On March 13, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced the introduction of the Fostering Affordability and Integrity through Reasonable Business Practices Act (FAIR Business Practices Act). The proposed legislation...more
3/24/2025
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Protection Laws ,
Debt Collection ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Proposed Legislation ,
State Attorneys General ,
Student Loans ,
Technology Sector ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
On March 18, Acting Comptroller of the Currency Rodney Hood reiterated the OCC’s commitment to ensuring fair access to banking services, including for cryptocurrency firms. Speaking at a retail banking industry conference,...more
The CFPB has recently dismissed two more enforcement actions—one against a major credit reporting agency and another against a lease-to-own financing provider. Both lawsuits involved allegations of abusive, unfair, and...more
3/17/2025
/ Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fair Lending ,
False Advertising ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Fraud ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Small Business Loans ,
Telemarketing Sales Rule ,
UDAAP ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
On March 4, the California DFPI finalized regulations under the Debt Collection Licensing Act (DCLA). The final regulations, which take effect July 1, 2025, clarify key licensing and reporting requirements....more
3/17/2025
/ California ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Protection Laws ,
Debt Collection ,
Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) ,
Final Rules ,
New Regulations ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements
The CFPB is extending the comment periods for two proposed rulemakings under Regulation V, which implements the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). On March 5, the Bureau extended the comment period for its proposed rule on...more
The CFPB is facing pushback from the U.S. Senate over two final rules issued under the Biden administration: one expanding oversight of nonbank digital payment providers and another limiting the reporting of medical debt....more
The CFPB has recently dismissed two more enforcement actions—one against a major credit reporting agency and another against a lease-to-own financing provider. Both lawsuits involved allegations of abusive, unfair, and...more
3/17/2025
/ Consent Order ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Consumer Protection Laws ,
Debt Collection ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
UDAAP ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
On March 3, Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell announced new regulations, issued under the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act, aimed at curbing “junk fees” by requiring businesses to disclose total prices...more
3/17/2025
/ Consumer Protection Laws ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Fees ,
New Regulations ,
Pricing ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
State and Local Government ,
State Attorneys General ,
Transparency ,
UDAAP ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
On March 10, 2025, the CFPB informed the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas that it will proceed with litigation against a short-term installment lender and its subsidiary for alleged violations of the...more
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released a comprehensive report today, outlining detailed recommendations to strengthen state-level consumer protection laws and address modern risks in consumer financial...more
On December 17, 2024, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) finalized a rule applying standard mortgage protections to Residential Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) loans. The rule amends Regulation Z to clarify...more
12/24/2024
/ Borrowers ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Lenders ,
Loans ,
Mortgages ,
New Rules ,
PACE ,
Regulation Z ,
Residential Property Owners ,
Truth in Lending Act (TILA)
On December 3, the CFPB filed a proposed settlement to resolve a long running lawsuit against a student loan relief company and its owner (collectively, the “Defendants”). The settlement bars the company from offering or...more
Starting in February 2025, providers of (1) debt settlement services, (2) student debt relief services, (3) private postsecondary education financing, and (4) income-based advances (a/k/a earned wage access (EWA) products)...more
On November 5, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) filed a complaint against a company in connection with its mobile banking app, alleging violations of Section 5(a) of the FTC Act and Section 4 of the Restore Online...more
On October 30, two leading fintech industry trade associations submitted comments (see comment letters here and here) in response to a joint Request for Information (RFI) issued by the Office of the Comptroller of the...more
11/4/2024
/ Banking Sector ,
Banks ,
FDIC ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Agencies ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
OCC ,
Request For Information ,
Rulemaking Process
On October 18, a fintech trade group filed a complaint in a D.C. federal court challenging the CFPB’s interpretive rule on Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) products. The rule, released last May, treats BNPL providers as credit card...more
On October 10, the CFPB settled an action against a California-based private arbitration company permanently banning it from arbitrating disputes related to consumer financial products or services. The company operates an...more
On September 17, the CFPB issued a circular stating that financial institutions can be found liable for violating the Electronic Funds Transfer Act by charging overdraft fees if the there is no proof of consumers’ affirmative...more
On September 4, the Federal Reserve Board (Fed) released enforcement actions against a Texas-based bank, addressing regulatory violations and compliance lapses.
The Fed, joined by the Texas Department of Banking (TDB),...more
On August 29, the CFPB issued a consent order against a non-bank direct mortgage lender for misrepresenting the cost of its cash-out refinance loans, which are guaranteed under the VA home loan program, to active-duty...more
9/9/2024
/ Borrowers ,
Consent Order ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Lenders ,
Loans ,
Military Lending Act ,
Military Service Members ,
Misleading Statements ,
Mortgages ,
Refinancing ,
Veterans
On August 21, the CFPB entered into a consent order with a nonbank mortgage servicer for mortgage servicing violations and for violating an earlier 2017 CFPB consent order for deficient foreclosure practices.
In 2017, the...more
9/3/2024
/ Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Compliance ,
Consent Order ,
Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Executive Compensation ,
Foreclosure ,
Homeowners Protection Act ,
Loss Mitigation ,
Mortgage Insurance ,
Mortgage Servicers ,
RESPA ,
Settlement ,
Truth in Lending Act (TILA)
On August 7, the CFPB issued a report and a consumer advisory highlighting predatory practices in solar lending. On the same day, the FTC released a blog post emphasizing similar concerns....more
On May 21, less than a month after Kansas, South Carolina has become the fifth state to enact comprehensive earned wages access (EWA) legislation, which is set to take effect on November 21, 2024....more
On April 19, less than a month after Wisconsin’s enacted legislation, Kansas has followed suited by enacting comprehensive earned wages access legislation. Kansas’ law is set to take effect immediately upon publication....more
4/29/2024
/ Commercial Loans ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Kansas ,
Lenders ,
New Legislation ,
State and Local Government ,
State Legislatures
On March 28, the Federal Reserve (Fed) issued a cease-and-desist order to a Wyoming-based bank holding company, citing deficiencies identified in a September 2023 inspection related to its “fintech business strategy, board...more
4/22/2024
/ Bank Holding Company ,
Banking Sector ,
Banks ,
Business Strategies ,
Cease and Desist Orders ,
Enforcement ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Risk Management