Justia Consumer Law Opinion Summaries

In this putative class action, plaintiff alleged that HSBC and Best Buy (collectively, defendants) defrauded California customers by offering credit cards without adequately disclosing that cardholders would be subject to an annual fee. At issue was whether the district court erred when it considered extrinsic evidence in deciding defendants' motion to dismiss, and whether dismissal was proper under Rule 12(b)(6). The court held that the district court properly incorporated the disclosure documents at issue and the court affirmed its order dismissing plaintiff's complaint with prejudice. View "Davis v. HSBC Bank Nevada, N.A., et al." on Justia Law

The FTC sued defendants alleging that their online marketing of prepaid debit cards and short-term loans to consumers in the subprime market violated section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act, 15 U.S.C. 45. After the parties settled and stipulated to the terms of a Final Order, the FTC applied for an order to show cause why defendants should not be held in contempt for violating the Final Order through their marketing of two products: a shopping club membership program and a "no cost" debit card. The court affirmed the contempt order in its entirety and held that the district court did not abuse its discretion when it sanctioned defendants for the full amount lost by consumers. View "FTC v. EDebitPay, LLC, et al." on Justia Law

As the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals said, "This case lends credence to the old adage that bad things comes in threes." Plaintiff was a cancer survivor who required experimental leukemia treatment. During his treatment, Plaintiff's identity was stolen by a hospital worker. When Plaintiff attempted to remedy the identity theft, the banks and credit rating agencies were allegedly uncooperative and continued to report the fraudulently opened accounts. In the case of Chase Bank (Chase), the thief's address was tagged as Plaintiff's. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of Chase on Plaintiff's false-reporting claims under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (1) reversed the judgment as to Chase's alleged violations of the FCRA, as issues of material fact remained on this issue; (2) reversed the district court's dismissal of similar claims against FIA Card Services on statute of limitations grounds; and (3) affirmed the denial of Plaintiff's motion to amend to reinstate his claims under California law. View "Drew v. Equifax Info. Servs., LLC" on Justia Law

Defendant, Law Offices of Sidney Mickell, sent a debt collection letter addressed to Plaintiff, Catherine Evon, in "care of" her employer. Evon filed a class action lawsuit alleging (1) Mickell's act of sending letters "care of" the class members' employers violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act's prohibition on communication with third parties, and (2) the contents of the letter violated the Act's prohibition against false, deceptive, or misleading misrepresentations. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (1) held Mickell's act of sending "care of" letters constituted a per se violation of the Act, and reversed the district court's denial of Evon's class certification motion on that issue; and (2) held that the contents of the letter did not violate the Act, and therefore affirmed the district court's denial of Evon's class certification motion in that regard. Remanded. View "Evon v. Law Offices of Sidney Mickell" on Justia Law

The district court presided over four class action cases. Two insurance companies (collectively, Defendants) were the defendants in the two underlying cases. Allianz Life Insurance Company (Allianz) was a defendant in the other cases. Defendants filed motions for summary judgment. Plaintiffs opposed and attached a declaration by Dr. Craig McCann to support their theories. When Defendants moved to exclude the opinion, the court appointed an expert witness, Dr. Zvi Bodie, to evaluate Dr. McCann's opinion. The district court ordered Dr. Bodie's report sealed until it determined whether the report was admissible. In its case, Allianz filed a motion for summary judgment and a Daubert motion to exclude Dr. McCann. Defendants settled with the plaintiffs before the district court ruled on the Daubert or summary judgment motions. Allianz subsequently intervened in the underlying cases and requested the unsealing of Dr. Bodie's report. The district court denied its motion, ruling that the presumption in favor of public access to judicial records did not apply to the records at issue because they were attached to a non-dispositive Daubert motion. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed and remanded with directions to grant the motion, because the records at issue were filed in connection with pending summary judgment motions. View "Midland Nat'l Life Ins. Co. v. Allianz Life Ins. Co. of N.A." on Justia Law

R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (RJR) operated a customer rewards program, called Camel Cash, from 1991 to 1007. Customers could purchase Camel cigarettes, save Camel Cash certificates, enroll in the program, and ultimately redeem their certificates for merchandise featured in RJR catalogs. Plaintiffs alleged that, in reliance on RJR's actions, they purchased Camel cigarettes, enrolled in the program, and saved their certificates for future redemption. They alleged that in 2006 RJR abruptly ceased accepting certificates for redemption, making Plaintiffs' unredeemed certificates worthless. Plaintiffs brought this action for breach of contract, promissory estoppel, and violation of two California consumer protection laws. The district court dismissed the action for failure to state a claim. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (1) affirmed dismissal of Plaintiffs' claims under the Unfair Competition Law and the Consumer Legal Remedies Act; and (2) reversed the dismissal of Plaintiffs' claims for promissory estoppel and breach of contract, holding that Plaintiffs adequately alleged these claims. View "Sateriale v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co." on Justia Law

In a class action, any settlement must be approved by the court to ensure that class counsel and the named plaintiffs do not place their own interests above those of the absent class members. In this false advertising case, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals confronted a class action settlement, negotiated prior to class certification, that included cy pres distributions of money and food to unidentified charities. The settlement also included $2 million in attorneys' fees, the equivalent of a $2,100 hourly rate, while offering class members a sum of $15. The Court set aside the class settlement, holding (1) the district court did not apply the correct legal standards governing cy pres distributions and thus abused its discretion in approving the settlement; and (2) the settlement failed because the negotiated attorneys' fees were excessive. Remanded. View "Dennis v. Berg" on Justia Law

At issue before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in this case was whether an adverse claim to a stake may be so lacking in substance that a neutral stakeholder cannot interplead in good faith. Interpleader is proper when a stakeholder has at least a good faith belief that there are conflicting colorable claims. Appellee in this case was an insurance company that sought to interplead disputed insurance proceeds. Seeking to interplead the insurance funds, Appellee filed a counterclaim against Appellant and a third party complaint against Appellant's former husband. The district court found that interpleader was appropriate. The Ninth Circuit affirmed, holding that Appellee interpleaded in good faith, and consequently, the district court's judgment in interpleader was proper. View "Michelman v. Lincoln Nat'l Life Ins. Co." on Justia Law

Appellants filed suit against Rearden Commerce, asserting numerous claims related to a conflict between the parties' marks and names. The district court granted Rearden Commerce's motion for summary judgment as to Appellants' trademark-related claims. Specifically, the district court found Rearden Commerce was entitled to judgment as a matter of law on Appellants' claims of false designation of origin under the Lanham Act, violations of the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act, common law trademark infringement, and violations of the California Unfair Competition Law. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the district court, holding that genuine issues of material fact existed, which precluded summary judgment in favor of Rearden Commerce. Remanded for further proceedings. View "Rearden LLC v. Rearden Commerce, Inc." on Justia Law

Plaintiff filed an action against defendants, a debt-collection law firm and Dean Prober, Esq. (collectively, Prober), after Prober sought to collect a debt plaintiff owed to Prober's client. Plaintiff alleged that Prober's debt collection letter did not comply with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), 15 U.S.C. 1692 et seq., or its state equivalent, the Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Cal. Civ. Code 1788 et seq., namely by impermissibly requiring her to dispute her debt in writing and, as a result, misrepresenting her rights to dispute her debt. Assuming without deciding that Prober's notice could be understood implicitly to require written disputes, the court held that a validation notice violated section 1692g(a)(3) of the FDCPA only where it expressly required a consumer to dispute her debt in writing. View "Riggs v. Prober & Raphael, et al." on Justia Law