Second Circuit Court Dismisses FACTA Case Under Spokeo

Spokeo related success stories have been hard to come by in 2017. However, a recent second circuit court decision in Katz v. The Donna Karan Company, LLC, et al. provided defendants in a consumer protection class action lawsuit a creative way out. Plaintiff Katz filed the class action lawsuit against the Donna Karan Company for allegedly printing receipts that showed six digits of his credit card number. Katz claimed that this put his identity at risk. The defendants filed a motion to dismiss, arguing that the plaintiff lacked standing because he had merely alleged a small procedural violation of FACTA that did not raise a concrete risk of identity theft. Read the full court opinion here. Telemarketing businesses often face similar lawsuits. Risks can be mitigated by understanding telemarketing rules, DNC list compliance, robocall laws, and overall telemarketing compliance.

Court Finds Defendants Lied to Consumers When Selling Legal Services for Mortgage Relief

A Federal Court has found that business owners Jeremy Foti and Charles Marshall “made numerous false and/or misleading material statements to consumers” during the course of business under their mortgage relief companies Brookstone Law and Advantis Law. The FTC went after the two men earlier this year, alleging that they deceived consumers out of nearly $18 million. The court has imposed monetary damages and banned the two men from any debt relief activities in the future. Read more about this case here. The FTC and the FCC often go after telemarketers as well. Any telemarketing business owner should be sure they understand FCC telemarketing laws. Consider contacting a telemarketing attorney or a TCPA attorney if you want telemarketing compliance help.

Judge Awards Attorney Fees to Defendant in Case Involving Vexatious Litigator

In the case Forto v. Capital One Bank National Association, plaintiff Simonette Forto filed a lawsuit against Capital One for alleged violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Forto had failed to pay off a credit card debt in 2013. Capital One successfully hired a collections firm to negotiate a payment plan with Forto, but Forto provided false banking and routing information to the collections agent. When the collections firm tried calling her again to resolve the payment issue, she filed a lawsuit alleging unscrupulous debt collection practices. Both sides filed a motion to dismiss. The Judge granted the defendant's motion, finding, "defendants did nothing that even comes close to an unscrupulous debt collection practice.”  Click here to view a copy of the court's order. While the FDCP is different than the TCPA, learn what you can do to respond to a TCPA lawsuit. Be sure to contact a TCPA lawyer if you find yourself in a case against a vexatious TCPA litigator.