The New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) opened a new front in its campaign against the payday lending industry by subpoenaing 16 online lead generation firms that allegedly collected and sold consumers’...more
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has issued a final rule allowing it to supervise nonbank servicers of private and federal student loans who qualify as “larger participants” in the student loan servicing market. The...more
A settlement with the operator of five Buffalo-area debt collection companies announced on November 21, 2013, by New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman marks the latest chapter in the Attorney General's targeting of...more
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) have carried out their threats in their proposed guidance to kill deposit advance loans. On November 21, 2013, the two...more
Charles A. Harwood, Deputy Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection of the Federal Trade Commission, testified before a U.S. Senate committee last week about military consumer protection issues. Deputy Director Harwood's...more
For the first time, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has addressed the important issue of whether, and to what extent, Pennsylvania's Loan Interest and Protection Law (Act 6) may be used as the basis for claims that do not...more
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) recently issued a new Bulletin 2013-29 containing substantially more onerous risk management guidance for third-party business relationships (3PRs) of national banks and...more
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) recently issued guidance on what it looks for when requiring national banks and federal thrifts in enforcement orders to engage third-party consultants (3PCs). Bulletin...more
NACHA, the organization that administers the Automatic Clearing House (ACH) network, recently announced proposed modifications to its Rules and invited comments on or before January 13, 2014. While much of what NACHA proposes...more
Numerous media sources have reported that Senate Democrats “went nuclear” today and, by a vote of 52-48, voted to change Senate filibuster rules to only require 51 (a simple majority) rather than 60 votes for most...more
The CFPB’s auto fair lending guidance continues to draw criticism from members of Congress, most recently from Congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer, a member of the House Financial Service Committee.
In a November 15 letter...more
The CFPB has filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in The Otoe-Missouria Tribe of Indians et al. v. New York Department of Financial Services et al., a case stemming from New York’s...more
Earlier this month, the Chief Administrative Judge of New York’s Unified Court System issued a report on the status of foreclosure cases in the state judicial system. The 2013 report contains important information about how...more
The Federal Trade Commission has revised its Guides for Private Vocational and Distance Education Schools, generally referred to as the “Vocational School Guides” (Guides). The Guides are intended to advise businesses that...more
11/14/2013
The Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) on debt collection issued by the CFPB earlier this week solicits comments on an array of issues relating to the debt collection practices of third-party debt collectors and...more
The CFPB has announced that its consumer complaint system is now accepting complaints about payday loans. In describing the issue involved in a complaint, a consumer can choose from the following...more
Last night, the Mount Holly town council met to discuss the tentative settlement in Township of Mount Holly v. Mt. Holly Gardens Citizens in Action, Inc. We understand that due to issues concerning the language of the...more
Just after midnight last night, the CFPB took a significant step towards the issuance of debt collection regulations by releasing an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR). The ANPR seeks comment on an array of issues...more
The Pew Charitable Trusts has released the third report in its “Payday Lending in America” series. The new report makes policy recommendations that are intended to apply to all small-dollar consumer cash loans (other than...more
The CFPB has responded to the October 30 letter it received from a bipartisan group of 22 U.S. Senators raising concerns about the fair lending auto finance bulletin issued by the CFPB this past March. The Senators’ letter...more
It is looking like our prediction that Township of Mount Holly v. Mt. Holly Gardens Citizens in Action, Inc. would settle before the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument was accurate. Late yesterday, the Wall Street Journal...more
A bipartisan group of 22 U.S. Senators –11 Republicans and 11 Democrats–sent a letter to the CFPB yesterday raising concerns about the fair lending auto finance bulletin issued by the CFPB this past March. In particular, the...more
The New York City Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) recently filed an enforcement action to enjoin National Credit Adjusters, LLC, a national debt collector, from collecting debts in the City. The DCA had rejected the...more
Two recent Ninth Circuit opinions and a California Supreme Court ruling demonstrate that the debate over the enforceability of consumer arbitration provisions is far from over. With the U.S. Supreme Court weighing whether to...more
Thirty groups have written to the CFPB, FTC, Department of Justice and federal banking regulators urging them “to closely monitor the payment processing procedures and compliance safeguards in place” at the payment processors...more