A proposed class action lawsuit has been filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California against EarnIn, a FinTech provider of Earned Wage Access services, alleging that its optional fees and tips...more
8/23/2024
/ Annual Percentage Rate (APR) ,
Class Action ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Earned Wage Access ,
Excessive Fees ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Hidden Fees ,
Lenders ,
Payday Loans ,
Truth in Lending Act (TILA)
In a recent decision, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia denied a retailer’s motion to compel individual arbitration of a claim brought in a putative class action lawsuit. The complaint alleges that...more
8/21/2024
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Arbitrators ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Illusory Contracts ,
Motion to Compel ,
Privacy Policy ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Retailers ,
Terms and Conditions ,
Terms of Use ,
Unenforceable Contract Terms ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
On June 18, a Colorado federal court granted the plaintiff trade groups’ motion for a preliminary injunction, effectively halting the enforcement of Colorado’s H.B. 1229 with respect to loans made by out-of-state...more
On May 30, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously decided Cantero, reaffirming and elaborating on the Barnett Bank preemption standard, and remanding the case to the Second Circuit for further proceedings. Cantero addressed...more
6/21/2024
/ Cantero v Bank of America NA ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Escrow Accounts ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Interest Rates ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Mortgages ,
National Bank Act ,
Preemption ,
SCOTUS
In this episode of The Consumer Finance Podcast, Chris Willis is joined by Troutman Pepper Partner Jeremy Rosenblum and Neil Currie, vice president at the American Arbitration Association (AAA). They discuss the phenomenon of...more
On May 2, JAMS announced its new Mass Arbitration Procedures and Guidelines and Mass Arbitration Procedures Fee Schedule (together, the Procedures), with the express goal to “facilitate the fair, expeditious and efficient...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently reversed a district court’s ruling, which had denied a motion to compel arbitration of Opportunity Financial (OppFi) on the basis that the arbitration clause was...more
Monday, three trade organizations filed a complaint in Colorado federal court challenging H.B. 1229, Colorado’s effort to limit interest charges by out-of-state financial institutions, which is set to take effect on July 1,...more
On February 12, ten Rhode Island senators introduced S 2275, a bill proposing to opt Rhode Island out of §§ 521-523 of the Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act (DIDMCA). On February 13, HF 3680 was...more
2/15/2024
/ Banks ,
Borrowers ,
Credit ,
Depository Institutions ,
DIDMCA ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Interest Rates ,
Opt-Outs ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Rhode Island ,
True Lender
Recently, Lead Bank and its loan servicer Hyphen, LLC, an online lending platform operating Helix Financial, filed a motion to dismiss a purported class action alleging violations of the Georgia Installment Loan Act (GILA)...more
2/7/2024
/ Annual Percentage Rate (APR) ,
Banks ,
Class Action ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Installment Agreements ,
Loan Agreements ,
Loan Servicer ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Payday Loans ,
RICO ,
Statutory Violations
On January 15, the American Arbitration Association (AAA) issued amended Mass Arbitration Supplementary Rules and new Consumer Mass Arbitration and Mediation Fee Schedules (collectively, the New Rules). The New Rules will...more
We are pleased to share our annual review of regulatory and legal developments in the consumer financial services industry. With active federal and state legislatures, consumer financial services providers faced a challenging...more
2/1/2024
/ Automotive Loans ,
Banks ,
Class Action ,
Consumer Bankruptcy ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Debt Collection ,
Digital Assets ,
Fair Lending ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Mortgages ,
Student Loans ,
Tribal Loans ,
Uniform Commercial Code (UCC)
On January 10, HB 254, entitled the True Lender Act, was introduced before the Maryland House of Delegates. The Act would amend the Maryland Commercial Law to add an article containing both predominant economic interest and...more
Washington now joins the list of states that have enacted or proposed legislation adopting so-called anti-evasion provisions, including legislation passed in Minnesota, Connecticut, Nebraska, and proposed in Florida. On...more
12/22/2023
/ Banks ,
Consumer Financial Contracts ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Lenders ,
Loans ,
Membership Agreements ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
True Lender ,
Washington
On October 9, a Florida state senator introduced SB 146, which would add a new section to the Florida Consumer Finance Act (CFA), attempting to curb evasion of the CFA. SB 146 would treat all payments incident to the loan as...more
A California state court recently denied a preliminary injunction sought by the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (the DFPI) in its long-running litigation against Opportunity Financial (OppFi)...more
11/14/2023
/ California ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
FDIC ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Interest Rates ,
Loans ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
True Lender ,
Usury
In response to a petition filed last week by a number of consumer advocacy groups, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) announced that it will be seeking public input on a possible rule that would curtail...more
9/20/2023
/ Arbitration Agreements ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Congressional Review Act ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Protection Act ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Petition for Rulemaking ,
Pre-Dispute Arbitration ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Comment ,
Regulatory Agenda
On August 1, Maryland’s Office of Financial Regulation (OFR) issued guidance to “provide clarity on how [the OFR] views Earned Wage Access [EWA] products and to describe the requirements entities offering these products must...more
8/21/2023
/ Consumer Financial Products ,
Earned Wage Access ,
Fees ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Maryland ,
OFR ,
Payday Lending Rule ,
Payday Loans ,
Third-Party ,
Tips ,
Wage and Hour
On June 6, Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen signed into law Legislative Bill 92, which, among many other subjects, amends the Nebraska Installment Loan Act (the NILA). Previously, a license was required for a lender seeking to...more
On June 26, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed the Florida Commercial Financing Disclosure Law (FCFDL). As discussed here, the FCFDL mandates that covered commercial financing companies provide consumer-like disclosures for...more
As discussed here, in April 2023, Colorado introduced HB 1229 that proposed to limit certain charges on consumer loans and simultaneously opt Colorado out of sections 521-523 of the Depository Institutions Deregulation and...more
6/9/2023
/ Banks ,
Colorado ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Depository Institutions ,
DIDMCA ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Interest Rate Caps ,
Loans ,
New Legislation ,
Opt-Outs ,
Preemption ,
Usury
On May 18, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz signed into law the Commerce Omnibus Bill, which, among other things, amends Minnesota Statute §§ 47.60 and 47.601 to cap the annual percentage rates (APR) on consumer small loans and...more
As discussed here, on March 30, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued its final rule under Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Final Rule). Section 1071 amended the...more
In 1980, Congress enacted the Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act (DIDMCA). Sections 521-523 of DIDMCA empower state banks, insured state and federal savings associations and state credit unions to...more
On April 12, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announced that it is ending the moratorium that capped the number of small-business lending companies permitted to participate in its § 7(a) loan program at 14, and...more