Congress Waters Down Dodd-Frank for Small and Regional Banks, Updates Consumer Protections

After much anticipation, Senate bill 2155—which rolls back major aspects of the Dodd-Frank law—was approved by Congress and was signed into law by President Trump.

Among the most notable changes, the legislation waters down regulations for small and regional banks. The threshold for banks "too big to fail" will be raised from $50 billion in assets to $250 billion, so that fewer than ten major U.S. banks will now be subject to Dodd-Frank's strictest regulations, including the Federal Reserve's stress test.

While the bill is widely regarded as regulatory roll back, the legislation also updates certain consumer protections, mostly regarding credit reports and student loans. More ›

Credit Card Holder has Remedies under the TILA and FCBA against Issuer due to unauthorized use of Credit Card according to Third Circuit

In Krieger v. Bank of America, the plaintiff unknowingly gave a scammer access to his personal computer, which was used to make a $657 Western Union charge on his Bank of America (BOA) credit card. Upon realizing the scam, the plaintiff immediately contacted BOA and was told that nothing could be done until he received his monthly billing statement. On receipt of the statement one month later, the plaintiff again contacted BOA, which credited his account while it investigated. In a confirmatory letter, BOA stated that, although Western Union could provide additional facts, BOA considered the dispute resolved. Although the plaintiff's next statement showed the credit, BOA followed up with a subsequent letter, which stated that, based upon additional information from Western Union, BOA believed the charge was in fact valid and would reinstate it to the plaintiff's account. The plaintiff then sent a letter detailing the events, declaring the charge invalid, and requested it be removed. BOA denied his request. The plaintiff paid the charge and filed suit. More ›

Third Circuit Disagrees with Fourth and Ninth Circuit, Rules that Limitations Period for FDCPA Claims Starts on Occurrence

In Rotkiske v. Klemm, the Third Circuit ruled that the statute of limitations for a Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) claim begins to toll on the date of the alleged violation, not when the plaintiff discovers the violation. That's significant, because the Fourth and Ninth Circuits have ruled otherwise. More ›

TCPA Developments: Consumer's Attempt to Revoke Consent to Text Messages Found to be Unreasonable

In Nicole Rando v. Edible Arrangements, International, LLC, a consumer sued Edible Arrangements under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) arguing that the company sent her text messages after she had revoked her consent. The New Jersey federal court granted Edible's Motion to Dismiss, finding that the consumer's revocation was not "reasonable." The consumer was prompted to text "STOP" if she wished to revoke her consent, but the consumer responded instead with long sentences such as "Thank you. I'd like my contact info removed" or "I asked to be removed from this service a few times. Stop the messages." More ›