Justia Consumer Law Opinion Summaries

Before a New Mexico law making it easier for identity theft victims to expunge negative information from their credit reports took effect, the Consumer Data Industry Association (CDIA) brought a pre-enforcement challenge, contending that the law was preempted by the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). The CDIA sought declaratory and injunctive relief against the New Mexico Attorney General, who with aggrieved consumers, had the authority to enforce the law through a civil lawsuit. Upon review, the federal district court concluded that equitable relief against the Attorney General would not adequately redress CDIA's injuries, the district court dismissed the case as non-justiciable. Upon review, the Tenth Circuit disagreed and vacated the district court's judgment, remanding the case for further proceedings. View "Consumer Data Industry v. King" on Justia Law

Plaintiff-Appellant Olivea Marx appealed a district court's judgment in favor of Defendant-Appellee General Revenue Corporation (GRC). Plaintiff defaulted on her student loan. GRC was hired by her lender to collect on the account. Plaintiff sued GRC alleging abusive and threatening phone called in violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). The district court, after a one-day trial in May 2010, found that the challenged collection practices were not abusive and threatening given its view of what actually occurred. Plaintiff did not appeal these findings, instead she contested the court's conclusion that a fax sent to her employer asking about her employment status did not violate the FDCPA's provision against debt-collector communications with third parties. Finding that the district court did not error in its decision made in her case, the Tenth Circuit affirmed the court's order. View "Marx v. General Revenue Corp." on Justia Law

The United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CTFC) and the Oklahoma Department of Securities brought suit against multiple corporate defendants (including Prestige Ventures Corporation) and several individuals, Kenneth Lee and his wife and two sons, Simon Yang. The Lees and Mr. Yang appealed pro se a district court's order entered in favor of CTFC. In their complaint, the CTFC alleged that defendants operated a Ponzi scheme that bilked at least 140 investors out of millions of dollars, in violation of a number of provisions of the Commodity Exchange Act and the Oklahoma Uniform Securities Act of 2004. Plaintiffs also alleged that millions of dollars were funneled to Defendants from Prestige by Mr. Lee, in cash and in the form of houses, cars, and boats. The court authorized a receiver to take possession of and sell the houses and boats. further, the court entered a broad array of permanent injunctive orders prohibiting defendants from further dealings in commodity futures and transacting investment-related business in Oklahoma. The court further ordered Defendants to pay over $5 million in restitution and a number of penalties, and ordered Defendants to disgorge large sums of cash. Each of the Lees filed a substantively identical motion for reconsideration of the Order. Having considered these issues and having reviewed the briefs, the record,and the applicable law in light of the applicable review standards, the Tenth Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court for substantially the reasons stated in the district court’s order of summary judgment and its Order.

Pro se Plaintiff Ronald Nagim appealed the grant of summary judgment in favor of Defendant Equifax Information Services, LLC, Experian Information Solutions, INc. and Transunion, LLC. In 2005, Plaintiff filed for bankruptcy, which discharged some of his credit accounts. Almost four years later, Plaintiff filed a complaint against Defendants, three credit reporting agencies (CRAs), alleging Defendants had violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) by including inaccurate information on Plaintiff’s credit report and improperly depressing his credit scores. This allegedly inaccurate information included an account that was discharged in Plaintiff’s bankruptcy and references to the bankruptcy in general. All three defendants moved for summary judgment pursuant to Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and a magistrate judge held that summary judgment was proper. After a thorough review of the record, the Tenth Circuit concluded Plaintiff "has provided absolutely no competent summary judgment evidence. Accordingly, we affirm the district court’s grant of summary judgment."

Appellants challenged a district courtâs discovery order that directed them to disclose what they called privileged information. To achieve this end, the Appellants filed an interlocutory appeal and a petition for writ of mandamus with the Tenth Circuit. The Appellants in this case include motor fuel retailers and the retail motor fuel trade associations to which the retailers belong. The Plaintiffs in this case are consumers and other interested parties. Collectively they filed twelve putative class action cases in seven federal district courts. The Plaintiffs alleged that the retailersâ âvolumetric pricing systemâ for retail motor fuel overcharges customers. When the temperature of the fuel rises, the fuelâs volume expands, but the actual energy content stays the same â customers pay for âmoreâ fuel but half the energy. Plaintiffs allege that the temperature fluctuations and fuel volumes are accounted for in every aspect of the Appellantsâ âvolumetric pricing systemâ except at the retail level, thus overcharging retail customers. The Tenth Circuit held that Appellants devoted a majority of their appellate brief to their contention that a First Amendment privilege should be presumed with respect to the information Plaintiffs sought to discover. However, Appellants made an âunwise strategic decisionâ by seeking a presumption when they failed to prove the information was indeed privileged. The Court dismissed Appellantsâ interlocutory appeal and denied their application for writ of mandamus.