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FTC Chairman Joseph Simons has announced that he is resigning from the FTC, effective January 29, 2021.  Rebecca Slaughter, one of the two current Democratic FTC Commissioners, has been named Acting FTC Chair by President Biden.  In addition to announcing his own departure, Mr. Simons announced the departure of a number of other senior…

The Federal Trade Commission recently announced that it settled an action it filed against AppFolio, Inc. (“AppFolio”), regarding alleged unfair or deceptive acts or practices, in violation of Section 5 of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. § 45, and violations of multiple provisions of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”), 15 U.S.C. §§ 1681– 1681x,…

On December 15th, the FTC announced in a press release that it had reached a settlement with a mortgage industry data analytics company to resolve allegations in the FTC’s administrative complaint that the company had failed to ensure one of its vendors was adequately securing personal data about tens of thousands of mortgage holders under…

In its second case against a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service provider, the FTC announced that it has reached a proposed settlement with Alcazar Networks Inc. and its owner Gavin Grabias concerning the FTC’s charges that they facilitated tens of millions of illegal telemarketing phone calls.  The proposed settlement bars Alcazar and Grabias from…

The FTC has announced a settlement of its first enforcement action targeting the practice of “debt parking.”  As described in the FTC’s complaint filed in a Missouri federal district court against Midwest Recovery Systems, LLC and its owners, this practice, also referred to as “passive debt collection,” involves the placing of purported debts on consumers’…

In a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, the FTC alleges that a company that distributes a mobile banking application (App) and its founder who is the company’s sole officer have engaged in deceptive practices in violation of Section 5 of the FTC by making misrepresentations regarding consumers’…

The FTC recently published a blog post about a warning letter it sent to TAPD, Inc., which does business as Frank Financial Aid, warning the company that advertising and marketing, including on its website, may be misleading consumers about pandemic-related relief in the form of grants available to postsecondary students and a cash advance product…

The Biden transition has announced the members of its agency review teams.

The team leaders include the following individuals:

CFPB.  The team will be led by Leandra English, who is currently with the New York Department of Financial Services.  As our blog readers may recall, Ms. English was appointed CFPB Deputy Director by…

On November 9, 2020, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced in a press release that it had reached a settlement with Zoom Video Communications, Inc. (Zoom) to resolve allegations that Zoom had engaged in unfair and deceptive acts with regard to its video conferencing services.  Financial institutions and other companies that allowed remote workers to…

PLI’s 25th Annual Consumer Financial Services Institute will take place on December 7-8, 2020 by live webcast.

The Institute is considered the country’s premier consumer financial services CLE program and this year’s Institute will once again explore in detail important developments in consumer financial services regulation and litigation.  I am again co-chairing the event, as…