The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently affirmed a bankruptcy court order denying a bank’s motion to compel arbitration, holding that when a debtor seeks to enforce a discharge injunction, a bankruptcy court may decline to compel arbitration because it implicates a bankruptcy court’s ability to enforce its own orders. A copy of the opinion in Henry v. Educational Financial Service is available at: Link to Opinion. A borrower took out a student loan and subsequently filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy. The bankruptcy court confirmed the plan. The borrower made the payments to her creditors, including her…
Posts published in October 2019
The U.S Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recently held that charging too much for goods or services, standing alone, is insufficient to assert a claim under the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act (“ICFA”). Accordingly, the Seventh Circuit affirmed the trial court’s dismissal of a putative class action filed by condominium owners related to fees charged by a property management company and its vendor to provide various documents required to be provided to prospective purchasers of condominium units. A copy of the opinion in Horist v. Sudler and Company is available at: Link to Opinion. The…
The District Court of Appeal for the State of Florida, Second District, recently reversed the dismissal of a plaintiff’s Florida Consumer Collection Practices Act claims relating to bills for medical care incurred as a result of a workplace injury. The trial court dismissed the FCCPA claims on the grounds that Florida’s Workers’ Compensation Law (WCL) granted exclusive jurisdiction over any matter concerning reimbursement to the state’s Department of Financial Services. However, the Appellate Court held that section 440.13(11)(c) of the WCL did not preclude trial court jurisdiction over claims against the plaintiff’s medical providers under the FCCPA for claims that…
Nevada has enacted a new law entitled the “Consumer Protection from the Accrual of Predatory Interest After Default Act,” which relates to consumer form contracts used in connection with retail installment transactions and the prejudgment and postjudgment interest and attorney fees that may be awarded by a court. Signed into law on June 3 and applicable only to contracts entered into on or after Oct. 1, the Act adds a new chapter to Title 8 of the Nevada Revised Statutes, “Commercial Instruments and Transactions.” The Act does not apply to a number of entities, including (but not limited to): banks;…
The Court of Appeals of California, Second District, recently upheld a trial court’s ruling reducing the amount of a plaintiff’s attorney’s fee award in a consumer litigation action to less than 40% of the amount sought by the plaintiff’s counsel. A copy of the opinion in Morris v. Hyundai Motor America is available at: Link to Opinion. The opinion was later revised slightly and certified for publication: Link to Opinion. A car buyer sued the manufacturer of a used car she purchased under California’s Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act, Civ. Code, § 1790 et seq., for alleged defects that the manufacturer refused to…
Three new laws signed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom in recent days will impact consumer credit in the state by capping interest rates on payday and other consumer installment loans, giving automatic exemptions for bank account levies and removing exemptions for attorneys and mortgage loans from the Rosenthal Act. California Financing Law Expanded AB 539 amends the California Financing Law, which licenses and regulates finance lenders and brokers, by imposing new restrictions on loans of $2,500 or more but less than $10,000. It also adds a rate cap on those loans so that the annual simple interest rate may not…
The Illinois Appellate Court, First District, recently held that an entity with only a purported equitable interest in a property was only a permissive party to a foreclosure and not a necessary party, and therefore the plaintiff mortgagee was not required to serve the entity with process. Thus, the allegedly defective service did not provide a basis to vacate the judgments entered against it. Additionally, the Court held that because lack of proper service was not apparent from the face of the record, the foreclosure sale buyer’s interest in the property was protected. Accordingly, the First District affirmed the ruling…
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recently affirmed in part and reversed in part a trial court’s judgment against a debtor who filed an adversary proceeding alleging that a creditor and its counsel violated the bankruptcy discharge by trying to collect a discharged debt, holding that the attorney could not be held in contempt because he lacked knowledge of the discharge, but the creditor could be held liable for the actions of its counsel under agency law. A copy of the opinion in Jacqueline M. Sterling v. Southlake Nautilus Health is available at: Link to Opinion. The plaintiff…
The Court of Appeal for the Second District of California recently affirmed the dismissal of a borrower’s claims for wrongful foreclosure alleging that the assignment of his mortgage to the foreclosing entity was invalid. In so ruling, the Second District rejected the borrower’s argument that a mortgage cannot be assigned to another entity while the loan is in default as illogical and incorrect, in part because this reasoning would allow borrowers to prevent lenders from assigning debt by refusing to make payments. A copy of the opinion in Myles v. Pennymac Loan Services, LLC is available at: Link to Opinion.…
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently vacated an order sua sponte remanding to state court a putative class action removed under the federal Class Action Fairness Act. In so ruling, the Ninth Circuit held: When a notice of removal plausibly alleges a basis for federal court jurisdiction, a federal trial court may not remand the case back to state court without giving the defendants an opportunity to demonstrate that the jurisdictional requirements were satisfied; The amount in controversy may be based on reasonable assumptions tied to the allegations in the complaint; When a statute or contract…
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit recently reversed a trial court’s certification of an injunction class, holding that the injunctive relief sought by the class was improper because the true relief sought was really damages. A copy of the opinion in AA Suncoast Chiropractic Clinic, P.A. v. Progressive American Insurance Co. is available at: Link to Opinion. In 2012, Florida’s law requiring automobile insurance policies to provide personal injury protection (“PIP”) benefits up to $10,000 was amended so that “not every injured motorist will be eligible to access all $10,000 in benefits.” Coverage is capped at $2,500…
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit recently affirmed a judgment in favor of the furnisher of credit information in an action filed under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act and other claims under state common law. In so ruling, the Sixth Circuit held that the FCRA’s preemption provisions apply to state common law claims concerning a furnisher’s reporting obligations, joining similar rulings by the Seventh and Second Circuits. A copy of the opinion in Scott v. First Southern National Bank is available at: Link to Opinion. The plaintiffs owned several investment properties and obtained a $300,000 commercial…