Consumer Protection › Civil Procedure › Finance & Banking

Dispute Over Duke’s 2012 Proposed Rate Increase Continues

On April 12, 2013, the N.C. Supreme Court stepped into the ongoing dispute regarding the 7.2 percent rate increase sought by Duke Energy and approved by the North Carolina Utilities Commission (NCUC) in January 2012. Duke...more

Incentive Awards Corrupted Class Action Settlement By Undermining Adequacy Of Class Representatives And Counsel

The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently considered “the issue of whether class representatives and class counsel are adequate where the settlement agreement conditions payment of incentive awards on...more

Ohio Supreme Court Holds Mortgage Servicing Not Subject To Consumer Sales Practices Act

On May 14, the Ohio Supreme Court held in response to two certified questions from a federal district court that the Ohio Consumer Sales Practices Act (CSPA) generally does not apply to mortgage servicers and servicing....more

Dealing with Civil Investigative Demands from the CFPB—Rules, Responses & Pitfalls

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s civil investigative demand (“CID”) authority has recently presented significant compliance difficulties for companies that have received requests for information relating to an...more

Global Connection - May 2013: Ninth Circuit Strikes Down $45 Million Class Action Settlement and Issues Warning About Use of...

Citing a conflict of interest between class representatives and a class, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently invalidated a $45 million class action settlement that had previously been approved by the district court....more

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA vs. JPMORGAN CHASE & CO.; CHASE BANK USA, N.A; CHASE BANKCARD SERVICES, INC.

Complaint for Fraudulent and Unlawful Debt-Collection Practices against tens of thousands of Californians.

Attorney General Kamala D. Harris today filed an enforcement action against JPMorgan Chase & Co. (Chase) alleging that the bank engaged in fraudulent and unlawful debt-collection practices against tens of thousands of...more

House Committee Refuses To Allow CFPB Director To Appear

On April 22, House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) sent letters to CFPB Director Richard Cordray and CFPB General Counsel Meredith Fuchs stating that the House Financial Services Committee cannot...more

Mortgage Banking Update: 10th Circuit: Law Firm Not Required To Flag Erroneous Credit Reports in Foreclosure Proceeding

A law firm hired to foreclose on a property was not required under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) to inform a credit reporting agency of erroneously negative credit reports on the borrower, even if the firm...more

Bill on Bankruptcy: Kodak Plan Bumps the Debt, Craters Stock  [Video]

May 2 (Bloomberg Law) -- Eastman Kodak Co. filed a Chapter 11 plan that cratered the stock and bumped up the unsecured notes, although the plan may be revised to pay off second-lien debt fully in cash, as Bloomberg Law's Lee...more

KEVIN SINGH v BANK OF AMERICA

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER GRANTING Plaintiff’s Application for a Preliminary Injunction under California's Homeowners Bill of Rights...

California Homeowner Bill of Rights (HBOR) Blocks Bank of America's Foreclosure A California man successfully halted a foreclosure sale on his property using the newly minted California Homeowner Bill of Rights to obtain a...more

CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE (CBO) RE Options for Principal Forgiveness

Modifying Mortgages Involving Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: Options for Principal Forgiveness

The Congressional Budget Office is accepted as a non-partisan agency which has torpedoed both Democratic and Republican proposals on the economy. Upon request from Congress, the CBO studied the mortgage and foreclosure market...more

Ninth Circuit Disapproves $45 Million FCRA Class Settlement Based On Conditional Incentive Award

On April 22, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed a district court’s order approving a $45M class action settlement under FCRA on the grounds that the conditional nature of the incentive award rendered the...more

Orrick's Financial Industry Week in Review - April 29, 2013

In This Issue: Financial Industry Developments: CFPB Proposed Clarifications on Qualified Mortgage Rules; SEC Credit Ratings Roundtable; FDIC Proposed Guidance on Deposit Advance Products; Rating Agency Developments; RMBS...more

As the CFPB Turns … And Other Consumer Financial Services News

In this week’s episode of As the CFPB Turns questions remain regarding Director(?) Richard Cordray’s constitutional authority to act as the Director of the CFPB. House Financial Services Committee Chairman, Jeb Hensarling,...more

City of Los Angeles v Deutsche Bank National Trust Company

City of Los Angeles v Deutsche Bank National Trust Company re: Complaint to Abate Public Nuisance

http://www.scribd.com/doc/137914455/City-of-Los-Angeles-v-Deutsche-Bank-National-Trust-Company (Link to Complaint) Apr 23, 2013 A judge has denied Deutsche Bank AG's bid to dismiss a lawsuit by the city of Los...more

Infobytes - A Weekly In-depth review of news & developments in the financial services industry - April 19, 2013

In This Issue: - FEDERAL ISSUES - STATE ISSUES - COURTS - FIRM NEWS - FIRM PUBLICATIONS - MORTGAGES - BANKING - CONSUMER FINANCE - SECURITIES - CREDIT CARDS - Excerpt from Consumer...more

Debt Buyer Lawsuits: The Illusion of Evidence

Midland Funding Law suitIf you have been sued by one of the debt buyers, Midland Funding, Portfolio Recovery, LVNV Funding, you may have felt intimidated not only by the debt collection process but by the fact that you are...more

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

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

California Reinvestment Coalition Report Re: Bank Violations Hurt Hardest Hit Communities April 2013

CHASM BETWEEN WORDS AND DEEDS: WELLS FARGO IS LISTED AS THE WORST SERVICER, MORE THAN ANY OTHER SERVICER

A new survey of housing counselors in California reveals that banks are violating several consumer protections that were mandated by the $26 billion National Mortgage Settlement (NMS) and the California Homeowners Bill of...more

ROBERT LOCKETT vs. BANK OF AMERICA, N.A.

NOTICE OF RULING: THE COURT OVERRULES BANA'S DEMURRER TO QUIET TITLE, CANCELLATION OF INSTRUMENT, ACCOUNTING & DECLARATORY RELIEF...

THE HONORABLE ABRAHAM KHAN OF THE LOS ANGELES SUPERIOR COURT OVERRULES BANK OF AMERICA'S DEMURRER TO QUIET TITLE, CANCELLATION OF INSTRUMENT, ACCOUNTING AND DECLARATORY RELIEF AND DENIES JUDICIAL NOTICE OF THE DEED OF TRUST...more

ROBERT LOCKETT vs. BANK OF AMERICA, N.A.

COURT OVERRULES BANA'S DEMURRER TO QUIET TITLE, CANCELLATION OF INSTRUMENT, ACCOUNTING & DECLARATORY RELIEF & DENIES JUDICIAL...

THE HONORABLE ABRAHAM KHAN OF THE LOS ANGELES SUPERIOR COURT OVERRULES BANK OF AMERICA'S DEMURRER TO QUIET TITLE, CANCELLATION OF INSTRUMENT, ACCOUNTING AND DECLARATORY RELIEF AND DENIES JUDICIAL NOTICE OF THE DEED OF TRUST...more

Bill on Bankruptcy: Stockton May Win the Battle, Lose the War [Video]

April 2 (Bloomberg Law) -- Although Stockton, California established the right to be in a Chapter 9 municipal bankruptcy, the judge warned the city that victory may be short-lived if bondholders prove that pensioners must...more

Bill on Bankruptcy: Sigmund Freud, Marx Brothers, Bernie Madoff [Video]

March 27 (Bloomberg Law) -- There was no settlement afoot when U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff put off a hearing on an effort by the trustee for Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC to block a $410 million settlement...more

FEDERAL HOUSING FINANCE AGENCY OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL

FHFA Should Develop and Implement a Risk-Based Plan to Monitor the Enterprises’ Oversight of Their Counterparties’ Compliance with...

Summary OIG assessed FHFA’s oversight of Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s (the Enterprises) monitoring of their counterparties’ compliance with their contractual agreements, with an emphasis on their compliance with federal...more

Orrick's Financial Industry Week in Review - March 25, 2013

In This Issue: *Financial Industry Developments - Agencies Issue Updated Leveraged Lending Guidance - CFTC No-Action Relief from Required Clearing for Some Partial Swap Novations and Terminations - FHFA...more