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 use free of charge.
Our bank and loan servicing clients also face novel challenges affecting their industry due to COVID-19,…
In Russell v. Law, Judge Van Bokkelen, of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, granted summary judgment, in part, to Russell Friend (“Plaintiff”)– alleging Taylor Law, PLLC (“Defendant”) contacted Plaintiff continually in attempts to collect debt after Plaintiff’s request that Defendant cease contact, in violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Moreover, the Court denied summary judgment for Defendant on Plaintiff’s count that Defendant violated the Telephone Consumer Protection…
In Golden v. Benjamin, Judge Schroeder, of the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, denied Higgins Benjamin, PLCC’s (“Higgins”) motion to dismiss a class action claim brought by Mark and Geneva Golden under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. In the Complaint, Plaintiffs alleged an FDCPA claim for failure to “inform Plaintiff[s] that the Debt will be assumed to be valid by Defendant” in the debt collection letter Higgins sent…
A group of state attorneys general, led by New York A.G. Letitia James, are attempting to stop the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) from implementing its new True Lender Rule that is now in effect. The state attorneys general allege that by implementing the Rule, the OCC is once again fostering abusive lending practices like it did before the 2008 financial crisis, as recognized by Congress.
On January 5, 2021,…
In a final act of his tenure, Brian Brooks, the acting Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) on January 14 finalized a rule to ensure “fair access to banking services provided by large national banks, federal savings associations, and federal branches and agencies of foreign bank organizations.” Brooks announced that he would be stepping down from his role on the same day the rule was finalized. OCC Chief Operating Officer Blake Paulson will assume the role…
On December 30, 2020, Judge Richard J. Leon on the United States District Court for the District of Columbia entered an Order in PayPal, Inc. v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, et al., No. 19-3700-RJL, 2020 WL 7773392 (D.D.C. Dec. 30, 2020) invalidating two provisions of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“the CFPB” or “Bureau”)’s “Prepaid Rule” (“the Rule”): (i) the mandatory short-form fee disclosure requirement, and (ii) the requirement for a thirty-day waiting period before…
In True Health Chiropractic Inc., et al. v. McKesson Corp., et al., the Northern District of California held that it was divested of jurisdiction by the Hobbs Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2342, and thus could not reconsider the validity of a declaratory ruling rendered by the Consumer and Government Affairs Bureau of the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”), reaching a contrary result to the Fourth Circuit’s holding on a similar question in Carlton & Harris Chiropractic …
In Hirsch v. USHealth Advisors, LLC, Judge Pittman, of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, denied Aaron Hirsch’s (“Plaintiff”) Motion for Class Certification, which was based on allegations that USHealth Advisors, LLC (“USHA”) and USHealth Group, Inc. (“USGA”) (collectively “Defendants”) violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and Maryland equivalent of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. In doing so, the Court put a dent in claims where professional plaintiffs seek to…
In an Order issued December 16, 2020, the Eastern District of Texas adopted the Report and Recommendation of United States Magistrate Judge Kimberly C. Priest Johnson finding that calls placed to a cellular telephone do not qualify as calls to a residential telephone subscriber for purposes of § 227(c) of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”). See Cunningham v. Britereal Mgmt., No. 4:20-cv-144-SDJ-KPJ, (E.D. Tex. Nov. 20, 2020).
The plaintiff in this case, alleged…
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 use free of charge.
Our bank and loan servicing clients also face novel challenges affecting their industry due to COVID-19,…