Author Archives: Scott Nelson

Supreme Court Addresses Discovery Rule for FDCPA Statute of Limitations

The Supreme Court this morning decided Rotkiske v. Klemm, No. 18-328, holding that absent the application of an equitable doctrine, the FDCPA’s statute of limitations begins to run on the date on which the alleged FDCPA violation occurs, not the date on which the violation is discovered. The question in Rotkiske was whether a discovery […]

Briefing Schedule Set in Supreme Court Showdown over CFPB

The Supreme Court has established a briefing schedule in the Seila Law case, which presents the question whether limitations on presidential removal of the director of the CFPB render the agency's structure unconstitutional. The schedule was jointly proposed by the attorneys representing Seila Law (which challenged an agency enforcement action on the ground that limits […]

Clement to Argue for CFPB’s Constitutionality

The Supreme Court has tapped Paul Clement of the law firm Kirkland & Ellis to support the constitutionality of the CFPB director's tenure protection in the Seila Law v. CFPB case in which the Court granted certiorari last week. Because the CFPB no longer defends its own constitutionality, Clement will be designated a court-appointed amicus […]

Supreme Court to Decide Constitutionality of CFPB

The Supreme Court today issued orders stemming from this morning's conference in which the Justices considered what new cases to take up. Among those cases is Seila Law v. CFPB, which raises the question of the constitutionality of the placing the agency under a director protected against removal at will by the President. The Court […]

CFPB Announces Taskforce on Federal Consumer Financial Law

The CFPB announced last Friday the planned formation of a "Taskforce on Federal Consumer Financial Law." According to the Bureau, "[t]he taskforce will examine the existing legal and regulatory environment facing consumers and financial services providers and report recommendations on ways to improve and strengthen consumer financial laws and regulations to CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger."  […]

CFPB Abandons Defense of Its Own Constitutionality

For years, subjects of CFPB enforcement actions have challenged the constitutionality of the agency's structure, arguing that separation-of-powers principles forbid Congress to grant enforcement authority to an independent agency whose director is protected against being fired without cause by the President. Throughout that time, the agency has defended its own constitutionality, and has prevailed in […]

Seventh and Third Circuits Issue Pro-Consumer FDCPA Decisions

Two recent appellate decisions have continued the courts' exploration of how the Supreme Court's Spokeo standing decision affects cases under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). Both find that a debt collector's actions violated a right conferred on consumers by the statute and that the deprivation of the right was an injury sufficient to […]

Ninth Circuit: TCPA Survives Constitutional Challenge After Minor Cosmetic Surgery

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit yesterday rejected Facebook's effort to avoid a Telephone Consumer Protection Act lawsuit on First Amendment grounds. Facebook had argued that a recent amendment to the law, which excepted calls seeking to collect debts owed to or guaranteed by the federal government from the TCPA's ban on […]

Kavanaugh v. Gorsuch, er, I mean, Apple, Inc. v. Pepper

For the second time this Supreme Court Term, Justice Gorsuch has dissented from a majority opinion by Justice Kavanaugh. Both times, the beneficiary of Kavanaugh's vote has been a plaintiff whose cause of action Kavanaugh would recognize but Gorsuch would not. In today's opinion, Apple, Inc. v. Pepper, the result is that consumers seeking to […]

Second Circuit Joins Consensus Holding TCPA Plaintiffs Have Standing Under Spokeo

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) provides people whose cell phones receive unconsented-to, autodialed calls and texts a right to sue. Since the Supreme Court's decision in Spokeo, Inc.  v. Robins, 136 S. Ct. 1540 (2016), which held that statutory violations unaccompanied by "concrete injuries" do not provide a plaintiff with "standing" to sue in […]