On Monday, January 30, 2017, the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held in Van Patten v. Vertical Fitness Group, LLC, No. 14-55980, that the plaintiff’s allegation that he received unsolicited text messages in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) satisfied the “concrete injury” standing requirement as articulated…
Goodwin, a leading Global 50 law firm, announced today the release of the 2016 Consumer Finance Year in Review, a detailed report that highlights the major litigation, enforcement and regulations that impacted the consumer finance industry in 2016. The second annual report, produced by the firm’s Financial Industry and Consumer…
On January 3, 2017, the Central District of California issued an order in CFPB v. CashCall, Inc., No. 2:15-cv-07522 (C.D. Cal.) allowing the defendants to request an interlocutory appeal of its August 31, 2016, decision granting partial summary judgment in favor of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). The court’s decision…
On December 13, 2016, the Ninth Circuit heard oral argument in Robins v. Spokeo (No. 11-56843) on remand from the Supreme Court. We wrote extensively (here, here, and here) about Spokeo before and after the Supreme Court’s May 16, 2016 decision. As readers may recall, the Central District of California had…
On November 15, 2016, the Central District of California issued a ruling (subscription required) in CFPB v. Prime Marketing Holdings, LLC dismissing without prejudice four out of five claims on grounds that plaintiff CFPB had not satisfied the heightened pleading standard of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 9(b). The court held that…
On November 18, 2016, the FCC issued an enforcement advisory clarifying its position that autodialed text messages, known as “robotexts,” are subject to the TCPA. As we reported last year, the FCC issued a package of declaratory rulings expanding the TCPA’s scope in July 2015, and this enforcement advisory is…
On November 8, 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Lightfoot v. Cendant Mortg. Corp., a case that will decide an important jurisdictional issue for Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA). See 769 F.3d 681 (9th Cir. 2014), cert. granted, 136 S. Ct. 2536 (2016). The question before the Court…
On October 31, 2016, the Supreme Court of Georgia issued a lengthy opinion ruling against payday lenders in two cases consolidated on appeal. The two cases (Western Sky Financial, LLC v. State of Georgia, No. S16A1011 and State of Georgia v. Western Sky Financial, LLC, No. S16X1012) involved state regulation…
It has now been nearly six months since the landmark Spokeo v. Robins case was decided by the Supreme Court, and courts across the country have begun to interpret the case. Spokeo held that a plaintiff must be able to show actual injury to have constitutional standing to sue under…
Today the United States Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit issued its long-awaited ruling in the PHH v. CFPB appeal (opinion here). LLW has written about the PHH case here and here before, and below are some quick takeaways from the court’s 110-page ruling for industry watchers: The court determined that…
On September 2, 2016, the Eleventh Circuit affirmed dismissal of a civil RICO claim in Ray v. Spirit Airlines, Inc., a case that challenged Spirit Airlines’ reporting of fees to customers. The Eleventh Circuit’s affirmance focused on the plaintiffs’ failure to allege the hidden fees were the proximate cause of…
On August 29, 2016, the Eleventh Circuit upheld a Northern District of Georgia decision invalidating an arbitration clause in Jessica Parm v. National Bank of California, N.A. (Docket No. 15-12509). Defendant National Bank of California (National Bank) argued that plaintiff Jessica Parm’s (Parm) payday loan contract compelled her to arbitrate…
On August 3, 2016, Goodwin filed an amicus brief in the Washington Supreme Court on behalf of the Mortgage Bankers Association and the Consumer Mortgage Coalition. The case—Jordan v. Nationstar Mortgage LLC—involved a challenge to a servicer’s default-servicing practice of rekeying the lock on the front door of seemingly abandoned…
Last week, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia rejected a constitutional challenge to rules promulgated by the CFPB. In State National Bank of Big Spring v. Geithner, the plaintiffs (a small Texas bank and other interested parties) challenged the Bureau’s regulatory authority on separation-of-power and recess-appointment…
Goodwin Procter partner Thomas Hefferon will serve as co-chair of the July 28-29, 2016 conference, and will speak on a panel titled “Fair Lending: Managing and Defending Against Claims of Discriminatory, Predatory, and Abusive Lending and Assessing the Status of ‘Disparate Impact’ in Lending Litigation and Enforcement” on July 29, 2015.
Today, the Supreme Court released its opinion in Spokeo v. Robins, vacating the Ninth Circuit’s decision and remanding the case for further proceedings. Our earlier posts on the case (here, here, and here) provide more detailed background on the facts of the case, but by way of short introduction, Spokeo…
Joe Yenouskas, a partner in Goodwin Procter’s Consumer Financial Services Litigation Group, will speak on a June 2, 2016 webinar about consumer finance class actions. His presentation will examine recent developments and trends in class action claims alleging violations of federal consumer protection laws governing the financial services industry, including…
On May 5, 2016, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued long-expected proposed rules that will drastically limit the use of pre-dispute arbitration clauses in contracts for consumer financial products and services. First, the proposed rules would prohibit pre-dispute arbitration agreements that bar consumers from filing or participating in a class…
On November 6, 2015, State National Bank (SNB) filed a summary judgment motion in the United States District Court for the District of D.C., seeking a declaratory judgment holding that the CFPB is unconstitutional and invalidating the actions taken by Director Cordray during his 18-month recess appointment. See State National…
On March 22, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Tyson Foods, Inc. v. Bouaphakeo. For those unfamiliar with the case, Tyson Foods is a Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) case that involved an alleged failure to pay overtime to employees who spent significant time “donning and doffing” (putting on…