On December 11, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced it had reached a settlement with the remaining Defendants in an enforcement action against multiple related companies and their controllers involved in an alleged phantom debt scheme in which the Defendants pressured consumers into paying non-existent debts by threatening legal action…
On December 30, 2019, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada had ruled in its favor in a case against the operators of a mortgage scheme that deceived homeowners, which was filed in January 2018. Per the findings of the final…
On December 16, 2019, the California Department of Business Oversight (DBO) announced that it had entered into a consent order and settlement with an auto title lender to resolve allegations that the company violated the California Financing Law, Fin. Code Section 22000 et seq. Per the settlement, the auto title…
On December 2, 2019, the United States government submitted a brief to the Supreme Court urging it to deny review of a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling holding a provision of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) unconstitutional under the First Amendment. In the case in question, Gallion v….
On December 10, 2019, the FTC announced a settlement with a major for-profit university and its parent company to resolve allegations that they deceived potential students in violation of the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTC Act), 15 U.S.C.§ 45. According to the FTC, the defendants used advertisements to attract students…
On September 30, 2019, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it had filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland against a Maryland used cars dealership, and its owner and manager, for allegedly violating the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. The complaint’s allegations are…
On November 15, 2019, the Eleventh Circuit decertified a Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) class in Cordoba v. DIRECTV, LLC (No. 18-12077, 2019 WL 6044305), finding that the plaintiff could not adequately identify potential class members without resorting to individualized inquiries. The plaintiff alleged that DIRECTV failed to maintain an…
On November 19, 2019, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office (AG) announced that it had settled its investigation into a used car dealership’s allegedly unfair and deceptive sales practices in violation of the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act. The AG alleged that the Massachusetts car dealership and its owner misrepresented material information about…
On November 22, 2019 the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it had filed a proposed stipulated judgment in the federal district court in the Southern District of New York that would resolve claims that a New York-based employment background screening company violated sections 605(a), 607(b), and 613(a) of the Fair Credit…
On December 5, 2019, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that a federal court in Texas has halted the operations of a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service provider that allegedly played a key role in robocalling consumers to promote a credit card interest reduction scheme that bilked consumers out…