On August 10, in Schweitzer v. Comenity Bank, No. 16-10498 (Aug. 10, 2017), a panel of the Eleventh Circuit expanded liability for companies under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, 47 U.S.C. § 227 et seq. (TCPA). Building on the holding in Osorio v. State Farm Bank, F.S.B., 746 F.3d 1242, 1255 (11th…
Yesterday, the Ninth Circuit issued its opinion in Robins v. Spokeo, finding that plaintiff Thomas Robins has standing to continue his Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) suit against Spokeo, Inc. In its opinion, a unanimous panel of the Ninth Circuit articulated a two-part concreteness test to determine standing. The court…
Last week, the Seventh Circuit affirmed the dismissal of two Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) class actions on Spokeo grounds. The cases, which were consolidated for appeal, were filed by the same plaintiff against two corporate defendants alleged to have provided credit-report disclosures that did not comply with the FCRA. …
On July 17, 2017, a New Jersey federal district court heard oral arguments in a motion to dismiss a putative class action lawsuit alleging violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”), 15 U.S.C. § 1681a et seq. The FCRA claim in the case, In re: Horizon Healthcare Services Inc. Data Breach Litigation,…
On June 22, 2017, the Second Circuit decided Reyes v. Lincoln Automotive Financial Services, No. 16-2104—a decision which is a win for the TCPA defense bar. In Reyes, the Second Circuit held that, once a consumer consents to be contacted as part of a valid contract, the consumer may not…
Last week, the District of New Jersey issued a noteworthy opinion in a putative TCPA class action against TD Bank and Target. In Martinez v. TD Bank USA, N.A. et al., 2017 WL 2829601 (D.N.J. June 30, 2017), the court held the defendants were entitled to summary judgment because the…
On May 15, 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Midland Funding, LLC, v. Johnson, No. 16–348, in favor of the debt collectors involved in the case. Specifically, Justice Breyer, writing for the Court, held that the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 U. S. C. §1692 et seq., (FDCPA), which…
On May 15, 2017, petitioners in E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. v. Bobbi-Jo Smiley filed a reply brief with the U.S. Supreme Court defending their petition for certiorari and arguing that the Court should take up review of the Third Circuit’s revival of their employees’ claims for overtime…
On May 10, 2017, the Fourth Circuit affirmed the Middle District of North Carolina’s refusal to compel arbitration under the terms of a payday loan agreement. In Dillon v. BMO Harris Bank, N.A., BMO Harris attempted to compel arbitration pursuant to an agreement that would have required the arbitrator to…
On April 18, 2017, the United States Supreme Court, once again with nine justices sitting on the bench, heard oral arguments in Henson v. Santander Consumer USA, Inc., No. 16-349, concerning the scope of the Federal Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), codified at 15 U.S.C. § 1692 –1692p. As previously…
On March 30, 2017, Judge Karas of the Southern District of New York dismissed multiple claims in a putative nationwide class action challenging default servicing activities. In the case, Tardibuono-Quigley v. HSBC Mortgage Corp., the plaintiff sued her lender (HSBC) and mortgage servicer (PHH) to contest charges she claimed were wrongly…
On March 31, 2017, the D.C. Circuit held in Bais Yaakov of Spring Valley v. FCC that, based on a plain reading of the TCPA, the FCC does not have the authority to mandate that senders of solicited fax advertisements include opt-out notices in their fax advertisements. The decision overturned…
On March 17, 2017, the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed an amicus brief in PHH Corp. v. CFPB, No. 15-1177 (D.C. Cir.), in which it argued that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) single director structure is unconstitutional and that President Trump should have the power to remove the CFPB’s director…
Last month, the Ninth Circuit affirmed dismissal of a putative class action that challenged certain fees imposed for property inspections conducted after the named plaintiffs had defaulted on their mortgages. Demonstrating the value of the increased pleading requirements set by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 9, the Ninth Circuit’s decision in…
On February 21, 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an order remanding a False Claims Act (FCA) case, Bishop v. Wells Fargo & Co., No. 15-2449 (2d Cir. 2016), to the Second Circuit for further consideration of the availability of implied certification claims. The Court’s decision to remand the case is significant…
On Friday, February 24, 2017, more than half of the U.S. states’ attorneys general (the Amici States) filed an amicus brief in support of the petitioners in Henson v. Santander Consumer USA, Inc., a case that is currently before the U.S. Supreme Court. The Amici States, along with the petitioners, urge…
On February 16, 2017, the United States Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit granted Respondent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) petition for rehearing en banc of PHH Corp. v. CFPB, No. 15-1177 (D.C. Cir.). In doing so, the court vacated its October 11, 2016, order, which had held, inter alia, that the CFPB’s single-director structure…
Earlier this month, the Northern District of Illinois struck the class allegations in Cholly v. Uptain Group, Inc., a single-count TCPA case filed against a medical services provider and a debt collector based on allegedly autodialed calls the plaintiff received. The defendants had sought to dismiss the complaint on several…
On January 31, 2017, Mitzie Perez—a former undocumented immigrant who is authorized to work in the United States under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (“DACA”) policy—filed a class action in the Northern District of California, Perez et al. v. Wells Fargo & Co. et al., No. 17-454 (N.D. Cal….
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…