Both houses of the New Jersey Legislature recently passed Assembly Bill No. 3861 (AB 3861), known as the Louisa Carman Medical Debt Relief Act. The legislation’s stated aims are to prevent undue financial hardship and protect...more
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama recently issued a decision in a Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) case highlighting the importance of clear and unambiguous communication in debt...more
On June 11, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) released a proposed rule amending Regulation V, which implements the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), concerning medical debt. The proposed rule would...more
6/13/2024
/ Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Reporting Agencies ,
Debt Collection ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Medical Debt ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulation V ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Reporting Requirements
On May 16, the Illinois legislature passed Senate Bill (SB) 2933. The bill amends the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act making it unlawful for a consumer reporting agency (CRA) to create a consumer...more
In Holden v. Holiday Inn Club Vacations Inc., the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit recently upheld a consolidated district court ruling granting summary judgment for the defendant furnisher in two Fair Credit...more
Earlier this week, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) released its second report detailing changes in the credit reporting of medical debts made by the three national consumer reporting agencies (CRAs)...more
A U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Missouri recently granted a defendant’s summary judgment motion in a Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) case, holding that the plaintiff lacked standing because she did...more
4/25/2024
/ Article III ,
Banks ,
Consumer Reporting Agencies ,
Consumer Reports ,
Debt ,
Debt Collection ,
FDCPA ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Injury-in-Fact ,
Standing ,
Summary Judgment
In March, the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey granted the defendant’s motion to dismiss a claim that the defendant violated § 1692e(8) of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) when it failed to...more
Recently, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) submitted letters to senators in Connecticut and California supporting their proposals to prohibit medical debt reporting....more
Last week, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) released the spring edition of its Supervisory Highlights report, providing a high-level overview of alleged unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices...more
4/16/2024
/ Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Consumer Reporting Agencies ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Supervisory Highlights ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
The legal landscape of consumer reporting continues to evolve with courts, federal regulators and state legislatures all playing roles in shaping this area of the law.
Originally published in Law360 - January 9, 2024....more
On March 29, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) released its Consumer Response Annual Report, providing a high-level overview of the 1,657,600 consumer complaints received by the Bureau from January 1...more
4/5/2024
/ Annual Reports ,
Automotive Loans ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Consumer Reporting Agencies ,
Credit Cards ,
Debt Collection ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Fraud ,
Mortgages ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Student Loans
In Martinez v. Celtic Bank, the Southern District of New York recently denied a motion for summary judgment finding that a jury could consider an investigation reckless when a furnisher fails to review any records other than...more
A U.S. district court in the Eastern District of New York recently denied a motion for summary judgment filed by a credit card issuer because the plaintiff alleged identity theft and a reasonable factfinder could determine...more
On February 16, Kentucky state representative Steve Bratcher (R) introduced House Bill (HB) 578. The bill seeks to create a new section of the Kentucky Consumer Protection Act that would restrict how consumer reporting...more
2/27/2024
/ Consumer Protection Act ,
Consumer Reporting Agencies ,
Consumer Reports ,
Credit Scores ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Personal Information ,
Prior Express Consent ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda
On February 8, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision in Department of Agriculture Rural Development Rural Housing Service (USDA) v. Kirtz, holding that the Fair Credit Reporting Act’s (FCRA) clear statutory text...more
2/12/2024
/ Borrowers ,
Consumer Reporting Agencies ,
Consumer Reports ,
Department of Agriculture Rural Development Rural Housing Service v Kirtz ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Government Agencies ,
Loans ,
SCOTUS ,
Statutory Violations ,
USDA
A federal district court judge in Nevada recently denied competing motions for summary judgment in a Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) furnisher investigation case, demonstrating the challenges FCRA litigants often face in...more
Information furnishers, beware. A potential rule under consideration by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is explicitly aimed at opening a new era of Fair Credit Reporting Act class actions against companies that...more
On January 11, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) issued two “advisory opinions” addressing the CFPB’s views of the obligations of consumer reporting agencies (CRAs) under the Fair Credit Reporting Act...more
A magistrate judge in the Northern District of Georgia recently recommended granting summary judgment in a Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) case in favor of a background reporting company on the grounds that a report given...more
On December 8, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) (collectively, the agencies) filed an amici curiae brief urging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit to reverse a...more
On December 13, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law S4907A, which prohibits hospitals, medical providers, or ambulance services from providing negative information about medical debt to consumer reporting agencies...more
12/15/2023
/ Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Reporting Agencies ,
Consumer Reports ,
Creditors ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
FDCPA ,
Healthcare ,
Medical Debt ,
New Legislation ,
New York ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Rulemaking Process ,
State and Local Government
The first half of 2023 has produced significant developments for the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Important decisions have come from multiple areas of the field, including the federal courts of appeals and regulatory...more
11/30/2023
/ Amicus Briefs ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Reporting Agencies ,
Consumer Reports ,
Credit Reporting Agencies ,
Credit Reports ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Fraud ,
Identity Theft ,
Oral Argument
On November 9, a magistrate judge in the Northern District of Georgia issued a Report & Recommendation to grant a motion to dismiss because the plaintiff’s Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) claims were time-barred...more
11/21/2023
/ Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Reporting Agencies ,
Credit Reports ,
Data Brokers ,
Debt Buyers ,
Debt Collectors ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
FDCPA ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Statute of Limitations
A U.S. District Court in the Western District of Wisconsin recently denied both the defendant and plaintiff’s summary judgment motions in a Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) case, holding that the reasonableness of the...more
10/27/2023
/ Consumer Reporting Agencies ,
Cross Motions ,
Debt Collection ,
Debt Collectors ,
Debtors ,
Dispute Resolution ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Identity Theft ,
Reasonableness Factors ,
Summary Judgment