On September 12, 2024, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) filed a proposed order which, if entered by the court, will ban a student loan servicer from servicing federal student loans and require it to pay $120...more
On August 2, New Hampshire passed House Bill 1243 (the “Bill”), which substantially amends its Motor Vehicle Retail Installment Sales Act (the “Act”). The Bill is effective as of August 2....more
On August 13, the CFPB announced an advisory opinion on the applicability of the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) and Regulation Z to “contracts for deed.” A contract for deed is an arrangement in which a consumer purchases a home...more
On June 25, the CFPB released a formal action to extend the compliance deadlines for its Section 1071 small business lending rule (previously discussed here, here, and here). Once issued, the rule was challenged in the United...more
On June 18, the CFPB filed a proposed final judgment that would require a Florida-based nonbank mortgage originator and servicer to pay a $3.95 million civil money penalty and implement corrective actions requiring the...more
6/24/2024
/ Consent Order ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Fines ,
HMDA ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Mortgages ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Statutory Violations
On May 31, the CFPB filed suit in federal court in the Middle District of Pennsylvania against a Pennsylvania-based student loan servicer accusing it of illegally pursuing student loan debts discharged in bankruptcy and...more
On June 4, the CFPB issued a circular targeting the deceptive use of fine print in consumer financial contracts to include unlawful or unenforceable terms. In a press release issued the same day, the CFPB stressed that these...more
On June 3, the CFPB issued its final rule codifying its “repeat offender registry.” The registry will require certain nonbank entities subject to agency or court orders issued in connection with the provision of a consumer...more
On May 16, the CFPB filed a motion for summary judgement in the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Florida seeking a $20 million civil penalty against a California-based mortgage provider for allegedly submitting...more
On May 20, the CFPB settled an enforcement action against a California-based telemarketing firm for practices related to student loan debt relief services. The Bureau has ordered the firm to permanently halt operations and...more
On May 9, the CFPB issued a new report highlighting the issues consumers encounter with credit card rewards programs. The report was released in conjunction with a hearing co-hosted with the Department of Transportation and...more
On April 25, the FTC took action against a Washington-based bill payment company and its two co-founders alleging that the company used misleading search ads to impersonate consumers’ billers and deceptive design practices to...more
On April 24, the CFPB released its latest edition of Supervisory Highlights detailing the agency’s actions taken to combat “junk fees” it alleges are charged by mortgage servicers. This spotlight on fees in mortgage servicing...more
On April 17, the CFPB issued a consent order against a San Francisco-based for-profit coding school and its and CEO, banning it from lending to consumers, after it found that the company inflated its job placement rates to...more
On March 29, the CFPB and the FTC jointly filed an amicus brief with the Eleventh Circuit in a matter involving a dispute under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The case involves a consumer who filed disputes with a consumer...more
4/8/2024
/ Amicus Briefs ,
Class Action ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Reporting Agencies ,
Data Collection ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Investigations ,
Sensitive Personal Information
On April 4, the CFPB published a new Issue Spotlight, titled “Banking in Video Games and Virtual Worlds” that analyzes the increased commercial activity within online video games and virtual worlds and the apparent risks to...more
4/8/2024
/ Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Crypto Exchanges ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cybersecurity ,
FinTech ,
Games ,
In-Game Purchases ,
Online Marketplace ,
Privacy Laws ,
Rulemaking Process
On March 6, the CFPB finalized its credit card late fee rule (previously discussed here) aimed at ensuring that late fees charged on consumer credit card accounts are “reasonable and proportional.” The rule amends Regulation...more
In a move to bridge significant data gaps identified through its February 2023 Auto Finance Data Pilot where it sent information requests to nine large auto lenders about their lending portfolios, the Consumer Financial...more
On February 7, a Florida-based cryptocurrency company agreed to settle charges brought by the SEC and the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation alleging that, an interest-earning feature offered on the...more
On February 6, the FTC announced that it had reached proposed settlements with several defendants in a pending action where the parties were accused of operating a fraudulent student debt relief scheme and collecting...more
In December, the CFPB brought a series of three separate enforcement actions against several financial services companies alleging a range of violations of federal consumer protections laws....more
1/29/2024
/ Banking Sector ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Consent Order ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Protection Laws ,
Damages ,
Debt Collection ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
EFTA ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Fair Housing Act (FHA) ,
FDCPA ,
Financial Services Industry ,
ILSFDA ,
Popular
On January 23, the FTC entered into a settlement agreement with a cash-advance fintech app for $3 million over violations of the FTC Act, the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act (ROSCA), and ECOA....more
1/29/2024
/ Bank Service Providers ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Disclosure ,
ECOA ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FinTech ,
FTC Act ,
Refunds ,
ROSCA ,
Settlement Agreements
On October 25, the CFPB released its sixth biennial report to Congress as required under the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act (CARD Act). The report found that in 2022 credit card companies charged...more
On October 30, the Superior Court of California County of Los Angeles denied the DFPI’s motion for a preliminary injunction to force a Chicago-based fintech company to stop facilitating loans to California borrowers from its...more
11/10/2023
/ Banks ,
Borrowers ,
California ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Interest Rates ,
Loans ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
True Lender
On October 31, a federal jury in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri found the defendants, a trade association, which represents residential and commercial real estate industries, and multiple...more