The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit recently held that the tolling doctrine set forth in American Pipe & Constr. Co. v. Utah does not apply where the named plaintiff in a failed class action commences a subsequent lawsuit outside the statute of limitations. In so ruling, the Court held that American Pipe only tolls the statute of limitations for unnamed members of the putative class. A copy of the opinion in Weitzner v. Sanofi Pasteur Inc. is available at: Link to Opinion. In April 2004 and March 2005, a doctor received two unsolicited faxes from a pharmaceutical company and…
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit held that a title insurer under Pennsylvania state law only had a duty to defend its insured lender for the covered claims alleged in the four corners of a borrower’s complaint, not for all alleged claims under the “in for one, in for all” rule. A copy of the opinion in Lupu v. Loan City, LLC is available at: Link to Opinion. A Pennsylvania borrower refinanced his home loan and mortgage with a lender. The loan transferred several times finally ending up with the current holder. A title insurer provided title…
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recently joined the Fourth, Sixth, Eighth, Ninth, and Eleventh Circuits, in ruling that class or collective arbitrability is a gateway question that is presumptively for the court to decide, rather than the arbitrator. In so ruling, the Court vacated the trial court’s order enforcing a $10 million federal “wage and hour” Fair Labor Standards Act arbitration award against the defendant. A copy of the opinion in Herrington v. Waterstone Mortgage Corporation is available at: Link to Opinion. The plaintiff filed a putative class and collective action against her former employer. She alleged…
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois recently held that the defendant company did not use an automatic telephone dialing system (ATDS) because its phone system did not use a random or sequential number generator to store or produce phone numbers to be called. In so ruling, the Court reversed a prior order and now entered summary judgment in favor of the defendant company on the plaintiff’s alleged TCPA claim in light of ACA International v. FCC, 885 F.3d 687, 695 (D.C. Cir. 2018). A copy of the opinion in Johnson v. Yahoo! Inc. is available at:…
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recently affirmed a trial court’s finding that a servicer did not violate the federal Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) and Wis. Stat. § 224.77 because the borrower could not prove that the servicer’s alleged failure to completely respond to a “qualified written request” (QWR) caused any actual damages, notwithstanding the alleged attorney’s fees incurred in reviewing the servicer’s response and the borrower’s alleged emotional distress. In so ruling, the Seventh Circuit held that “RESPA was not intended to give people who cannot pay their mortgages the means to engage in…
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California recently dismissed a consumer’s putative class action lawsuit against a mortgage lending and servicing company for purported damages sustained as a result of a security breach wherein his personal information was compromised, and the hackers attempted to open credit cards in his name. Although the Court previously concluded that the consumer had standing to bring his claims under Article III of the Constitution, it held that the consumer failed to state causes of action for negligence and violations of various California laws. A copy of the opinion in Razuki v.…
In a 2-1 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit recently held that, because a complaint’s sole federal claim under the Garn-St. Germain Depository Institutions Act of 1982 did not provide a private cause of action, and because the state law claims did not implicate significant federal issues, the trial court lacked jurisdiction. Accordingly, the Sixth Circuit vacated the trial court’s judgment with instructions to remand the case to state court. A copy of the opinion in Estate of Cornell v. Bayview Loan Servicing, LLC is available at: Link to Opinion. The borrower died with an outstanding…
The Appellate Court of Illinois, First District, held that a borrower’s petition to vacate a final foreclosure order based on allegedly improper service filed six months after the borrower first participated in the foreclosure action was time-barred under the Illinois Mortgage Foreclosure Law. Accordingly, the Appellate Court affirmed the ruling of the trial court dismissing the borrower’s petition. A copy of the opinion in Wells Fargo Bank v. Roundtree is available at: Link to Opinion. In September 2015, the plaintiff mortgagee instituted a foreclosure action against the defendant borrower after she defaulted on her mortgage loan. The mortgagee served the…
In an unpublished ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that when a debt collector did not seek to collect fees and interest after default, its letter to a borrower that did not state whether fees and interest continued to accrue after default did not engage in deceptive or misleading conduct in violation of the FDCPA. A copy of the opinion in Derosa v. CAC Financial Corp. is available at: Link to Opinion. After a borrower defaulted on her credit card account, the original creditor assigned the account to a debt collector. The debt collector sent a letter…
A debt collector sent a letter to a consumer stating: “We can’t change the past, but we can help with your future.” The letter contained three payment options that were described as “discounts,” though one was merely a payment plan for the full balance. The letter advised “[i]f you pay your full balance, we will report your account as Paid in Full. If you pay less than your full balance, we will report your account as Paid in Full for less than the full balance.” The consumer filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of…
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit recently held that, at least under the Massachusetts version of the UCC, automobile post-repossession and post-sale notices must expressly advise the borrower that any deficiency will be calculated using the difference between the amount owed on the loan and the fair market value of the vehicle instead of the difference between the amount owed on the loan and the auction sale price. In so ruling, the Court held that the defendant’s compliance with the safe-harbor provision contained in the Massachusetts UCC that uses the auction sale proceeds to measure any deficiency…
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held that a defendant waived its right to arbitrate due to its “gratuitous delay” in seeking arbitration, where it waited 13 months after the filing of the lawsuit before moving to compel arbitration, and that any showing of prejudice to the non-moving party was not required. Accordingly, the Seventh Circuit affirmed the trial court’s ruling denying a motion to compel arbitration. A copy of the opinion in Smith v. GC Services Limited Partnership is available at: Link to Opinion. The plaintiff applied for and received a credit card from a bank. The credit…