A summary of recent top FCRA, TCPA and FDCPA cases from ACA. Editor’s note: This article is available for members only.
8/13/2021 11:00
Each week, ACA International’s compliance team covers relevant case summaries for ACA members. Members may also submit cases for consideration to our compliance team at [email protected].
Here are the cases covered August 9 – August 13:
August 9
Credit One v. Lieberman: TCPA Plaintiff Smacked with Order to Pay Defendants’ Attorneys’ Fees
A district court affirmed an arbitration award ordering a Telephone Consumer Protection Act claimant to pay $187,064 in fees, costs and expenses to a creditor based on the indemnification provision in the underlying account contract after a finding that the plaintiff’s claims were fraudulent.
Continue reading the summary here.
Aljahmi v. Ability: Court Enters FDCPA and MCPA Default Judgment of $21,000
The court found that the consumer was entitled to treble damages under state law due to the debt collector’s apparent intentional violations.
Continue reading the summary here.
August 10
Holmes v. Crown Asset: FDCPA Claims Sunk by Noerr-Pennington
Utah federal district court judge dismisses FDCPA claims based on petition clause immunity and declines to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over state law claims.
Continue reading the summary here.
Carter v. I.C. System Inc.: Collection Letter Not Deceptive
A consumer claimed a collection letter that stated a debt collector would credit report the debt in the creditor’s name within a certain period was deceptive. The debt collector moved to dismiss.
Continue reading the summary here.
Mayfield v. Portfolio Recovery Assoc.: Consumer Wins Partial Summary Judgment in FDCPA Case Based on Improper Summons
A district court granted partial summary judgment for a consumer who alleged a collector violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act at Sec. 1692e(5) because the improper summons invalidly threatened suit.
Continue reading the summary here.
August 11
Holmes v. Crown Asset: FDCPA Claims Sunk by Noerr-Pennington
Utah federal district court judge dismisses FDCPA claims based on petition clause immunity and declines to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over state law claims.
Continue reading the summary here.
Carter v. I.C. System Inc.: Collection Letter Not Deceptive
A consumer claimed a collection letter that stated a debt collector would credit report the debt in the creditor’s name within a certain period was deceptive. The debt collector moved to dismiss..
Continue reading the summary here.
Mayfield v. Portfolio Recovery Assoc.: Consumer Wins Partial Summary Judgment in FDCPA Case Based on Improper Summons
A district court granted partial summary judgment for a consumer who alleged a collector violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act at Sec. 1692e(5) because the improper summons invalidly threatened suit.
Continue reading the summary here.
August 12
Abukhodeir v. Amerihome: Consumers Plausibly Allege Data Furnisher Investigation Was Unreasonable
The consumers found that two mortgage payments were being reported as delinquent. The consumers contacted the data furnisher and found that for an unknown reason their automatic payments had not been processed. The consumer disputed the delinquent payments. However, data furnisher continued reporting the late payments to the credit bureaus despite assuring consumers previously that it would delete any late fees incurred and help consumers to resolve the issue. The court denied the data furnisher’s motion to dismiss.
Continue reading the summary here.
Bilek v. Fed. Ins. Co., TCPA Plaintiff States Sufficient Claim of Vicarious Liability
The 7th Circuit held the plaintiff's allegation that lead generators had apparent authority to act as another company’s agents when they initiated robocalls to the plaintiff's cellphone included enough supporting factual detail to state a sufficient claim for relief.
Continue reading the summary here.
Echols v. Congress: Court Finds Mention of Credit Reporting Did Not Overshadow
The court rejected the consumer’s claim that the threat to report the debt to the CRA amounted to overshadowing, finding the consumer failed to allege a concrete harm that either Congress or the common law recognized.
Continue reading the summary here.
August 13
Gaeta v. Mercer Belanger: Omission of “In Writing” Violated the FDCPA
A district court held that a letter’s failure to explain that disputes must be submitted in writing violated Section 1692g of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, but the court left for another day the issue of whether the consumer had suffered a concrete injury that would confer standing.
Continue reading the summary here.
Lako v. Portfolio Recovery: Court Grants Partial Summary Judgment for FDCPA Defendant and Certifies Preemption Issue for Appeal
A Wisconsin district court found a consumer’s Fair Debt Collection Practices Act claims based on violation of underlying state law requirements related to default and cure were preempted by federal law and certified the issue for interlocutory appeal.
Continue reading the summary here.
McFadden v. Nationstar: Court Finds Collecting Profit from Convenience Fees Potential FDCPA Violation
The loan servicer charged a convenience fee for certain types of payments and retained a 90% profit from them. The consumers claim that these were impermissible fees because the loan servicer paid an estimated 50 cents per transaction and surreptitiously kept the remainder. The loan servicer moved to have the case dismissed.
Continue reading the summary here.
If you’ve recently obtained a judicial opinion that might benefit other ACA members, email it to us: [email protected].
- Join the discussion on legal and compliance topics with your fellow members on the Members Attorney Program community on The Hub. Simply log on to The Hub and select Members Attorney Program under the Communities menu.
- ACA’s Daily Decision is powered by ACA’s Litigation Advocacy and Compliance Teams.