The Southern District of Florida recently issued a positive decision for businesses defending Telephone Consumer Protection Act lawsuits who place calls pursuant to contractually granted consent. In Lucoff v. Navient Sols., LLC, No. 0:18-cv-60743-RAR, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 133577 (S.D. Fla. Aug. 7, 2019), the Court affirmed and adopted the Magistrate’s Report and Recommendation
New York State’s Department of Financial Services (“NYDFS”) has issued new proposed regulations regarding licensing and servicing standards for student loan servicers operating in the state.
The proposed regulations stem from state legislation passed in April 2019, known as Article 14-A, which requires student loan servicers to obtain a license from the DFS before
On June 25, a group of twenty education organizations and individuals sent a letter to Congress urging it to regulate the use of income share agreements, or “ISAs” – an increasingly popular means of financing higher education. The letter was sent to the House Financial Services Committee and Senate Finance Committee, requesting legislation “that provides
The Second Circuit remains a hotbed for consumer claims under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act related to disclosures of interest and fees in collection letters. Plaintiffs bombard New York courts with these claims, forcing courts to meticulously review every possible disclosure of amounts due. While most of these claims ultimately fail on summary judgment,
A recent ruling by the U.S. Court of Federal Claims has made it more likely that an ambitious overhaul of the federal student loan servicing industry will be forthcoming.
As background, the U.S. Department of Education has announced plans to make sweeping changes to the student loan industry by requiring that its loan servicers be
On June 20, following unanimous approval by the state legislature, the governor of Maine enacted a new set of laws – “the Student Loan Bill of Rights” – designed to regulate the student loan servicing industry.
The new laws, enacted for the benefit of Maine residents obligated on a student loan as a
On June 14, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced a settlement that effectively forgives $168 million in private student loans owed by former students of ITT Technical Institute, the for-profit college that filed for bankruptcy in 2016 in the face of regulatory scrutiny concerning its recruitment and student loan practices. The settlement is with Student
Align Income Share Funding is giving consumers cash in exchange for monthly payments, but don’t call it a loan. Instead, Align offers Income Sharing Agreements (“ISAs”) whereby consumers borrow money and then pay back a fixed percentage of their income for up to five years. It’s a new financial product that’s growing in popularity,
On March 29, in Marshall v. Verde Energy USA, Inc., Judge John Vazquez of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey dismissed a plaintiff’s putative class action lawsuit against Verde Energy, finding, in part, that the plaintiff failed to state a claim under the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act (“CFA”). Marshall
The Eastern District of Pennsylvania concluded that an admitted professional litigant stated a claim under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act when he received the defendant’s telemarketing calls on his cell phone. The determinative factor was lack of allegations and evidence that the plaintiff used the phone for the sole purpose of bringing TCPA lawsuits. A