On April 5, 2019, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision holding that a plaintiff asserted a plausible claim under a provision of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) that forbids debt collectors from using “false, deceptive, or misleading representation[s] or means in connection with the collection…
On April 16, 2019, the Maryland Attorney General (“Maryland AG”), in cooperation with Maryland’s Office of the Commissioner of Financial Regulation, announced it had reached a settlement with a Michigan reverse mortgage servicer resolving allegations that the company charged homeowners for home inspection fees in violation of the Maryland Consumer Protection Act, Md. Code…
On March 20, 2019, in the case of Obduskey v. McCarthy & Holthus LLP, the Supreme Court ruled that the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) does not apply to entities that conduct non-judicial foreclosure sales. In so holding, the Court zeroed in on the FDCPA’s definition of “debt collector,”…
On April 15, 2019, the FTC announced that it had reached a settlement with an online lending company for $3.85 million, resolving allegations that the company had engaged in unfair and deceptive loan servicing practices in violation of Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTC Act), 15 U.S.C. § 45, the Telemarketing Sales…
On April 11, 2019, the Maryland Attorney General’s Office (AG) announced that the AG’s Consumer Protection Division had filed charges against affiliated businesses and their owner (defendants) alleging that they had made unlicensed and usurious consumer loans in the form of “title loans” or “title pawns” secured by Maryland consumers’…
On April 8, the Delaware and Massachusetts Attorney Generals’ Offices (AGs) announced that they had entered into settlements with an auto loan finance company. The AGs alleged that the auto lender facilitated the origination of subprime auto loans that violated state consumer protection laws by funding and securitizing loans that consumers could not…
On March 22, 2019, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed summary judgment in Henderson v. United Student Aid Funds, Inc., 2017 WL 766548 (S.D. Cal. Feb. 28, 2017), and remanded the matter back to the Southern District of California to determine if a student loan lender could be vicariously liable for…