Last month, the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a putative class action suit alleging violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act thereby delivering an important victory to lenders and other entities that provide consumer information to credit reporting agencies. Under the FCRA, “furnishers” of consumer information are prohibited from providing inaccurate information to credit reporting agencies (“CRAs”) and must investigate when a consumer disputes such information.  In Hunt v. JP Morgan Chase Bank, Nat’l …

According to the Eleventh Circuit, a municipalities’ lawsuit alleging lost tax revenue and increased costs for services case proceed against several large lenders. In City of Miami v. Wells Fargo & Co., 2019 WL 1966943 (11th Cir. 2019), Miami alleged that several large banks violated the Fair Housing Act by engaging in predatory lending that targeted racial minorities. These practices allegedly led to a higher rate of home foreclosures, which directly caused lost tax…

Last October, we reported here how the Eleventh Circuit in Muransky v. Godiva had broken with other circuits regarding the application of the Supreme Court’s opinion in Spokeo v. Robins. Last week, the Eleventh Circuit sua sponte vacated its October 2018 opinion and issued a new opinion.…

When attempting to collect time-barred debts, law firms often send standard letters which merely omit an express threat to sue. Earlier this month, the Eleventh Circuit held a least sophisticated consumer might view such a letter as an implicit threat to sue and, therefore, the letter might violate the FDCPA. The Court reasoned it would be easy to include language to the effect, “Because of the age of your debt, . . . we will not sue you for…

In Obduskey v. McCarthy & Holthus, LLP, the United States Supreme Court unanimously held the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act does not apply to a law firm conducting a nonjudicial foreclosure. While the law firm prevailed in Obduskey, the Court’s opinion suggested several circumstances in which the law firm might have been subject to the FDCPA.  Practically speaking, many firms instituting nonjudicial foreclosures will likely remain subject to the FDCPA. According to Obduskey, a law…

In September 2018, the Alabama Supreme Court issued an opinion in GHB Constr. and Dev. Co., Inc. v. West Alabama Bank and Trust, No. 1170484, that caused considerable concern for Alabama lenders. The Court held that future-advance mortgages do not come into existence until funds are actually advanced regardless of when the mortgage was recorded. Last Friday, the Alabama Supreme Court reversed its September 2018 opinion and held that the priority of a future-advance mortgage…

Last week, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama denied Southern Independent Bank’s (“Southern Independent’s”) motion for class certification following a data breach which allegedly affected over 2,000 financial institutions across the country. Southern Independent, a community bank located in south Alabama, brought a class action complaint against Fred’s in response to a data breach in which hackers, using malware installed on servers, harvested payment data from consumer debit cards used at…