The CFPB’s latest focus on consumer fees is targeting payment processors for school lunches. The CFPB says that families who choose to purchase school lunches are being forced to pay fees to companies that process their...more
8/6/2024
/ Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Fees ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Public Schools ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
School Districts ,
School Lunch Programs
On July 18, 2024, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (the “CFPB” or “Bureau”) proposed an interpretive rule that states (1) EWA products fall under the definition of “credit” under the Truth in Lending Act (“TILA”) and...more
7/25/2024
/ Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) ,
Comment Period ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Credit ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Interpretive Rule ,
Loans ,
Payday Loans ,
Regulation Z ,
Truth in Lending Act (TILA) ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wages
“Buy Now, Pay Later” (BNPL) products emerged relatively recently as a new approach enabling consumers to enjoy the ability to make a purchase and then pay for it over time. Today’s episode, during which we explore the...more
On May 20, 2004, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) sent its annual report to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) highlighting its enforcement actions and initiatives in 2023 under the Truth in Lending Act...more
5/30/2024
/ Annual Reports ,
CARS Rule ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Leasing Act (CLA) ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Electronic Fund Transfer Act ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FTC Act ,
Late Fees ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulation Z ,
Truth in Lending Act (TILA) ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
The result of the CFPB’s multi-year study of the BNPL industry is what the CFPB calls an interpretive rule in which it finds that: (1) “digital user accounts” (each a “DUA”) that may be used to access credit are “credit...more
5/24/2024
/ Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Credit Cards ,
Debt Collection ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Interpretive Rule ,
Regulation Z ,
Truth in Lending Act (TILA)
Last week ended with an intense flurry of activity in the lawsuit challenging the CFPB’s final credit card late fee rule (Rule). The flurry followed the plaintiffs’ March 25 filing of a Notice of Appeal after the district...more
On March 26, 2024, the plaintiffs in the lawsuit challenging the CFPB’s final credit card late fee rule (“Final Rule”) filed a Notice Regarding Their Emergency Motion for Injunction Pending Appeal and Administrative Stay in...more
3/28/2024
/ Appeals ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Credit Cards ,
Debt Collection ,
Final Rules ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Late Fees ,
Litigation Strategies ,
Motion to Transfer ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Truth in Lending Act (TILA)
On March 20, 2024, the court forcefully denied the motion for expedited consideration of plaintiff’s preliminary injunction motion in the lawsuit challenging the Consumer Financial Bureau’s (“CFPB”) final credit card late fee...more
3/22/2024
/ Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Credit Cards ,
Debt Collection ,
Final Rules ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Late Fees ,
Motion to Transfer ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Truth in Lending Act (TILA)
This week, the CFPB filed a notice with the Texas federal district court stating that it intends to move to transfer the lawsuit challenging the CFPB’s final credit card late fee rule (Rule). The notice was filed pursuant to...more
3/21/2024
/ Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Credit Cards ,
Debt Collection ,
Final Rules ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Late Fees ,
Motion to Transfer ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Regulatory Agenda
The federal district court judge to whom the lawsuit challenging the CFPB’s final credit card late fee rule (Rule) was reassigned entered an order this week questioning whether the Fort Worth Division of the Northern District...more
3/20/2024
/ Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Credit Cards ,
Debt Collection ,
Final Rules ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Late Fees ,
Motion to Transfer ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Truth in Lending Act (TILA)
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) filed an opposition brief (the “Opposition”) on Tuesday in response to a request by plaintiff trade groups to enjoin the CFPB’s final credit card late fee rule (the “Final...more
3/18/2024
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
CARD Act ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Credit Cards ,
Debt Collection ,
Federal Student Loans ,
Final Rules ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Health and Essential Rights (HERO) Act ,
Late Fees ,
Motion To Enjoin ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Truth in Lending Act (TILA)
Our special guest is Richard (“Rick”) Hackett, former Assistant CFPB Director responsible for auto finance regulation and presently a member of the Board of F&I Sentinel, which supports lender compliance in the auto finance...more
Our special guest is Richard (“Rick”) Hackett, former Assistant CFPB Director responsible for auto finance regulation and presently a member of the Board of F&I Sentinel, which supports lender compliance in the auto finance...more
After promising earlier this year to “establish nation-leading regulations for the Buy Now Pay Later loan industry,” New York Governor Kathy Hochul took a significant first step in that direction by including Buy Now Pay...more
1/25/2024
/ Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Credit Reporting Agencies ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
New York ,
NYDFS ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
State and Local Government
On January 2, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a complaint against FloatMe Corp. (“FloatMe”), a fintech that offers short-term cash advances through its mobile app, alleging violations of the FTC Act, the Restore...more
Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown, who chairs the Senate Banking Committee, and Democratic committee members Raphael Warnock and John Fetterman, have sent a letter to Director Chopra urging the CFPB to “continue focusing on”...more
Mark Brnovich, the Arizona Attorney General, recently issued an opinion regarding whether earned wage access (EWA) products are “consumer lender loans” under the state’s Consumer Lenders Act (CLA) such that a person who...more
Mark Brnovich, the Arizona Attorney General, recently issued an opinion regarding whether earned wage access (EWA) products are “consumer lender loans” under the state’s Consumer Lenders Act (CLA) such that a person who...more
Last week, the CFPB issued its long-awaited report on buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) products. While the report identifies consumer risk and harms arising from BNPL products, it does not discuss any actions that the CFPB plans to...more
In Director Chopra’s recent interviews with several news reporting organizations, a persistent theme was the CFPB’s concerns about the entry of big tech companies into financial services, particularly in connection with...more
On September 3, 2020, the California Department of Business Oversight (DBO) announced that it has launched a formal investigation into whether Wheels Financial Group, LLC d/b/a LoanMart, formerly one of California’s largest...more
9/11/2020
/ Automotive Loans ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Department of Business Oversight ,
Fair Access to Credit ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Interest Rates ,
Non-Bank Lenders ,
Regulatory Violations ,
Title Loans ,
True Lender
On December 30, 2019, the California Department of Business Oversight (DBO) announced two actions regarding companies offering unregulated, point-of-sale financing to California residents. In the first action, the DBO...more
1/7/2020
/ Business Licenses ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Contract Terms ,
Department of Business Oversight ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Financial Transactions ,
Financing ,
Legal Opinion ,
Loans ,
Merchants ,
Point of Sale Terminals ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Retail Installment Sales Contracts ,
State and Local Government ,
Third-Party ,
User Agreements ,
Usury
The California Senate’s Banking and Financial Institutions Committee will hold a hearing on AB 539 on June 26, 2019. The hearing was previously scheduled for yesterday....more
Last week, by a vote of 60 to 4 (with 16 not voting), the California Assembly cleared AB 539, which would change several aspects of the California Financing Law (CFL), including by setting new interest rate caps, imposing new...more
Resolving an ambiguity in the California Finance Lender's Law (CFLL), the California Supreme Court unanimously held that borrowers may use the unconscionability doctrine to challenge the interest rate on consumer loans of...more
8/17/2018
/ Ability-to-Repay ,
CA Supreme Court ,
CashCall ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Finance Lenders Law ,
Financial Services Industry ,
High-Interest Loans ,
Interest Rates ,
State and Local Government ,
Unconscionable Contracts ,
Unfair Competition Law (UCL)