Joel E. Tasca

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The defendant in Marks v. Crunch San Diego has filed a petition for certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court seeking review of the Ninth Circuit’s September 2018 decision interpreting the TCPA’s automatic telephone dialing system (ATDS) definition.

In Marks, a unanimous Ninth Circuit three-judge panel held that the TCPA’s definition of an ATDS includes telephone equipment that can automatically dial phone numbers stored in a list, rather than just phone numbers that the equipment randomly or sequentially generates. … Continue Reading

The FCC has taken a step toward getting control over the potential TCPA exposure a business faces when it calls one of its customers at a phone number that, unbeknownst to the business, has been reassigned from the customer to someone else.

On December 13, 2018, the FCC released an order directing the creation of a single comprehensive database of disconnected numbers. … Continue Reading

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has issued a notice asking for comment on what constitutes an automatic telephone dialing system (ATDS) under the TCPA following the Ninth Circuit’s September 20, 2018 decision in Marks v. Crunch San Diego.  In May 2018, the FCC issued a notice announcing that it was seeking comments on several TCPA issues following the D.C.… Continue Reading

Yesterday, a coalition of numerous trade organizations, including, among others, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the American Bankers Association, the Consumer Bankers Association, and the Mortgage Bankers Association, filed a Petition for Declaratory Ruling with the Federal Communications Commission (the “FCC”), seeking clarification of the definition of “automatic telephone dialing system” (“ATDS”) under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”).  … Continue Reading

Last week, in Morgan Drexen, Inc. v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a divided panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of an action challenging the constitutionality of the CFPB.  The court did not reach the merits of the constitutional challenge, but rather held that the district court properly dismissed the case for lack-of-standing, and for failure to demonstrate that declaratory and injunctive relief were procedurally proper.… Continue Reading

Key members of the CFPB’s enforcement, regulatory and supervision offices spoke yesterday at PLI’s 20th Annual Consumer Financial Services Institute in New York City.  The session addressed recent developments and upcoming initiatives at the CFPB, and took the form of a Q&A between the moderator and a panel of practitioners and CFPB personnel.… Continue Reading

Today, the CFPB entered a consent order that requires subprime credit card company, Continental Finance Company, LLC (“Continental”), to refund an estimated $2.7 million to consumers who were charged alleged illegal credit card fees. The consent order also imposes a civil penalty on Continental in the amount of $250,000.

In the consent order, the CFPB found that Continental required cardholders to pay fees during the credit card account’s first year that exceeded 25% of the account’s initial credit limit, in violation of the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure Act of 2009 (the “CARD Act”).… Continue Reading

Last December, the CFPB sued a Texas-based company, Union Workers Credit Services, alleging that the company deceived consumers into paying fees to sign up for a “platinum card” that purported to be a general-use credit card but, in actuality, could only be used to buy products from the company. See our prior post discussing the CFPB’s complaint here.… Continue Reading

Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court invited the Solicitor General to file a brief to express the Obama administration’s views on whether certiorari should be granted in a consumer case involving an important issue of statutory standing. In the case – Spokeo v. Robins – the issue is whether a plaintiff asserting a private cause of action under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act has the requisite injury-in-fact for Article III standing when his complaint alleges no injury other than violation of the statutory right itself.… Continue Reading

On October 2, 2014, the CFPB announced a research pilot to explore ways to encourage saving among consumers at tax time, with particular focus on tax-time saving practices among low-income consumers. The pilot is part of the CFPB’s “Project Catalyst,” which is designed to encourage consumer-friendly developments in markets for consumer financial products and services.… Continue Reading