In a Bind about CFPB's Arbitration Rule?

Don't be. At least Republican lawmakers are certainly not. On Tuesday, the U.S. House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly, 231-190, to eliminate the CFPB's final rule arbitration rule using a procedural mechanism called the Congressional Review Act.

The Congressional Review Act allows both houses of Congress to vote on resolutions of disapproval within 60 legislative days of a proposed rule being published in the Federal Register. Under the CRA, the resolution can be brought to the House floor without going to a committee vote, and does not need a filibuster-proof, 60 vote majority to pass in the Senate. If the President signs the resolution, the CFPB would be barred from developing a regulation that is substantially similar to the one disapproved unless Congress specifically authorizes it. More ›

Third Circuit Rules that a Single Voicemail on a Cell Phone is Sufficient to Confer Standing for a TCPA Claim

In another court's journey into the murky waters of constitutional standing post-Spokeo, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that one single voicemail on a consumer's cell phone is sufficient to confer standing under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). In Sussino v. Work Out World, Inc., the plaintiff alleged that she received an unsolicited call on her cell phone from Work Out World (WOW). When she did not answer, WOW left a prerecorded promotional offer lasting more than one minute on her voicemail. WOW moved to dismiss for lack of standing under Article III. The district court granted WOW's motion on the grounds that a single solicitation was not "the type of case that Congress was trying to protect people against," and in any event, the call and voicemail did not cause a concrete injury. Sussino appealed. More ›

CFPB Rule Bars the Use of Mandatory Arbitration Clauses to Prohibit Class Actions; Some Members of Congress Vow to Take Action to Reverse

This week, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) adopted a final rule prohibiting a broad range of financial firms from using mandatory arbitration clauses to bar class action suits and received wide press coverage. The CFPB announced that this final rule would "restore the ability of groups of people to file or join group lawsuits." Some in the financial services industry potentially subject to the rule have already issued statements opposing and attacking it and asking that Congress use its statutory authority to reverse the CFPB's action. More ›

A Missing Massachusetts Promissory Note's Outsized Potential Impact on Foreclosures

In Zullo v. HMC Assets, LLC, the Massachusetts Land Court has issued a judicial about-face in deciding that a mortgage holder lacks standing to foreclose if that holder never possessed the mortgagor's original promissory note – even if that holder can submit a lost note affidavit from a predecessor holder. In a written decision issued in August 2014, the Land Court determined, in the very same case, that the mortgage holder could foreclose without possession of the original promissory note but with a lost note affidavit executed by a prior loan servicer. The 2014 Zullo decision directly contradicted two decisions arising out of the Massachusetts bankruptcy court, Desmond v. Raymond C. Green, Inc., 505 B.R. 365 (Bankr. D. Mass. 2014); Marks v. Braunstein, 439 B.R. 248 (Bankr. D. Mass. 2010), both of which concluded that under Massachusetts law, the foreclosing mortgage holder must have at one point possessed the original note, so that it can execute the lost note affidavit. More ›

A Cautionary Tale Regarding Case and Witness Preparation in Third Circuit TCPA and FDCPA Decision

In a cautionary tale for the defense bar, the Third Circuit recently upheld a consumer's TCPA claims and reversed summary judgment on the FDCPA claims in Daubert v. NRA, Nos. 16-3613 and 16-3629 (3d Cir. July 3, 2017). More ›

Happiness is not a Fresh Baguette: Failure to Redact Expiration Date Insufficient to Create Standing under FACTA

Happiness is not a fresh baguette…at least not for one FACTA plaintiff. In Crupar-Weinmann v. Paris Baguette America, Inc., the Second Circuit, in line with the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins, 136 S. Ct. 1540 (2016), affirmed the District Court’s dismissal of plaintiff’s complaint with prejudice. The Second Circuit held that while Paris Baguette’s failure to redact the expiration date of plaintiff’s credit card number was a technical violation of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 (“FACTA”), by itself, that violation did not result in an injury sufficient to confer Article III standing. More ›