As expected, the U.S. Supreme Court’s grant of Seila Law’s cert petition is impacting other cases in which the CFPB’s constitutionality has also been challenged. ...more
The California Supreme Court ruled on Monday, August 18, that an interest rate on a consumer loan in California could be deemed illegally high even if the loan is not subject to the state’s usury law. Consumer loans of...more
On August 13, 2018, the California Supreme Court answered a question certified to it by the Ninth Circuit, holding that a loan with a high interest rate can be unconscionable, even if the legislature specifically declined to...more
On August 13, 2018, the California Supreme Court in Eduardo De La Torre, et al. v. CashCall, Inc., held that interest rates on consumer loans of $2,500 or more could be found unconscionable under section 22302 of the...more
I've devoted several posts to the California Supreme Court's decision in De La Torre v. Cashcall Inc., 2018 Cal. LEXIS 5749. In that opinion, the Court was responding to a question certified to it by the Ninth Circuit Court...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
Last Friday, the White House asked the SEC to “consider eliminating requirements that publicly traded companies post quarterly earnings reports.” Such disclosures, however, are required by federal securities law, so they’re...more
On Monday, August 13, the California Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the interest rate on a consumer loan in California can be deemed illegally high, even if the loan was not subject to the state’s usury cap....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
For U.S. Supreme Court followers, a hot topic is whether the Court will continue to apply "Chevron deference". Under Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, 467 U.S. 837 (1984), a court will uphold an...more
Over the last two years the financial industry has seen an uptick in litigation and enforcement actions aimed at banks and their non-bank lending partners. These actions have primarily challenged the validity of the bank...more
In a span of three days, the CFPB, under Acting Director Mulvaney, significantly retreated in the payday-lending space and suffered a court defeat in its request for monetary relief with respect to a CashCall installment...more
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB” or “Bureau”) is a U.S. government agency created by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The CFPB is the first federal agency tasked solely with the...more
Although the California Finance Lenders Law (the CFLL) does not limit the interest rates that may be charged on loans of $2,500 or more, Section 22302 of the law expressly states that loans made under the CFLL may be held...more
On April 20, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit declined to hear an interlocutory appeal by CashCall of the district court’s order granting the CFPB’s partial summary judgment motion and denying...more
On February 15, the Colorado Attorney General filed substantially similar, separate amended complaints in the U.S. District Court of Colorado against Marlette Funding LLC and Avant of Colorado LLC, alleging violations of...more
The California federal district court judge who is presiding over the CFPB’s lawsuit against CashCall and several related companies that funded, purchased, serviced, and collected online installment loans has granted the...more
A defendant who lost a bench trial in a certified class case alleging that it violated the Electronic Funds Transfer Act by forcing the plaintiff and class to use electronic funds transfer services to obtain loans sought to...more
The case provides an outline of issues to consider and structures to avoid in designing bank collaboration models in the future. On August 31, in Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v. CashCall, Inc., the U.S....more
On August 31, a federal district court in California ruled in favor of the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) on the application of "true lender" principles in the context of a tribal lending arrangement. The...more
On August 31, 2016, in a ground breaking decision, the United States District Court in Los Angeles ruled that CashCall, Inc. violated the Consumer Financial Protection Act in connection with efforts to collect on certain...more
The Maryland Court of Appeals, the state's highest court, in CashCall, Inc. et al. v. Maryland Commissioner of Financial Regulation, recently affirmed the judgment of the Court of Special Appeals (MCSA) directing CashCall to...more
On May 11, 2016, the CFPB sued All American Check Cashing, Mid-State Finance and their President and owner Michael E. Gray. It alleged that the Defendants engaged in abusive, deceptive, and unfair conduct in making certain...more
On Thursday, May 11, 2016 in Chicago, I moderated the “CFPB Speaks” panel which was the lead-off panel at the sold-out Practicing Law Institute 21st Annual Consumer Financial Services Institute. The CFPB speakers were: Jeff...more
Recently, two courts rendered decisions that have implications for the marketplace lending industry regarding the application of state usury and licensing laws to marketplace lenders. Concurrently, federal and state...more