2016 was an active year for changes concerning the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). This article highlights the following changes, with more detail found in NCLC’s Federal Deception Law ch. 6, as most recently updated online on January 6, 2017 (The chapter has now been updated online again on February 6, 2017, including a new January 30, 2017 Ninth Circuit decision in Van Patten v...

As detailed in this article, a defendant may waive its right to compel arbitration by refusing to pay arbitration fees, by participating in class litigation pre-certification, or by participating too long in an individual or even a related court action.

On November 10, the FTC issued a final regulation amending its Used Car Rule. This article explains the rule changes and then lists 15 ways in which a consumer can bring an action for a defective used car despite an “as is” disclaimer.

This article describes Oct. 28 Department of Education rules providing key new rights for student loan borrowers: arbitration limits, school-related defenses to loans, and strengthened closed school and false certification discharges.

The online version of NCLC’s Collection Actions treatise has added an all-new chapter 10a on representing consumers with criminal justice debt—too often overlooked, but a major problem for millions of Americans. This article describes the chapter’s highlights.

This article highlights steps to take to prepare for the end of HAMP and other Making Home Affordable programs that sunset at the end of 2016. Reference can also be made to Treasury Supplemental Directive 16-02 and 16-03.

The DC Circuit’s October 11 decision in PHH Corp. that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is unconstitutional will have far more limited impact on the agency than one might presume, as explained in this article.

Not just the UCC anymore. As described in this article, CFPB, FTC, Treasury, NACHA, other rules are catching up to today’s novel ways payments are made to and from consumers: payroll, prepaid, gift, college, debit, Direct Express, and EBT cards, mobile wallets, P2P transfers, remittances, EFT, and much more.

A Mississippi federal court on November 7 preliminarily enjoined a new federal rule that would have banned arbitration clauses in nursing home and other long-term care contracts, as described in this updated article.

Effective October 3, Department of Defense rules limit interest rates to 36%, prohibit arbitration, and provide strong private remedies for all non-purchase money, closed end credit offered to the country’s 3 million servicemembers and their dependents, as described in this article.

Ninth Circuit’s July 20 Decision Important Step in Resolving Split Among the Courts In a comprehensive opinion in Hernandez v. Williams, Zinman & Parham PC, 2016 WL 3913445 (9th Cir. July 20, 2016), the Ninth Circuit held that “…the FDCPA unambiguously requires any debt collector—first or subsequent—to send a § 1692g(a) validation notice within five days of its first communication with a consumer...

In evaluating whether to file a court action for violations of the RESPA Reg. X loss mitigation rule, determine if the servicer evaluated any of the client’s earlier loss mitigation applications. Reg. X, 12 C.F.R. § 1024.41(i) provides that a servicer is "only required to comply with the requirements of this section for a single complete loss mitigation application for a borrower’s mortgage loan...

A new Department of Education rule, effective July 1, limits fees for campus prepaid cards used to dispense financial aid credit, preventing schools from profiting from students’ access to their financial aid benefits, as described in this article.

Fair Debt Collection Practice Act litigation is one of the most active types of consumer litigation in the federal courts. This article summarizes four FDCPA circuit court decisions, from this May and June.

As described in this article, effective June 13, the FTC has banned the use of telechecks, other remotely created orders, “cash-to-cash money transfers,” and “cash reload mechanisms” when goods or services are sold to consumers using the telephone.

New features have just been added to our online treatises—the option to view search results ordered by section number (instead of by relevance) and flags to help you pinpoint just updated sections and significant law changes. This article contains tips on using these new features.

This article details not only the CFPB’s June 2 proposed rule covering payday lending, auto title, and installment loans, but also links to practice tips on representing clients with these predatory loans and links to state-by-state analyses of applicable law.

The Seventh Circuit on May 26 ruled that the National Labor Relations Act prohibits enforcement of class waivers against employees. This article explains the case and its implications for challenges to arbitration of both employment and consumer disputes.

Analyses and briefs to facilitate individual rights representation, addressing standing challenges based on the Supreme Court’s May 16, 2016, decision in Spokeo v. Robins: Statute-Specific Spokeo Analyses Telephone Consumer Protection Act Spokeo analysis: For subscribers to Federal Deception Law For non-subscribers Truth in Lending Act Spokeo analysis: For subscribers to Truth in Lending General...

One of today’s hottest litigation issues is standing in federal cases seeking statutory damages, in light of this term's Supreme Court’s Spokeo decision. As explained in this continually updated article, NCLC provides ongoing Spokeo analysis, briefs, and over 40 new case citations, for subscribers and even non-subscribers.