According to a recent report by WebRecon, court filings under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) were down for the month of March while court filings under the Telephone...more
In an unpublished decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently affirmed the decision of a California district court finding that the furnisher conducted a reasonable investigation under the Fair Credit...more
In a recent speech at the National Consumer Law Center/National Association of Consumer Advocates Spring Training, Seth Frotman, General Counsel of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau), focused on medical...more
4/16/2024
/ Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Credit Reporting Agencies ,
Credit Reports ,
Debt Collection ,
Debt Collectors ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
FDCPA ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Healthcare ,
Healthcare Costs ,
Medical Bills ,
Rent
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
According to a recent report by WebRecon, court filings under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) were down for the month of February while court filings under the Fair...more
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
According to a recent report by WebRecon, court filings under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), and complaints filed with the Consumer...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
According to a recent year-in-review report by WebRecon, reversing the trend of the last two years, filings under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) increased in 2023 as compared to 2022. Likewise, complaints filed...more
Following several years of investigating the common practices in the space, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reached its first settlement with a data broker over the alleged collection and sale of location information that...more
1/18/2024
/ Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Privacy Rights ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Data Brokers ,
Data Collection ,
Data Sellers ,
Data Selling ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Geolocation ,
Location Data ,
Personal Data ,
Request For Information ,
Settlement
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
In July, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau published a report highlighting various unfair, deceptive, and abusive acts or practices it claims to have uncovered during its supervisory examinations from July 2022 to...more
12/15/2023
/ Automotive Loans ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Debt Collection ,
Debt Collectors ,
ECOA ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Lenders ,
Loans ,
Mortgages ,
Regulation B ,
Regulation V ,
Regulation Z ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
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 Fair Credit Reporting Act saw no shortage of activity in the first half of 2023. That activity included federal and state legislation. Congress has introduced several bills intended to amend the FCRA — and on the state...more
A U.S. District Court in the Southern District of California recently held that a Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 68 offer of judgment must clearly state that attorneys’ fees and costs are limited or waived, as Arvest Central...more
12/7/2023
/ Attorney's Fees ,
CA Supreme Court ,
Consumer Credit Reporting Agencies Act (CCRAA) ,
Consumer Litigation ,
Credit Reports ,
Damages ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Forbearance Agreements ,
Mortgages ,
Offer of Judgment ,
Rule 68 ,
Statutory Violations
According to a recent report by WebRecon, court filings under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) were down for the month of October, but filings under the Fair Debt Collection...more
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