On October 11, 2024, the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) approved regulations submitted to the California Office of Administrative Law (OAL) under its authority granted by the California...more
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a new Final Rule (the “Rule”) on Wednesday, August 14, 2024, targeting unfair and deceptive acts or practices specifically related to consumer reviews and testimonials, allowing the...more
8/19/2024
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Compliance ,
Endorsements ,
Fake Reviews ,
False Advertising ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Misleading Statements ,
New Rules ,
Online Reviews ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Social Media ,
Testimonial Statements ,
Transparency ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices ,
User-Generated Content
Colorado bankruptcy trustees have recently been increasing their focus on debt settlement companies and attorneys alleged to be performing services in violation of the Colorado Uniform Debt-Management Services Act (“CUDMSA”...more
The Association of the Bar of the City of New York (“NY City Bar”), through its Committee on Professional Ethics (the “Committee”), has unveiled Formal Opinion 2024-4 (the “Opinion”), addressing the nuanced and evolving...more
The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) landscape continues to evolve as new legislation is implemented and courts across various jurisdictions grapple with complex issues regarding standing, agency, and consent. This...more
7/17/2024
/ Article III ,
Auto-Dialed Calls ,
Automated Systems ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Dismissals ,
Do Not Call List ,
Enforcement ,
FCC ,
Lead Generators ,
New Legislation ,
Standing ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
TCPA ,
Telecommunications ,
Telemarketing ,
Text Messages ,
Written Consent
In two landmark decisions during the last week of June 2024, SEC v. Jarkesy et al. (“Jarkesy”) and Loper Bright Enterprises et al. v. Raimondo (“Loper”), the Supreme Court has shown its intent to intensify its scrutiny over...more
On May 15, 2024, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed a class action lawsuit against Subway for alleged Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) violations. See Soliman v. Subway Franchisee Advert. Fund Tr., LTD. The...more
The recent Federal Trade Commission (FTC) vote to ban most non-competes has unveiled a surprisingly bold agenda less than six months out from a U.S. presential election. The FTC’s 3-2 vote was down party lines, with Democrats...more
4/25/2024
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Federal Bans ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
For-Profit Corporations ,
FTC Act ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Non-Disclosure Agreement ,
Non-Solicitation Agreements ,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) ,
Presidential Elections ,
Restrictive Covenants
On March 4, 2024, a federal trial court in New York immediately banned a slew of debt relief service providers from charging and/or collecting any advance fees for debt relief services, finding that the defendant’s initial...more
3/8/2024
/ Debt Relief ,
Debt-Relief Industry ,
Evidentiary Hearings ,
Face-to-Face Narrative Requirement ,
Fees ,
Independent Contractors ,
New York ,
Orders of Prohibition ,
Public Notaries ,
State Bans ,
Telemarketing Sales Rule ,
Trial Court Orders
On February 6, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) filed two proposed stipulated orders with a California federal court to permanently ban student debt relief companies as well as their individual operators. The...more
2/7/2024
/ California ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Debt Relief ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Fees ,
Fraud ,
Fraudulent Marketing ,
FTC Act ,
Loan Forgiveness ,
Student Loans ,
Telemarketing Sales Rule ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
In recent weeks, we have seen an increase in prosecution by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) and state attorneys general against debt relief companies and law firms. Additionally, the focus on these debt...more
On January 24, 2024, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) proposed a new rule, which would expand its crackdown on junk fees. In February 2023, almost a year ago, we wrote about the CFPB’s initial effort to curb...more
Summary of New Jersey Senate Bill No. 2989 - In September 2022, we provided a regulatory update about the then-recently proposed New Jersey Senate Bill No. 2989 (“NJ S.B. 2989”) entitled, “Makes certain for-profit debt...more
This article highlights the few newsworthy actions and events we wrote about the debt settlement industry throughout the year. The debt settlement industry did see some movement by regulatory bodies across the board, though...more
12/20/2023
/ Consent Order ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Credit Cards ,
Debt Collection ,
Debt Settlement Services ,
Debt-Relief Industry ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Injunctions ,
Marketing ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Robocalling ,
Student Loans
Prepaid legal plans offer coverage that grants individuals and families access to a network of qualified attorneys in exchange for a predetermined monthly or annual fee. With legal expense plans, participants can receive...more
On November 20, 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) announced that it had partnered with the 11 States of California, Delaware, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina,...more
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) continues focus its forces on the payment processing space. In June 2023, we published an article foretelling the next regulatory frontier: nonbank payment systems. In July...more
On September 6, 2023, the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office (“Minnesota”) announced that it has begun investigating the operations of more than 50 student-loan debt-relief companies suspected of violating consumer...more
On July 26, 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) published its periodic Supervisory Highlights, summer edition. These most recent Supervisory Highlights shed light on a range of unfair, deceptive, and...more
7/27/2023
/ Bank Deposits ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Reporting Agencies ,
Debt Collection ,
EFTA ,
Fair Lending ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Information Technology ,
Mortgage Servicers ,
Popular ,
Small Dollar Lenders ,
Supervisory Highlights
On July 18, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that the FTC, along with over 100 federal and state law enforcement partners, have launched an extensive campaign named "Operation Stop Scam Calls" to combat the...more
7/20/2023
/ Consumer Information ,
Data Collection ,
Disclosure ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Lead Generators ,
Robocalling ,
Scams ,
State Attorneys General ,
Telemarketing ,
Telemarketing Sales Rule ,
Telephone Service Providers ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices ,
VoIP ,
Websites
As a reminder, on July 20, 2023, the following revisions, among others, will come into effect regarding the TCPA. One of the essential changes to the TCPA regulations is that residential telephone subscribers will now have...more
On July 11, 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a consent order against Bank of America (BoA) based on the CFPB’s findings that BoA had engaged in unfair and deceptive trade practices. This consent...more
On June 30, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) introduced a groundbreaking proposal to combat deceptive marketing practices involving fake reviews and endorsements. This proposed rule aims to protect consumers seeking...more
On June 27, 2023, the CFPB reached a consent order with the companies regarding the more than 1.4 million erroneous electronic fund transfer payment instructions initiated by ACI through the ACH Network. The CFPB considers...more
On June 21, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a civil lawsuit against Amazon, alleging the use of "dark patterns" to deceive consumers into enrolling in automatically renewing Prime subscriptions. What is...more