In a highly anticipated decision and the first judicial review of a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ("CFPB" or the "Bureau") administrative enforcement action, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled in October 2016 that the...
Year: 2016
Ninth Circuit Holds Opt-In Foreclosure Notice Statute Violates Due Process
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has joined the Fifth Circuit in finding that a statutory scheme in which mortgage lenders were required to affirmatively opt-in to receive notice of foreclosures by homeowners' associations violates the lenders'...
Whistleblower Act: Allegations of Retaliation Fail Where the Conduct for Which the Retaliation is Alleged Was Committed by Co-Workers, Not Employer
The Whistle Blower Act, Mass. General Laws Ch. 149 § 185(b), provides that a public employer may not retaliate against a public employee who has (1) "blown the whistle" or, in other words, disclosed an activity, policy or practice of the employer that the employee...
D.C. Circuit Sends Claims Against Airbnb for Discrimination to Arbitration Proceedings
Recently, the #Airbnbwhileblack hashtag started floating around social media as a way to bring awareness to several reported instances of African Americans having issues with booking accommodations through Airbnb, a service that allows peer-to-peer short-term rentals...
Lesson in Co-parenting from the Presidential Debate
A final question to the candidates during a recent presidential debate reminded me of a topic that often comes up in the context of co-parenting work in high-conflict cases, interviews by custody evaluators, questioning at depositions in custody disputes, documents...
Ninth Circuit Joins the Dissenter, Holds that Employers Can Not Prohibit Concerted Actions
The Supreme Court may soon be taking on an issue that has divided several of the federal circuit courts. The circuits disagree on a fundamental question that relates to arbitration and labor law - whether an agreement to arbitrate is valid when an employee waives the...
Appeals Court Holds That Condominium Owners Can Waive Constitutional Rights In Bylaws
The Massachusetts Appeals Court considered whether a provision in condominium by-laws unfairly prevented individual unit owners from seeking the intervention of the court where the unit owners alleged that the condominium's trustees had breached their fiduciary duties...
Massachusetts Appeals Court Reaffirms MERS’ Role As Mortgagee
The Massachusetts Appeals Court, in a Rule 1:28 decision, has once again reaffirmed its holdings in Sullivan v. Kondaur Capital Corp., 85 Mass.App.Ct. 202 (2014) and Shea v. Federal Natl' Mort. Assn., et al., 87 Mass.App.Ct. 901 (2015), that the Mortgage Electronic...
Potential Regulation of Overdraft Services on Checking Accounts Still Under Consideration by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
By: Nathalie K. Salomon The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is considering potential regulations related to overdraft services on checking accounts. An overdraft occurs when a consumer withdraws more money than he has in his account. When a bank covers the...
How To Obtain Record Title To a Parcel of Land When a Recorded Plan Shows That You Own It but a Prior Recorded Plan Says Otherwise
By: Nathalie K. Salomon To determine who owns a parcel of land, it is necessary to conduct a title examination at the registry of deeds of the county where the land lies. A title examination involves two aspects: (1) a determination of the chain of title to identify...
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