On July 30, 2024, Heights Finance Holding Co. f/k/a Southern Management Corporation and a group of its wholly-owned, state-licensed subsidiaries (collectively, “Southern”) filed a motion for judgment on the pleadings (the...more
8/15/2024
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Borrowers ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Judgment on the Pleadings ,
Statute of Limitations ,
UDAAP
On July 18, 2024, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (the “CFPB” or “Bureau”) proposed an interpretive rule that states (1) EWA products fall under the definition of “credit” under the Truth in Lending Act (“TILA”) and...more
7/25/2024
/ Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) ,
Comment Period ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Credit ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Interpretive Rule ,
Loans ,
Payday Loans ,
Regulation Z ,
Truth in Lending Act (TILA) ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wages
After the Supreme Court’s long-awaited 7-2 decision in CFSA v. CFPB that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (“CFPB’s”) funding mechanism did not violate the appropriations clause of the U.S. Constitution, the case was...more
On June 26, 2024, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB” or the “Bureau”) released its annual Fair Lending Report (the “Report”) for the calendar year 2023. The reporting period ran through December 31, 2023, so any...more
California frequently is in the vanguard of consumer financial issues and legislation, foreshadowing trends that may spread to other states. Today’s episode, during which we explore important hot topics and recent...more
On April 25, 2024, California’s Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (“DFPI”) released its Annual Report of Activity Under the California Consumer Financial Protection Law for 2023 (“Annual Report”). The Annual...more
On May 21, 2024, South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster signed into law the Earned Wage Access Services Act (the “Act”), which will require earned wage access (“EWA”) providers to register annually with the state’s Department...more
5/31/2024
/ Consumer Financial Products ,
Earned Wage Access ,
EFTA ,
Electronic Fund Transfer Act ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
New Regulations ,
Payday Loans ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wages
On March 28, 2024, four former Walden University students (“Plaintiffs”) filed a proposed settlement both individually and on behalf of a putative class of current and former Walden University (“Walden”) students with the...more
4/8/2024
/ Civil Rights Act ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
ECOA ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Student Loans ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Race Discrimination ,
Redlining ,
Settlement ,
Title VI
On January 22, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) entered into a Stipulated Order for Permanent Injunction, Monetary Judgment, and Other Relief (the “Order”) with FloatMe Corp. (“FloatMe”), a fintech that offers...more
2/9/2024
/ Automatic Renewals ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
ECOA ,
Fair Lending ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FinTech ,
FTC Act ,
Hidden Fees ,
Permanent Injunctions ,
Proposed Regulation ,
ROSCA ,
Stipulated Judgment ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
On September 9, 2014, then-Governor Jerry Brown of California signed into law Assembly Bill No. 2365. The law, which went into effect in January of 2015, prohibits contracts for the sale or lease of consumer goods from...more
After promising earlier this year to “establish nation-leading regulations for the Buy Now Pay Later loan industry,” New York Governor Kathy Hochul took a significant first step in that direction by including Buy Now Pay...more
1/25/2024
/ Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Credit Reporting Agencies ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
New York ,
NYDFS ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
State and Local Government
On January 2, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a complaint against FloatMe Corp. (“FloatMe”), a fintech that offers short-term cash advances through its mobile app, alleging violations of the FTC Act, the Restore...more
On December 22, 2023, the Attorney General of Montana released an opinion (the “Opinion”) concluding that certain earned wage access (EWA) products are not “consumer loans” or “deferred deposit loans” under Montana law and do...more
1/8/2024
/ Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Earned Wage Access ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Loans ,
Montana ,
Payday Lending Rule ,
Payday Loans ,
State Attorneys General ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wages
The OCC and FDIC announced yesterday that they have extended the 60-day comment period for their joint proposal to revise their regulations implementing the Community Reinvestment Act that was published in the Federal...more
While banks, community groups, and regulators all seem to agree that there is a need to reform the Community Reinvestment Act (the “CRA”), which was signed into law by Jimmy Carter back in 1977 and hasn’t received a major...more
12/27/2019
/ Banking Regulators ,
Banks ,
Community Reinvestment Act ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
FDIC ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
NPRM ,
OCC ,
Rulemaking Process
The OCC and FDIC have issued a joint proposal to revise their regulations implementing the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). Although the Federal Reserve, OCC and FDIC, are the primary CRA regulators, the Fed did not join...more
12/19/2019
/ Banks ,
Community Reinvestment Act ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
FDIC ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Financing ,
Joint Policy Statements ,
Lending ,
Low-Income Issues ,
Mortgages ,
OCC ,
Rulemaking Process
On September 6, 2019, the Bureau filed a complaint in federal court in the Central District of California against Certified Forensic Loan Auditors, LLC (CFLA) and Andrew Lehman (Lehman) in connection with their offering,...more
9/13/2019
/ Audits ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) ,
Deceptive Intent ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Advertising ,
Final Judgment ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Foreclosure ,
Homeowners ,
Misrepresentation ,
Mortgage Assistance Relief Services (MARS) ,
Mortgages ,
Regulation O ,
Regulatory Violations ,
Scams ,
Securitization