Special Alert: District Court Confirms Telephonic Consent to Preauthorized ACH Debits Complies with ESIGN and EFTA

Special Alerts Fintech Auto Finance

On February 17, a U.S. District Court in Nashville, TN found that a creditor complied with both the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act^[1] (“ESIGN”) and the Electronic Fund Transfer Act^[2] and its implementing regulation, Regulation E^[3] (collectively “EFTA”) when it obtained a consumer’s “written” authorization over the telephone to enroll in recurring ACH payments and mailed a paper copy of the authorization to the consumer two days later.^[4]  This case (“Blatt”) is significant because it clarifies and confirms much of the existing understanding of the interaction between ESIGN and the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act, and provides precedent for advancing the validity of widespread industry practices in other courts.

[1] 15 U.S.C. § 7001, et seq.

[2] 15 U.S.C. § 1693, et seq.

[3] 12 C.F.R. §1005.1, et seq.

[4] Blatt v. Capital One Auto Finance, [Memorandum and Order] No. 2:15-cv-00015, 2017 WL 660677 (M.D.Tenn. Feb. 17, 2017).

***
Click here to read full special alert.

If you have questions about the ruling or other related issues, visit our FinTech and Auto Finance practice pages for more information, or contact a Buckley Sandler attorney with whom you have worked in the past.