The plaintiff, an individual consumer, filed a chapter 7 bankruptcy petition, including in his schedules a debt for past-due rent for a former apartment. The bankruptcy was a matter of public record and was listed on his credit reports. After the plaintiff obtained his bankruptcy discharge, the defendant debt collector sent the plaintiff two collection
On March 25, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC or Commission) released an article reflecting on its work in 2020. The following are some of the most notable actions of the FTC in 2020:
In Guzman v. I.C. Sys., 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 42595, 2021 WL 861914 (E.D.N.Y. Mar 8, 2021), Carolina Guzman (plaintiff) alleged that I.C. System, Inc. (defendant) violated the FDCPA by reporting to Experian that her debt to Sprint was “[s]eriously past due date/assigned to attorney, collection agency, or credit grantor’s internal collection department.” Id.
On March 22, President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate Lina Khan to be a commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Khan is an outspoken critic of big tech and a former legal advisor to FTC Commissioner Rohit Chopra, Biden’s nominee to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Khan’s anticipated nomination again
On March 3, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) filed a complaint in the Northern District of Illinois against a third-party payment processor, BrightSpeed Solutions, Inc., and its founder and former CEO Kevin Howard. The CFPB’s complaint alleges that the defendants violated the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) and the Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and
Like most industries today, Consumer Finance Services businesses are being significantly impacted by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Troutman Pepper has developed a dedicated COVID-19 Resource Center to guide clients through this unprecedented global health challenge. We regularly update this site with COVID-19 news and developments, recommendations from leading health organizations, and tools that businesses can
On March 11, U.S. Representative Patrick McHenry (R-NC) reintroduced a bill to amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). H.R. 1645, the Protecting Consumer Access to Credit Act, would remove from a consumer’s credit report all paid, non-elective medical debt, and negative information judicially determined to have resulted from predatory lending or financial abuse.
On March 18, Opportunity Financial, Inc. (OppFi) — a Chicago-based platform lender — announced that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is investigating its compliance with the Military Lending Act. The announcement — coupled with several others like it in recent months — confirms that the CFPB is closely monitoring fintechs.
OppFi is a consumer
Over the past several years, the Democratic commissioners of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have made clear their dissatisfaction with the agency’s historic treatment of pharmaceutical mergers. Now, it appears that the FTC has launched a process aimed at changing the way in which such transactions are analyzed and ultimately resolved.
Past dissenting statements
In Cassandra Valentine v. Unifund CCR, Inc. et al., the District Court of New Jersey dismissed the plaintiff’s claim that a benign company name appearing on a debt collection letter through the glassine window of an envelope constituted a violation of the FDCPA if an internet search could reveal the name as belonging to
