Last month, the CFPB, jointly with the FTC, filed an amicus brief in Sykes v. Mel S. Harris and Associates LLC, a Fair Debt Collection Practices Act case on appeal to the Second Circuit.  This represents the fourth FDCPA case in which the CFPB has filed an amicus brief, with one previous brief filed earlier this year in the Seventh Circuit and two previous briefs filed in 2012 and 2011 in the Tenth and Eleventh Circuits. … Continue Reading

Last year, many observers were disappointed when the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed the appeal in First American Financial Corp. v. Edwards, the case that presented the issue of whether a plaintiff who brings a RESPA claim has Article III standing to recover statutory damages in the absence of any actual damages caused by the alleged RESPA violation. … Continue Reading

Thirteen amicus briefs have been filed in Township of Mount Holly v. Mt. Holly Gardens Citizens in Action, Inc., the case pending in the U.S. Supreme Court in which the question presented is whether disparate impact claims are cognizable under the Fair Housing Act (FHA).  

Twelve of the amicus briefs support the Township’s position that the FHA prohibits only intentional discrimination and does not allow disparate impact claims. … Continue Reading

A new amicus brief filing by the CFPB recently appeared on the CFPB’s amicus program webpage.  On August 14, 2013, the CFPB, jointly with the FTC, filed an amicus brief
in Delgado v. Capital Management Services, LP, et al., a case on appeal to the Seventh Circuit.  The brief urges the Seventh Circuit to affirm the district court’s refusal to dismiss a class action complaint alleging that a debt collector’s letter offering a settlement of the plaintiff’s credit card debt violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) because it did not disclose that the debt was time-barred.  … Continue Reading

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and his 44 Senate Republican colleagues have filed an amicus brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to grant certiorari in NLRB v. Noel Canning. Indicating that the Republican Senators have “an unparalleled interest in safeguarding the chamber’s constitutionally prescribed role in the appointments process, which the Executive here sought to circumvent,” the brief argues that the court should not limit its review to the questions presented in the NLRB’s certiorari petition.  … Continue Reading

ScaleThe CFPB, jointly with the FTC and Justice Department, has filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court supporting the consumer’s position in Marx v. General Revenue Corp.  In May, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case and decide whether the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act allows an award of costs to the prevailing defendant even without a finding that the suit was filed by the plaintiff in bad faith and for the purpose of harassment.… Continue Reading

In an opinion issued on May 3, 2012, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has held that a lawsuit seeking rescission is timely where the consumer provided notice of rescission within three years of closing but did not file suit until after the three-year deadline had passed. The Fourth Circuit’s decision in Gilbert v.Continue Reading