One of the most aggressive attacks on the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) recently made its way to the United States Supreme Court in Barr v. American Association of Political Consultants. With Chief Justice John Roberts questioning why “the whole statute shouldn’t fall” during oral argument, hopes were high that the TCPA might finally
Supreme Court Holds That Part of CFPB’s Structure Is Unconstitutional
This morning, the United States Supreme Court issued its decision in Seila Law v. CFPB. Authoring the opinion for a five-justice majority, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) single-director configuration, in which the CFPB’s director can only be removed for a specific list of reasons, was unconstitutional. However,
A Good Day for Lenders: Texas Supreme Court Rules that Lenders Still Entitled to Equitable Subrogation for Non-compliant Home Equity Loans
On April 24, 2020, the Texas Supreme Court upheld a lender’s right to equitable subrogation for non-compliant home equity loans, ruling that lenders who fail to cure within the statutorily mandated 60-day period may recoup funds paid to satisfy prior liens. The court’s opinion in Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. v. Zepeda answered a certified
Where a “Fair Ground of Doubt” Can Create Comfort: Taggart v. Lorenzen
In a unanimous, and perhaps unsurprising, decision, the Supreme Court determined that a creditor may be held in civil contempt for violating the discharge injunction if there is “no fair ground of doubt” as to whether the creditor’s conduct was barred by the order placing that injunction. The Supreme Court declined to adopt the
Supreme Court Holds Foreclosure Firms Are (Generally) Not Debt Collectors under the FDCPA
Conducting a foreclosure does not make one a “debt collector,” at least for the general purposes of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). That fact is the upshot of yesterday’s unanimous Supreme Court decision in Obduskey v. McCarthy & Holthus LLP.
In Obduskey, the law firm of McCarthy & Holthus LLP was
HOA Super-Priority Lien Law Preempted by Federal Statute
Given the significant role Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have in the national housing market, it is unsurprising that both have become embroiled in the Nevada HOA super-priority lien litigation. Since July 2008 – well before the Nevada Supreme Court held that an HOA’s foreclosure on its super-priority lien could extinguish a first deed of
Supreme Court Narrowly Interprets “Whistleblower” under Dodd-Frank, Foreclosing Protections for Those Who Fail to Report Issues to SEC
The Supreme Court has resolved a circuit split on whether Dodd-Frank’s whistleblower protections apply only to employees who report their concerns to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). On Wednesday, in Digital Realty Trust, Inc. v. Somers, the Supreme Court ruled 9-0 in favor of limiting the Dodd-Frank Act’s definition of whistleblower to those
Two Key Takeaways from the Defendant’s FDCPA Win in Henson v. Santander
The United States Supreme Court issued a significant decision in Henson v. Santander Consumer USA, Inc. drastically restricting the universe of companies subject to potential liability under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). In a unanimous decision authored by new Justice Neil Gorsuch, the Court held that companies that buy defaulted debts are not
Ruling Eases Lenders’ Path to Deficiency Judgments in NC
Winning a deficiency judgment following foreclosure may become less costly for lenders following a May 5 ruling by the North Carolina Supreme Court in United Community Bank v. Wolfe. Reversing a previous ruling by the Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court held that a borrower may not defeat summary judgment simply by filing a
Supreme Court Declines to Review Second Circuit Decision Subjecting Defaulted Debt Buyers to State Usury Laws
On June 27, the United States Supreme Court declined to review the Second Circuit’s decision in Madden v. Midland Funding, LLC, 786 F.3d 246 (2d Cir. 2015). By denying Midland Funding, LLC’s petition for a writ of certiorari, the Court allowed the Second Circuit’s decision to stand. The Second Circuit held that the National