In Belle Meade Title & Escrow Corp. v. Fifth Third Bank, et al., No. 3:17-cv-874, ECF No. 26, --- WL ---- (M.D. Tenn. Oct. 17, 2017), a federal district court granted Regions Bank's motion to dismiss the claims against it, recognizing -- in a case of first impression -- that banks do not owe a duty of care to non-customers under Tennessee law.
The plaintiff, Belle Meade Title & Escrow Corporation, is a title company that claimed to be the victim of a fraudulent check-floating/wire-transfer scheme. The plaintiff had received a check for approximately $400,000, which was drawn on an account ...
On June 5, the Tennessee Supreme Court rejected a per se rule of unconscionability for non-mutual arbitration clauses, holding them enforceable if not too-one-sided and commercially reasonable under the circumstances. Berent sued his mobile-home sellers in chancery court, arguing that foreclosure exceptions for the seller within a generally broad-form arbitration clause rendered it unconscionable and unenforceable. The trial and intermediate appellate courts agreed, under the Supreme Court's prior decision Taylor v. Butler, 142 S.W.2d 277 (TN 2004). The Sellers sought ...
In White v. Sherman Financial Group, LLC, No. 3:12-cv-404, 2013 WL 5936679, 1 (E.D. Tenn. Nov. 4, 2013), the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee recently denied the plaintiff's partial motion for summary judgment and granted summary judgment in favor of the defendants on all but one the plaintiff's Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ("FDCPA") claims and, in the process, rendered a significant decision regarding the interplay between the FDCPA and filing state collection actions in Tennessee. In White, the plaintiff alleged the defendants, Sherman Financial ...
In Grubb v. Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC, No. 2:12-cv-301 (E.D. Tenn. July 10, 2013), the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee recently dismissed a Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ("FDCPA") claim against defendants for filing a false affidavit in a state collection lawsuit because the affidavit at issue clearly stated that it was only based on business records of the defendant. Furthermore, the court dismissed an additional FDCPA claim, which alleged that defendants sought an unauthorized rate of interest and attorneys' fees in their state court ...
On October 5, 2012, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee analyzed the interplay between the debt collection industry and certain provisions of the Truth-in-Lending Act ("TILA") that require "creditors" to send monthly account statements to borrowers. In King v. AllianceOne Receivables Mgmt., Inc., No. 2:12-CV-314, 2012 WL 4758220, at 2-3 (E.D. Tenn. Oct. 5, 2012), the defendant debt collector sent a collection letter on behalf of the creditor. The letter stated:
As of the date of this letter, you owe $888.45. Your account balance may be periodically ...