In Casillas v. Madison Avenue Associates, Inc., 926 F.3d 329, 333 (7th Cir. 2019), the Seventh Circuit upheld the district court’s holding that a plaintiff lacked standing to pursue a claim under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) against a debt collector because the plaintiff could not establish that any damages were caused by the FDCPA violation.

The FDCPA requires a debt collector to give written notice to a consumer within five days of its initial communication. 15 U.S.C. § 1692g(a). The notice must include, among other things, a description of two mechanisms that the debtor can use to verify his or her debt in writing. Id. The FDCPA also renders a debt collector liable for “fail[ing] to comply with any provision of [the Act].” Id. § 1692k(a). Continue Reading Seventh Circuit’s “No Harm, No Foul” Holding Requires Concrete Harm in Consumer Lending Cases

The CCPA exempts processing of personal information “pursuant to” the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA). Businesses must analyze their processing activities, including the types of personal information collected and how they are used, to determine which activities are conducted “pursuant to” the GLBA and which fall outside this limited scope and assess how to mitigate risk. Join us for a webinar that will explore the contours of this exemption and examines activities to which financial institutions might be subject to enforcement actions under the CCPA.

Presenters
Joe Cutler | Partner, Privacy & Data Security
Natasha Amlani | Associate, Privacy & Data Security
Charlie Wood | Associate, Privacy & Data Security

Date: Tuesday, July 16, 2019
Time: 1:00 p.m. PT | 3:00 p.m. CT | 4:00 p.m. ET

Register here for the entire series, or select the GLBA-specific webinar.

Beyond the Financial Services Modernization Act (also known as the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act), which generally provides that a financial institution may not disclose a customer’s nonpublic personal information unless it falls under one of the general exceptions of 15 U.S.C. § 6802(e) (e.g., consent of the customer or compliance with a properly authorized civil subpoena), the failure to domesticate a subpoena remains one of the most utilized arguments in motions to quash. Continue Reading Quashing Subpoenas for Borrower Records

Takeaway: The U.S. Supreme Court ever so slightly trimmed removal rules under the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA) last week in Home Depot U.S.A., Inc. v. Jackson, No. 17-1471. In an opinion by Justice Thomas, the Court held that neither CAFA nor the general removal statute (28 U.S.C. § 1441(a)) permit removal by a third-party counterclaim defendant. That is, a party brought into the suit through a claim filed by the original defendant cannot remove the case to federal court. Read the full article on our sister blog, Consumer Protection Review.

The California Homeowner Bill of Rights (“HOBR”), codified in Sections 2920.5 et seq. of the Civil Code, became effective January 1, 2013. The statutes impose certain pre-foreclosure loss mitigation duties on mortgage servicers as well as trustees and deed of trust beneficiaries. Certain provisions of the HOBR were repealed as of January 1, 2018. While the legislature enacted new statutes to replace repealed provisions, not all requirements survived the January 2018 enactments, and expired as of the sunset date. But not long after expiration, many repealed provisions were given new life again through SB818 passed by Senator Beall. These statutes—revived with their original terms or with amendments—went into effect on January 1, 2019. We explore some of the repealed, later-revived statutes and notable appellate court decisions over the past year.

Continue Reading The Homeowner Bill of Rights—A Year in Review

The Ninth Circuit recently held a company vicariously liable for the actions of a downstream vendor of text message and telephone marketing activities. The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) is increasingly being used to bring lawsuits with potential statutory damages totaling millions or even hundreds of millions of dollars.

Companies should consider due diligence and vendor oversight protocols as counter-measures to limit the risk of liability for digital advertising and text marketing activities. Continue Reading

Mortgage service companies (and their lawyers) got a big boost on March 20, 2019, when the Supreme Court delivered a unanimous opinion in Obduskey v. McCarthy & Holthus LLP, holding that a business engaged in no more than nonjudicial foreclosure proceedings is not a “debt collector” under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA or Act), except for the limited purpose of §1692f(6). This decision will prevent needless and unfair litigation by borrowers seeking to stall collection efforts.

The petitioner in the case (who purchased his home in 2007 and defaulted approximately two years later) argued that the law firm hired by the creditor bank to carry out a nonjudicial foreclosure failed to comply with the FDCPA, which requires a debt collector to cease collection efforts until it obtains and delivers verification of the debt to the debtor.

Continue Reading Justices Rule that Businesses Engaged in Nonjudicial Foreclosure Proceedings are Not “Debt Collectors” under the FDCPA

Companies whose primary business purpose is to collect debts—whether or not they actually participate in the debt collection activities—suffered a setback recently. Despite a debt purchaser’s not having any direct contact with the consumer or even approving the debt collection agency’s communications with the consumer, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit found the debt purchaser to be a “debt collector” under the terms of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and therefore vicariously liable for the actions of its collection agencies. Barbato v. Greystone Alliance, LLC, No. 18-1042, 2019 WL 847920 (3d Cir. Feb 22, 2019). Continue Reading

Many loan servicers face the daunting task of issuing affidavits for their litigation cases across the United States. For the sake of efficiency, a loan servicer may wonder whether it would be worth it to streamline the affidavit process by using uniform acknowledgment language. However, research suggests that any alteration of an affidavit that replaces the traditional oath or “sworn to statement” with acknowledgment-like language is contrary to both New York statutory and case law and would likely result in rejection by New York State courts. Continue Reading A Loan Servicer’s Acknowledgment vs. an Oath in New York

The Ninth Circuit recently denied a motion for rehearing en banc in Marks v. Crunch, leaving in place a Ninth Circuit decision that broadly defines “automated telephone dialing system” (autodialer) under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). The decision conflicts with decisions from other circuits. And in the New Year, the FCC is expected to issue its own new interpretation of the term “autodialer” under the TCPA. Amidst this uncertainty, companies should proceed cautiously when reaching consumers by phone or text, and should consider how to minimize risk with respect to the TCPA’s autodialer provisions. Continue Reading Ninth Circuit Interprets Automatic Telephone Dialing System Under TCPA, Leaving Circuit Split