A recent ruling by the Michigan Supreme Court nullifying hundreds of emergency orders by Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer may have profound implications for those mortgage loans closed in reliance on the expanded remote...more
10/16/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Emergency Powers ,
Executive Orders ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Governor Whitmer ,
MI Supreme Court ,
Mortgages ,
Notarization ,
Public Gatherings ,
Remote Notarization ,
State and Local Government
In a significant action, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has abruptly rescinded a 2015 compliance bulletin concerning marketing services agreements (MSAs) while also issuing RESPA Section 8 (referral fee...more
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, federal and state governments and regulators have taken hasty actions that are arguably beyond the scope of their authority in order to provide assistance to businesses and consumers...more
In a new letter last month, a group of Democratic lawmakers asked the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to take a closer look at the use of alternative data for credit decisions, particularly in the context of mortgage...more
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) struck a deal with a mortgage broker who revealed personal information about consumers after they posted negative reviews of his service on Yelp....more
Affirming a California district court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that a debt collector is entitled to collect a lawful, outstanding debt even if the statute of limitations has run, so long as the...more
In the latest student lending happenings, a group of state attorneys general wrote to the Department of Education seeking confirmation of student loan discharge relief to thousands of borrowers, while a consumer group filed...more
In recent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) news, the CFPB notched a $59 million victory in Wisconsin federal court, settled an enforcement action on employment background screening and published an interpretive...more
Oversight of student loan servicing remains top of mind for state regulators, with new regulations taking effect in New York, California, Colorado and Maine, and with several other states considering similar measures.
...more
In a pair of new reports, the 12 Federal Reserve Banks provided data on the financing needs, decisions and outcomes of (i) small businesses (fewer than 500 employees) and (ii) nonemployer firms....more
It has been an unusually busy rule-making stretch for the consumer mortgage markets at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau), marked by its issuance of an advanced notice of proposed rule-making (ANPR)...more
Improper overdraft fees and prohibited kickbacks were just two of many concerns identified by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) in its first-ever publication of “Consumer Compliance Supervisory...more
Continuing to fill in gaps at the federal level, state attorneys general are keeping busy with enforcement actions, and on issues that might have received more CFPB attention under the old Cordray regime....more
Passive debt buyers are debt collectors under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) if their “principal purpose” is buying debt, even if they outsource collections, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has...more
Think again before you simplify your message to sell more cars. A $3 million fine levied in a case from the New York Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) tells us why....more
Student loan debt relief scammers were on the receiving end of a ban by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) as part of the agency’s Operation Game of Loans....more
One of the nation’s largest credit unions will pay $95,000 after a DOJ investigation into the company’s violations of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA)....more
Following a busy few months for the California legislature, financial institutions are now facing some new requirements.
Governor Jerry Brown signed several bills into law by the September 30 deadline, including amendments...more
California’s legislature passed a bill last week further regulating the collection of time-barred debt under the Rosenthal Act, California’s version of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). The new law will become...more
The new executive order (EO) granting agency chiefs the power to hire administrative law judges (ALJs) according to their own standards—and eliminating the exam and competitive hiring process formerly in place—could turn the...more
8/6/2018
/ Administrative Agencies ,
Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Administrative Proceedings ,
Appeals ,
Appointments Clause ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Final Written Decisions ,
Lucia v SEC ,
Officers of the United States ,
Remand ,
Reversal ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Special Trial Judges (STJs)
In testimony before both houses of Congress, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) Comptroller Joseph M. Otting shared with lawmakers his priorities for the federal bank regulatory agency....more
As the President nominates the virtually unknown Kathy Kraninger as Director, the Acting Director gets a reprieve while taking a wrecking ball to the status quo at the agency formerly known as the CFPB....more
As the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) withdraws from enforcement, activity continues in the courts and with certain other regulators. In Texas, a federal court denied a stay of the looming compliance...more
State legislatures are making their mark with new consumer protection legislation, most notably in Vermont, where the state enacted the first law regulating data brokers, and in Colorado, where lawmakers passed a new privacy...more
A Minnesota community bank accused of redlining reached a deal with the Department of Justice (DOJ) with a promise to expand its presence and outreach in minority neighborhoods but pay no civil penalties. The settlement...more