Business Law

On December 4, 2015, The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) reached an agreement to end litigation with five of the six defendants stemming from the complaint filed April 15, 2015, against Chad Caldaronello, Derek Nelson, Brian Pacios, Cortney Gonsalves, and Justin Moreira, DBA HOPE Services and HAMP Services.  Litigation against a sixth defendant, Denny Lake, has not settled. The original complaint, which was filed under seal, sought to obtain permanent injunctive relief, rescission of contracts restitution, refund of monies paid, and… Read more

SUMMARY In Windmill Health Products, LLC v. Sensa Products (Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors), LLC, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 145685 (N.D. Cal., Oct. 27, 2015), the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California held that the Ninth Circuit’s prior ruling that bankruptcy law pre-empted California’s statute permitting an assignee for the benefit of creditors to avoid a preference governed, even though subsequent state court decisions rejected that view. To read the full unpublished decision, click here. FACTS Windmill Health… Read more

On December 17, 2015, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) filed a complaint in federal court against a Burbank company called T3Leads.  The CFPB alleged that the company violated the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.   According to the complaint, the Bureau alleged that the company bought and sold personal customer information from payday and installment loans without properly vetting the customers.  T3Leads is “lead aggregator.”  This type of company purchases consumer information (leads) from websites that market… Read more

In a Supervisory Bulletin released on December 16, 2015, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) opined about practices the Bureau had noticed “in the field” during supervisory examinations and enforcement investigations.  The purpose of the Bulletin, according to the Bureau, was to provide specific guidance with regard to debt collection to the following parties: Creditors;Debt Buyers; andThird-Party Collectors The Bulletin specifically focuses the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (sections 1031 and 1036); andFair Debt Collection… Read more

On December 17, 2015, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) ordered auto dealer CarHop (and its affiliated financing company) to pay a $6.4 Million civil penalty for allegedly providing “damaging, inaccurate, consumer information to credit reporting companies.”  Carhop was the subject of a CFPB investigation in which the CFPB alleged both parties violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act and the Consumer Financial Protection Act by specifically: Deceiving customers into believing they would be able to build and maintain good credit… Read more

On December 14, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court once again upheld the enforceability of class waivers in arbitration agreements. In DIRECTV, Inc. v. Imburgia, the Supreme Court reversed a California Court of Appeal's refusal to enforce an arbitration agreement waiving the right to bring class arbitration claims.  The arbitration agreement at issue included a class arbitration waiver specifying that the entire arbitration agreement was unenforceable if the "law of your state" made class arbitration waivers unenforceable. The agreement also declared that… Read more

The Department of Justice announced a proposed resolution of lending discrimination claims asserted against Sage Bank.  In a complaint filed in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, the Department of Justice alleged that Sage Bank employed a pricing system which resulted in African-American and Hispanic borrowers paying higher prices than similarly-situated white borrowers for residential mortgage loans.  Among other challenged elements of the pricing system, the bank allegedly allowed loan officers the discretion to price loans without… Read more

A district court sitting in California was recently asked to address the enforceability of an out-of-state forum selection clause in a franchise agreement in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Atlantic Marine Constr. Co., Inc. v. United States Dist. Court for W. Dist. of Texas, 134 S. Ct. 568 (2013). As discussed below, the district court circumvented Atlantic Marine by finding that the California Franchise Relations Act (the “CFRA’), at Bus. & Prof. Code § 20040.5, renders the out-of-state forum selection… Read more

SUMMARY In America’s Servicing Co. v. Schwartz-Tallard (In re Schwartz-Tallard), ___ F.3d ___, 2015 WL 5946342 (9th Cir. Oct. 14, 2015), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (the “Ninth Circuit”), en banc, held that section 362(k) of the Bankruptcy Code authorizes an award of attorneys’ fees reasonably incurred in a debtor’s prosecution of a suit for damages to provide redress for a violation of the automatic stay.  In so holding, the Ninth Circuit overruled its prior decision in Sternberg v.… Read more

The following is the first in a new series of profiles of 9th Circuit bankruptcy judges. Judge Neil W. Bason and members of the Insolvency Law Committee met in his chambers and discussed his personal and professional background, transition to the bench and other issues of interest. Judge Bason was appointed to the bench in the Central District of California, Los Angeles Division, in October 2011. Prior to his appointment, he was special counsel at Duane Morris LLP and at… Read more