The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently held that the trial court had Article III jurisdiction and did not abuse its discretion in approving a settlement between a social media company and a nationwide class of its users who alleged that the social media company routinely scanned and collected their private information without their consent.
Posts tagged as “Ninth Circuit”
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently rejected a loan servicer’s appeal from a Bankruptcy Appellate Panel’s ruling to remand to the lower bankruptcy court a punitive damages award for alleged discharge violations.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently affirmed summary judgment in favor of a guaranty agency that caused a set-off against a plaintiff’s Social Security benefits to recover a judgment assigned to it based on a defaulted student loan.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently affirmed a trial court’s order reducing the amount of attorneys’ fees requested by class counsel by cutting the number of hours expended by class counsel by 25%.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently held that a collection letter offering payment options on a time-barred debt and listing “benefits” of paying the debt was not deceptive or misleading under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Meanwhile, the CFPB is expected to take up the issue of time-barred debt disclosures early next year.
In a case of first impression in that circuit, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently reversed a trial court’s dismissal of a consumer’s Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) claim for lack of standing and failure to state a claim, holding that the plaintiff had Article III standing. In so ruling, the Ninth Circuit held that the consumer suffered a concrete injury in fact when a bank obtained her credit report for a purpose not authorized by the statute, and it was irrelevant whether the report was published or used by the party requesting it. The Court…
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 Ninth Circuit recently affirmed a trial court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of the financial services defendants in an action to rescind the mortgage under the federal Truth in Lending Act. In so ruling, the Ninth Circuit held that the plaintiff consumer did not have a right of rescission under TILA, 15 U.S.C. § 1601 et seq., because he previously quitclaimed his interest in the property to his ex-wife, and his new loan to acquire the property from his ex-wife was a “residential mortgage transaction.” A copy of the opinion in Barnes v.…
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently reversed a trial court order remanding a case to state court for lack of jurisdiction under the federal Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA) because the jurisdictional allegations pleaded provided a short and plain statement of jurisdiction. The Court held this was sufficient, even without supporting evidence, to confer jurisdiction. A copy of the opinion in Ehrman v. Cox Communications, Inc. is available at: Link to Opinion. A plaintiff filed a class action complaint against a defendant in California state court claiming the defendant “had engaged in unlawful business practices related…
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently held that class plaintiffs alleged a concrete and particularized harm sufficient to confer Article III standing where the defendant company’s alleged collection, use, and storage of the plaintiffs’ biometric information was the substantive harm targeted by the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), which statute protects the plaintiffs’ concrete privacy interests. The Ninth Circuit further held that the district court did not abuse its discretion in certifying the class. Accordingly, the Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court orders certifying the class, and denying the defendant’s motion to dismiss. A copy…
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that where a company sent dispute letters to a credit reporting agency on behalf of a consumer, but the consumer did not identify the items to be disputed, review the letters, or otherwise play any role in preparing the letters, the letters did not come “directly” from the consumer, and the CRA was not required to conduct a reinvestigation under section 1681i of the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). As a result, the Ninth Circuit held that the CRA did not violate section 1681i, and also did not act…
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently reversed the dismissal of a putative class action under the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act finding that the plaintiff adequately alleged that the defendant placed calls using an automated telephone dialing system. In so ruling, the Ninth Circuit joined with a similar ruling by the Fourth Circuit, and held that the TCPA’s exception for calls “made solely to collect a debt owed to or guaranteed by the United States” was incompatible with the First Amendment and severed the exception as an unconstitutional restriction on speech. A copy of the opinion in…