Illinois Appellate Court holds that drafting decision in contract arbitration provision meant lender must…

At issue in Overland Bond & Inv. Corp. v. Calhoun, 2023 IL App (1st) 221804 (Nov. 27, 2023) was whether a lender can invoke an arbitration provision in a loan agreement after commencing legal proceedings arising from the borrowers’ default under that agreement. The First District Appellate Court held that…

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Seventh Circuit holds that the accuracy of information under FCRA determined by the ACDV…

Frazier v. Dovenmuehle Mortg., Inc., No. 22-2570 (7th Cir. July 5, 2023) addressed the question whether the completeness or accuracy of information furnished by a data furnisher under § 1681s-2(b) of Fair Credit Reporting Act must be judged, not on the ACDV response the data furnisher provides to the credit…

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Seventh Circuit holds that debtor who spent $3.95 to send a second validation request…

After more than a dozen rulings over the last four years where the Seventh Circuit has tossed FDCPA suits for the debtors’ failures to establish Article III standing, the Seventh Circuit recently found that a debtor had standing to sue for violations of the FDCPA due to the time and…

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Illinois court says check maker is still liable to holder in due course on…

A recent decision from the Illinois First District Appellate Court highlights the dangers posed by the technological advances in mobile banking. In West & Lake Check Cashers, LLC v. Propane Pete, LLC, 2023 IL App (2d) 220291 (May 16, 2023) the maker of a check was liable to a currency…

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Lender’s attempt to avoid foreclosure in Illinois backfires

In an unpublished order, an Illinois Appellate Court held that a lender’s efforts to avoid foreclosure proceedings in Illinois by acquiring ownership of the owner’s limited liability company through court proceedings in Utah, was not res judicata in the borrower’s suit in Illinois state court challenging the legality of the…

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Illinois District Court rejects CFPB’s claim that ECOA applies to prospective applicants who have…

An Illinois district court was asked in Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v. Townstone Financial, Inc., No. 20-CV-4176 (N.D. Ill. Feb. 3, 2023) whether the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA)’s prohibitions in connection with consumer credit applications extends to prospective applicants who have not yet applied for credit. Specifically,…

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Illinois court holds that citation petitioner wins where assignees of shares had constructive notice…

At issue in FirstMerit Bank, N.A. v. McEnery, 2022 IL App (3d) 210306 (Dec. 21, 2022) was who had the right to shares of stock: the citation petitioner-bank who had recorded a judgment against its borrower who once owned the shares or certain trusts who claimed they were bona fide…

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Seventh Circuit finds that “waiver of defense” clause in commercial guaranty did not waive…

In Hovde v. ISLA Dev. LLC, 51 F.4th 771 (7th Cir. Oct. 24, 2022) a property developer borrowed money from private lenders in 2004 to develop a condominium project. To secure the loan, the developer signed a note and the developer’s principal gave his personal guarantee. The project ultimately failed.…

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Wisconsin federal court awards fees to plaintiff for defendant’s attempt to remove case where…

A court awarded plaintiff awarded attorney’s fees and costs in an FDCPA action because the defendant attempted to remove the case to federal court where it was clear there was no Article III standing to confer federal jurisdiction. The consumer plaintiff in Currier v. Lawgix Laws., LLC, No. 21-CV-419-PP (E.D.…

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Seventh Circuit vacates fee award which denied all fees incurred after the rejection of…

In Cooper v. Retrieval-Masters Creditors Bureau, Inc., No. 18-2358 (7th Cir. July 29, 2022) the Seventh Circuit addressed attorney fee awards to prevailing plaintiffs under the FDCPA where the damage award was modest and the plaintiff had rejected what hindsight shows to have been a substantial early settlement offer. The…

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