Commercial Law & Contracts, Civil Remedies, Consumer Protection

InfoBytes Special Alert: CFPB Issues Final Civil Penalty Fund Rule With Request For Comment

by BuckleySandler LLP on 5/10/2013

On April 26, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or the Bureau) issued a final rule, effective immediately, that sets forth procedures for the administration of the Consumer Financial Civil Penalty Fund (Civil...more

Reforming Proposition 65: Governor’s “Update” Is a Promising Start

by Michèle Corash, Robert Falk, Michael Steel | Morrison & Foerster LLP on 5/9/2013

Yesterday, Governor Jerry Brown’s office announced his intention to propose “updates” to Proposition 65 (Health & Safety Code section 25249.5 et seq.) supposedly designed to make the law less susceptible to the widespread...more

Supreme Court Ups the Bar for Class Action Lawsuits

by Christine Vanek on 5/7/2013

Supreme Court Ups the Bar for Class Action Lawsuits by Christine M. Vanek on May 7, 2013 The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Comcast Corp. v. Behrend will likely help businesses defend employment, anti-trust, consumer...more

Burr Alert: Blowing The Cap Off Statutory Damages Under The FCCPA?: An Analysis Of Kahmeyer v. Federal Credit Corporation

by John Chiles, Kristin Peters | Burr & Forman on 4/15/2013

In Kahmeyer v. Federal Credit Corporation, the 13th Judicial Circuit in Hillsborough County, Florida released an opinion that has given new life to the argument that each violation of the Florida Consumer Collection Practices...more

Maryland's highest court blocks another foreclosure defense

by Thomas Valkenet on 4/12/2013

On March 22, 2013, the Maryland Court of Appeals clarified the meaning of an "endorsement in blank" on mortgage notes, saying that physical transfer without additional endorsement stamps gives the loan servicer standing to...more

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act—Hope on the Horizon for Debt Collectors?

by Joseph Guarino, Patrick Lucignani | Epstein Becker & Green, P.C. on 4/10/2013

Debt collection is big business—easily a multibillion-dollar industry. In 2012, approximately 30 million individuals, or 14 percent of American adults, had debt (averaging about $1,500) that was or had been subject to the...more

Little Tucker Act Does Not Waive Sovereign Immunity For Alleged Violation Of Fair Credit Reporting Act

by June D. Coleman, Danielle Teeters | Kronick, Moskovitz, Tiedemann & Girard on 4/5/2013

The United States Supreme Court recently held that the Little Tucker Act does not waive the sovereign immunity of the United States in an action for damages alleging a violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”). The...more

Class Action Fairness Act: Amount in Controversy after Standard Fire Ins. v. Knowles (U.S. 2013).

by Pavlack Law, LLC on 3/22/2013

In this installment of the Hoosier Litigation Blog by Pavlack Law, LLC, we discuss the Class Action Fairness Act's amount in controversy requirement in light of the United States Supreme Court decision in Standard Fire Ins....more

Zip Code Requests Off-Limits in Massachusetts Credit Card Transactions

by Martin Bishop, Thomas I. Elkind, Michael Lueder | Foley & Lardner LLP on 3/21/2013

In a recent decision, Tyler v. Michaels Stores, Inc., the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court held that zip codes are “personal identification information” and that a merchant asking for that information during a credit card...more

Retailers Beware: Massachusetts Court Restricts Ability To Collect ZIP Codes At Point Of Sale

by Amanda Beane, Thomas (Tom) C. Bell, Miriam Farhi | Perkins Coie on 3/19/2013

The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts recently held that collecting a consumer's ZIP code at the point of sale may violate Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 93, Section 105(a) (Section 105(a)), which restricts the...more

UK Government Announces Proposals for an “Opt-Out” Collective Competition Damages Action

by Philip Bentley, Veronica Pinotti, Wilko van Weert, Philipp Werner | McDermott Will & Emery on 3/7/2013

On 29 January 2013, the UK Government’s Department for Business, Innovation & Skills announced new proposals designed to improve the ability for consumers and businesses to bring collective damages claims against competition...more

Careful What You Wish For - United States Supreme Court Rules That Prevailing Defendants in FDCPA Cases May Recover Costs Without...

by Gregory Blase, Steven Kaplan | K&L Gates LLP on 3/4/2013

Will the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Marx v. General Revenue Corp. be the death knell of frivolous and nuisance lawsuits alleging violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”)? Only time will...more

Retail Customers Obtain Unusually Favorable Settlement In Zip Code Collection Case

by BuckleySandler LLP on 1/23/2013

On January 11, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California approved a settlement between a retailer and a class of customers to resolve allegations that the retailer violated the California Song-Beverly...more

Foreclosed Familes Get only $1,000 for Bank Mortgage Abuses

by Aaron Kase | Lawyers.com on 1/21/2013

Ten major banks last week agreed to pay out $8.5 billion to settle allegations that they engaged in abusive foreclosure practices in 2009 and 2010. Of the settlement money, $3.3 billion will go to homeowners whose homes...more

Appeal Victory -- Court of Appeal Agrees that Penal Code Section 496(c) Allows Recovery of Triple Damages and Attorney Fees for...

by Aaron Morris on 1/18/2013

The case involved a loan made by our client to the defendant, Igal Feibush. Feibush and his entities failed to repay the loan, and we were retained by the plaintiff to sue. Penal Code section 496(c) makes it illegal to...more

Real Estate Sellers: Keep Those Skeletons in Your Closet!

by Evan Pappas on 1/15/2013

Recently, the Pennsylvania Superior Court held that sellers of residential real estate are under no duty, pursuant to the Real Estate Seller Disclosure Law, 68 Pa.C.S. §7101 et seq. (“RSDL”), to disclose prior to a sale that...more

Ringing in the New Year in 2013: California’s Homeowner’s Bill of Rights Law Takes Effect

by Yesenia Garcia Perez | Foley & Lardner LLP on 1/4/2013

Dubbed as the “Homeowner’s Bill of Rights,” on July 11, 2012, California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law AB 278/SB 900 marking the first U.S. state to adopt into law the residential mortgage foreclosure reform principles...more

Former ESPN Zone Employees May Seek Payment of Back Pay as a Result of Disney’s Violation of WARN Act

by Evan Pappas on 1/4/2013

The Disney Company violated the WARN (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification) Act when closing the ESPN Zone restaurant and amusement facility in Baltimore by failing to provide terminated workers with full wages and...more

A CFPB Christmas carol: first coordinated action with states

by Keith R. Fisher | Ballard Spahr LLP on 12/28/2012

In the first action of its kind since the agency’s creation, the CFPB, Attorneys General from New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, and Wisconsin, and the Hawaii Office of Consumer Protection joined forces to enjoin a...more

Case Studies: The Real World Impact of Class Actions for Technical Violations of Consumer Protection Statutes

by James Walker IV | Carlton Fields on 11/20/2012

Mama Mia, a Florida restaurant, accepts credit cards as payment for meals. A customer provides his credit card to pay for his meal and receives a receipt from the restaurant. The receipt displays the customer’s credit card...more

Federal Court Ruling Validates Industry Concerns with CPSC Database

by Morrison & Foerster LLP on 11/1/2012

The Consumer Product Safety Commission’s (“CPSC”) product safety database suffered its first successful legal challenge in a recent ruling by a Maryland federal judge. U.S. District Judge Alexander Williams Jr.’s opinion in...more

Do You Follow Your Posted Online Terms and Conditions?

by Sands Anderson PC on 10/23/2012

There are dozens of federal statues and regulations that govern consumer privacy. They regulate what data a company can collect and how you must protect it once you have it. One of the best ways to mess up in e-commerce is...more

Supreme Court Passes on Appeals of Overdraft Litigation Decisions

by BuckleySandler LLP on 10/16/2012

On October 9, the U.S. Supreme Court denied the petitions for writ of certiorari filed by plaintiffs in two cases challenging the overdraft billing practices of certain banks. Hough v. Regions Financial Corp., No. 12-1139,...more

US Court of Appeals for Ninth Circuit Affirms Class Certification, Order Granting Preliminary Injunction to Stop Calls and Holds...

by Burr & Forman on 10/15/2012

Meyer v. Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC, No. 11-56600, 2012 WL 4840814 (9th Cir. Oct. 12, 2012) Pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit was the district court’s: (1) Provisional certification...more

Loan Originator Compensation: Past is Prologue - Part I

by Jonathan Foxx on 10/10/2012

In this article, the first in a two-part series, I will consider the recent CFPB proposal, issued on August 17, 2012, which contains certain proposed rules governing mortgage loan originations, especially relating to the MLO...more

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Commercial Law & Contracts › Civil Remedies › Consumer Protection