrue, as well as failure to disclose that interest and fees did not accrue. The
Last month, Troutman Sanders reported on the proposed TRACED Act which would instruct the Federal Communications Commission to engage in rulemaking to protect consumers from receiving unwanted calls and text messages from unauthenticated phone numbers. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai tweeted his approval for the bill, but the FCC is not waiting on Congress to fight
The next generation of federal student loan servicing is scheduled to debut in 2019. The Department of Education’s new platform, called Next Generation Financial Services Environment (or “NextGen”), aims to integrate the entire student-loan process—from submitting the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (“FAFSA”) through payment, processing, and service—into a single website. But NextGen
In an ominous sign, Americans’ total debt hit another record high, rising to $13.5 trillion in the last quarter, as student loan delinquencies jumped, according to Reuters. Specifically, flows of student debt into serious delinquency – of 90 or more days – rose to 9.1 percent in the third quarter from 8.6 percent in
On November 16, Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), the current chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, and Ed Markey (D-Mass.), a member of the committee and the author of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, unveiled the Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence Act (“TRACED Act”). Among other things, this bill would require carriers to eventually
The states of most complaint, you ask? – California, Florida, Texas, New York, and Georgia.
In October, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released its Complaint Snapshot, which supplements the Consumer Response Annual Report and provides an overview of trends in consumer complaints received by the Bureau.
The Snapshot revealed that the CFPB has received 1.5
Alarm.com has agreed to pay $28 million to settle a TCPA class action, which involves allegations that it sent unlawful telemarketing communications to more than 1.2 million consumers. The parties filed a motion for preliminary approval of the class settlement, which is set for hearing on November 27. The case, pending in the Northern