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.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on May 5 released its proposed rule that would largely eliminate mandatory arbitration of financial services class actions. A summary of the proposal and a listing of other limits on mandatory arbitration is found here.

In Evankavitch v. Green Tree Servicing, L.L.C., 793 F.3d 355 (3d Cir. 2015), the Third Circuit holds that the mortgage servicer had the burden of persuasion with the jury that the servicer’s call to a third party was permitted by the § 1692b(3) exception. That exception allows follow-up calls to a third party for location information if “...the debt collector reasonably believes that the earlier...

On April 14, 2016 the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced what it described as its final loss mitigation initiative of the foreclosure crisis, a “Principal Reduction Modification Program.” The Program will apply to a limited number of loans owned or insured by Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae. Borrowers will not be able to apply for these modifications. Instead, during the latter half of 2016...

On March 22, the Supreme Court ruled, despite differences among class members, that representative and statistical evidence could be the basis for a class certification ruling. The case is described more fully in this article.

A unique treatise covering the TCPA, FTC Holder Rule, Other FTC and CFPB Rules, RICO, false claims acts, regulation of telemarketing and debt relief services, and more, as summarized in this article.

Two circuits earlier this year held arbitration inapplicable to non-signatories, and another two circuits (despite Italian Colors) ruled that arbitration cannot limit federal statutory rights through high fees or the use of tribal law. More detail can be found in this article

It is increasingly likely that cases currently awaiting decision before the Supreme Court will be decided by eight justices. Two of the cases argued last fall and now awaiting decision could have dramatic impacts on consumer law and class action practices, and this article describes the implications if those cases result in a 4 to 4 tie. Spokeo v. Robins Described Spokeo v. Robins is a Fair Credit...

This article summarizes six new reported FDCPA appellate decisions handed down mid-November, 2015 though early January, 2016. In addition, FDCPA practitioners should be aware of the following: The Supreme Court’s decision in Campbell-Ewald Co. v. Gomez, ___ U.S. ___, 2016 WL 228345 (Jan. 20, 2016), clarifying certain TCPA issues as discussed in this article and making it much more difficult for...

The Supreme Court’s January 20 Gomez decision holds that an unaccepted settlement offer or offer of judgment making the class representative whole does not moot out a class action. This important decision for consumer class actions is discussed here.