On August 28, the CFPB issued a Consumer Advisory warning that it believes video game companies are targeting children for monetary gain. With 45.7 million U.S. children engaged in video gameplay, the agency is concerned...more
9/16/2024
/ Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Protection Laws ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Protection ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Online Safety for Children ,
Privacy Laws ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Video Games
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 July 25, federal regulators issued a joint statement to further put banking organizations on notice of the inherent risks of collaborating with fintechs in offering deposit products and services. This guidance aims to...more
On July 11, the Federal District Court for the Middle District of Florida granted the FTC’s request for a temporary restraining order against operators of a debt relief enterprise that unlawfully charged consumers illegal...more
On July 24, 2024, the CFPB issued a circular detailing how companies may be breaking the law by requiring employees to sign broad nondisclosure agreements that could deter whistleblowing. Under Section 1057(a) of the...more
7/29/2024
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Adverse Employment Action ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Corporate Governance ,
Covered Employees ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Investigations ,
Whistleblowers
On July 18, the CFPB proposed a new interpretive rule that would characterize earned wage access (“EWA”) products as extensions of credit and subject to the Truth in Lending Act and Regulation Z. Under the interpretive...more
On July 11, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court’s decision dismissing a CFPB action against an Illinois-based mortgage lender and its owner for violations of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act....more
On July 2, the CFPB released its Summer 2024 Supervisory Highlights, which focused on the servicing and collection of consumer debt. The report shared key findings from recent supervisory examinations of auto and student loan...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 settled enforcement actions against two mortgage servicers who serviced reverse mortgages on behalf of HUD, for their systemic failure to respond to consumer requests for assistance, resulting in...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 June 14, the CFPB published a press release announcing that its 2017 Payday, Vehicle Title and Certain High-Cost Installment Loans Rule (“Payday Lending Rule”) will go into effect on or about March 30, 2025. According to...more
Florida is one of several states that has enacted “de-banking” legislation that requires financial institutions to provide consumers with fair access to financial products and services. On May 3, Governor DeSantis signed into...more
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 May 22, the CFPB announced an interpretive rule confirming that Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) lenders qualify as credit card providers under the Truth in Lending Act, Regulation Z and are required to provide consumers legal...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
The CFPB is continuing its crusade against so called “junk fees,” and now is looking at credit reporting fees. In a May 20 speech to the Mortgage Bankers Association, Director Rohit Chopra highlighted the rising costs of...more
On May 21, the Massachusetts Attorney General entered into an Assurance of Discontinuance (“AOD”) with a California-based fintech alleging that it was the “true lender” of its consumer installment loans. Under the terms of...more
On May 3, a California resident filed a class action lawsuit in federal court accusing a Los Angeles-based credit union of discriminatory practices, and raised a civil rights claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1981, and violations of...more
5/20/2024
/ Class Action ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Privacy Rights ,
Credit Unions ,
DACA ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Discrimination ,
ECOA ,
Fair Lending ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Immigrants ,
Unruh Civil Rights Act
On May 16, the United States Supreme Court, in a 7-2 ruling, held that the CFPB’s funding mechanism does not violate the Appropriations Clause of the U.S. Constitution. As we previously discussed in greater detail, under the...more
On May 17, the CFPB filed a lawsuit against a California-based fintech that operates a nationwide website and mobile-application based peer-to-peer lending platform through which consumers can obtain small-dollar, short-term...more
On May 6, 2024, the CFPB resolved an enforcement action against a group of Delaware student loan trusts and a loan servicer (found here and here) for their failures to adequately respond to borrowers’ requests for relief,...more
On March 28, the FDIC released the spring edition of its consumer compliance supervisory highlights. The FDIC supervises approximately 3,000 state-chartered banks and thrifts that are not members of the Federal Reserve...more
5/13/2024
/ Banking Sector ,
Banks ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
EFTA ,
Fair Lending ,
FDIC ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
FTC Act ,
Regulation E ,
Regulation Z ,
Section 5 ,
Truth in Lending Act (TILA)
On April 22, the Governor of Tennessee signed HB 2100 into law. This new law, an amendment to the state’s consumer protection codes, introduces protections for consumers against discrimination by financial institutions and...more