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Defendant’s Conduct May Waive Right to Require Arbitration

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.

Bad News for Debt Collectors

An FCC ruling this summer tightens the screws on collectors calling or texting cell phones, with TCPA minimum damages of $500 per call or text. Limits on wrong number calls or texts, no autodialed calls without consent, and it is now easy to withdraw that consent, as explained in this article.

CFPB Proposed Rule: No Mandatory Arbitration for Class Actions

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.

Class Arbitration After Supreme Court’s April 24 Lamps Plus Decision

The Supreme Court has just made it harder, but not impossible, for consumers to proceed in arbitration on a class basis. An ambiguous provision is insufficient to authorize class arbitration, but this article explains how language commonly found in arbitration agreements might still be found to authorize class arbitration.

Congress Amends Eight Consumer Statutes

On May 24, the President signed legislation amending eight consumer statutes—everything from rights of tenants in foreclosed property to mortgage originations to private student loans to credit reporting. This article highlights the changes—both harmful and helpful for consumers.

Federal Remedies for Used Car Fraud Just Got Even More Powerful

This article explains the implications for private litigation of a significant change, effective January 1, 2020, to the federal statute providing remedies for odometer and vehicle titling fraud. Older vehicles formerly exempt will now be covered by strict requirements whose violation will lead to powerful consumer remedies, including $10,000 minimum damages, treble damages, and attorney fees.

FTC Amends Used Car Rule; How to Challenge "As Is" Car Sales

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.

FTC Bans Telechecks, Other Abusive Payments in Telephone Sales

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.

The TCPA Year in Review: Spokeo, FCC Rulings, and a Torrent of Court Decisions (updated February 6, 2017)

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. Vertical Fitness Grp.):

Supreme Court May 13 Ruling Underscores Advantages of False Claims Act Litigation

A recent Supreme Court decision in Cochise Consultancy is favorable for private litigation under the federal False Claims Act (FCA). This article explains how the decision also underscores that FCA litigation has a number of advantages to challenge consumer abuses compared with class actions under traditional consumer causes of action.

New CFPB Rule on Payday, Auto Title, and Installment Loans

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.

New Magnuson-Moss Rules Aid Consumer Warranty Litigation

On May 28, 2015, the FTC announced new changes to its rules under the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act that, effective July 20, 2015, will significantly aid private consumer warranty litigation. The details and impact of the new rules are reflected in revised versions of Chapters 2 and 13 of NCLC’s Consumer Warranty Law, now available on-line.

New Medical Debt Developments

New IRS regulations, attorney general settlements, and CFPB actions offer key new protections relating to delinquent medical debt. These are all covered in the updated online version of Chapter 9 of NCLC’s Collection Actions (3d ed. 2014). Click on highlight updates at the top of a page to see the new changes added since the print edition. Highlights include:

Prepaid Card Rule Latest Regulation of Fast-Changing and Novel Payment Devices

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.

Shortening the Limitations Period on Credit Card Collection Lawsuits

A July 27, 2018 Arizona Supreme Court decision is the latest ruling to offer consumers new ways to argue for a shorter limitations period when defending a credit card collection action. This article examines which statute in a state applies, which state’s limitations period applies, when the period begins, and when it is tolled or revived.