Ballard Spahr LLP

The CFPB has announced the settlement of an enforcement action in which it was alleged that two affiliated business arrangements (ABAs) violated Section 8 of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act…more

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has conditionally approved a plan by Freeport LNG Expansion, L.P., to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) from its terminal in Freeport, Texas, to non-free trade agreement (FTA) countries. This…more

The CFPB has issued final “clarifying and technical” amendments to its final mortgage escrow account rule dealing with the establishment of mandatory escrow accounts on higher-priced mortgage loans (HPML)…more

As we reported earlier, the Solicitor General of the United States (SG) has filed in the U.S. Supreme Court a petition for a writ of certiorari to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in Noel Canning v…more

Hoping to address billions of dollars of necessary water infrastructure maintenance and improvements, the U.S. Senate passed the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) on May 15, 2013…more

We have been critical of the failure of the CFPB’s white paper on payday and deposit advance loans to address the very real benefits of payday loans or the question whether (and when) such benefits outweigh the costs…more

Commercial building owners in Philadelphia should be aware that in the coming weeks, the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability will issue proposed regulations to implement the City’s recently enacted energy and water reporting…more

Last week, the Solicitor General finally filed his brief expressing the views of the United States on whether the U.S. Supreme Court should grant the petition for certiorari pending in Township of Mount Holly v. Mt. Holly…more

As we reported last week, the National Treasury Employees Union (NTU) won an election to represent over 800 of the CFPB’s 1,200 employees. The vote was 378 in favor and 86 against…more

The House Financial Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit has scheduled a hearing for tomorrow, May 21, on “Qualified Mortgages: Examining the Impact of the Ability to Repay Rule.”…more

According to a report from Politico, CFPB employees voted last week to join the National Treasury Employees Union, a federal union that also represents employees at other financial regulators, including the FDIC, OCC and SEC…more

In a decision that narrows the scope of potential liability for assignees of second mortgage loans secured by Maryland properties, the state’s intermediate appellate court recently rejected an attempt by borrowers to hold an…more

Yesterday, in NLRB v. New Vista Nursing and Rehabilitation, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit became the second circuit to hold that intrasession recess appointments violate the Recess Appointments Clause (RAC) of…more

The CFPB has announced the launch of its Spanish language website. According to the CFPB, in response to research showing that two-thirds of Latinos who are online tend to access the Internet from a mobile device, the website is…more

The Truth in Lending Act (TILA) ban on mandatory arbitration provisions in certain mortgage loans becomes effective on June 1, 2013. Lenders now using mortgage loan documentation containing such provisions should take steps to…more