Category Archives: U.S. Supreme Court

Am. Banker: CFPB on Collision Course with Trump’s Justice Department

Here.  Excerpt: * * * Title X of the Dodd-Frank Act * * * gives the agency explicit authority to pursue its own litigation up to and including the Circuit Court level. But when it comes to the Supreme Court, the law says the CFPB must first file a written request to the U.S. Attorney General […]

Kathleen Engel Article: Local Governments and Risky Home Loans

Just in time for the Supreme Court's oral argument on Tuesday in Wells Fargo v. Miami, Suffolk's Kathleen Engel, an important thinker on consumer law, has written Local Governments and Risky Home Loans, 69 Southern Methodist University Law Review 609.  Here is the abstract: Municipalities from the Central Valley in California to Upstate New York bear the […]

SCOTUS Takes FDCPA Case

The case is Midland Funding, LLC v. Johnson.  SCOTUSBlog describes the issues as: (1) Whether the filing of an accurate proof of claim for an unextinguished time-barred debt in a bankruptcy proceeding violates the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act; and (2) whether the Bankruptcy Code, which governs the filing of proofs of claim in bankruptcy, […]

SCOTUS Takes FHA Cases: Do Cities Have Standing to Sue for Discrimination Under the FHA?

SCOTUSBLOG coverage here and here. Reuters reports here. The Reuters lead reads: "The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to decide whether Miami can pursue lawsuits accusing major banks of predatory mortgage lending to black and Hispanic home buyers resulting in loan defaults that drove down city tax revenues and property values." HousingWire has more […]

Sheriff and the FDCPA’s Materiality Requirement

by Jeff Sovern Yesterday the Supreme Court decided the Sheriff case.  One oddity about the case has to do with whether immaterial misrepresentations give rise to liability under the FDCPA.  Several circuits have held that misrepresentations have to be material to generate FDCPA liability.  See, e.g., Donohue v. Quick Collect, Inc., 562 F.3d 1027 (9th […]

CFPB issues proposed rule on forced arbitration clauses that ban class actions

The CFPB has just released its much-awaited proposed rule on forced arbitration clauses — arguably the single biggest step the Bureau can take to level the playing field for American consumers.  If adopted after notice-and-comment, the CFPB's new rule would prohibit forced arbitration clauses that prevent consumers from banding together to hold companies accountable in court, […]