Washington Judge Cedes Credit Card Late Fee Suit to Texas Court

A federal judge in Washington, D.C., formally dismissed a case challenging a rule capping credit card late fees at $8 after a federal appeals court blocked the lawsuit’s transfer from Texas.

Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the US District Court for the District of Columbia entered a minute order into the docket Wednesday terminating a challenge to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s credit card late fee rule.

The US Chamber of Commerce, the American Bankers Association, and the Consumer Bankers Association along with Texas industry groups initially filed their lawsuit on March 7 in the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas. But Judge Mark Pittman transferred the case to Washington on March 28, determining that Fort Worth, Texas, wasn’t the proper venue because no banks subject to the rule are based there.

A divided panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit overturned Pittman’s transfer in an April 5 ruling, ordering him to reopen the case. He did so on April 8, and asked Jackson to return the case to Fort Worth.

Jackson’s Wednesday order made the return of the case official, though the judge said she was “not inclined to ‘disregard’ a case” before her.

“This order should not be read to express any view on the transfer question, which has not been presented to this Court to decide,” she wrote.

The back-and-forth between the Texas and Washington courts underscores a broader debate over forum shopping, where plaintiffs seek to file suits in certain jurisdictions expecting a friendly judge.

The Fifth Circuit is currently considering a petition from the plaintiffs for a preliminary injunction to block the rule, which is set to take effect on May 14. Briefings from the plaintiffs are due in that case on May 6.

Paul Hastings LLP represents the US Chamber and its co-plaintiffs.

The case is US Chamber of Commerce v. CFPB, D.D.C., No. 1:24-cv-00915, Minute Order 4/10/24.