On November 17, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit affirmed a district court’s decision holding defendants liable for deceptive and abusive practices under the CFPA. In a suit brought by the CFPB, the defendants, a mortgage payment company, appealed from a bench trial, challenging the lower court’s findings as “clearly erroneous.” Defendants also challenged the CFPB director’s authority to bring the action, the applicable limitations period, as well as the court’s application of the Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act (TCFAPA). The appellate court upheld the lower court’s decision, finding that defendants’ arguments addressing the constitutionality of the CFPB director’s for-cause removal protections between 2015 and 2020 were foreclosed by binding precedent, that the action was timely, and that defendants acted as “sellers” under the TCFAPA by sending mailers to solicit callers and operating a call center to offer financial services. The court further found that the district court did not improperly dismiss defendants’ counterclaims against the CFPB or abuse its discretion by excluding exhibits and expert testimony, noting that the expert report lacked expert methodologies and scholarly or technical sources.
[View source.]
