On July 10, 2024, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released a proposal to amend the existing mortgage servicing rules in Regulation X. The substance of the proposal has attracted a lot of attention and...more
9/6/2024
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Chevron Deference ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Loper Bright Enterprises v Raimondo ,
Loss Mitigation ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Proposed Rules ,
RESPA ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Rulemaking Process ,
SCOTUS ,
West Virginia v EPA
On July 11, 2024, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit issued its highly anticipated decision in Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v. Townstone Financial, Inc., et al. In this pivotal decision, the...more
“Although there may be other constitutional checks on Congress’ authority to create and fund an administrative agency, specifying the source and purpose is all the control the Appropriations Clause requires.” With these...more
The Alabama Supreme Court recently issued a major published decision on circumstances in which a residential borrower can challenge a mortgage foreclosure sale. In Littlefield v. Smith, the court elevated the bona fide...more
In October 2023, the CFPB issued an advisory opinion titled, “Consumer Information Requests to Large Banks and Credit Unions.” The upshot of the advisory opinion is that covered financial institutions responding to consumer...more
On September 19, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued Circular 2023-03, which provides guidance as to how lenders must explain denials of applications of credit when the underwriting is based on artificial...more
Over the last year and a half, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has become increasingly interested in the origination, servicing, and collection of medical debt. The CFPB alone has published several pieces of...more
On July 7, the CFPB, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), Department of Health & Human Services (HHS), and Department of the Treasury issued a formal request for information regarding forms of consumer-facing...more
The Supreme Court has asked the solicitor general to weigh in on an issue that could affect lenders and borrowers alike: whether the National Bank Act (NBA) trumps state laws that require lenders to pay interest on mortgage...more
Less than three years after the U.S. Supreme Court reviewed the CFPB’s appointment structure, the bureau again finds itself before the Court in what could prove the most consequential case for the financial services industry...more
On October 19, 2022, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals issued its opinion in Community Financial Services Association of America, et al. v. CFPB (CFSA v. CFPB) invalidating the CFPB’s Payday, Vehicle-Title, and Certain...more
10/21/2022
/ Appeals ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Corporate Counsel ,
En Banc Review ,
Payday Loans ,
Petition for Writ of Certiorari ,
Regulatory Violations ,
SCOTUS ,
Separation of Powers ,
Small Dollar Lenders ,
Vehicle Title
With historically low unemployment rates, attracting and retaining top talent can be a challenge for employers. To distinguish themselves from the pack, many companies are considering tuition assistance programs to both...more
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) focus on ensuring loan servicers’ compliance with the implementation of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program continues. On March 30, 2022, the CFPB entered into...more
The Eleventh Circuit’s far-reaching decision in Hunstein v. Preferred Collection and Management Services, Inc. — which we previously covered on this blog — continues to raise questions for the wide range of industries that...more
On April 21, 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit issued a decision that threatens significant consequences for a variety of loan servicing and debt collection industries. The upshot of the court’s holding...more
4/22/2021
/ Appeals ,
Article III ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Debt Collection ,
Debt Collectors ,
Debtors ,
FDCPA ,
Loan Servicing ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Standing ,
Third-Party
The Mississippi Supreme Court recently rejected federal preemption arguments relating to federally owned student loans. This follows other preemption rulings, as we’ve discussed here and here.
Mississippi’s attorney...more
The CARES Act provided historic, temporary relief to mortgage holders facing Covid-19-related financial troubles. R. Aaron Chastain, partner at Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP, looks at where mortgage lenders and servicers...more
11/10/2020
/ Borrowers ,
Business Ownership ,
CARES Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Financial Distress ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Forbearance Agreements ,
GSE ,
Homeowners ,
Mortgage Servicers ,
Mortgages ,
Relief Measures
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recently issued a sweeping moratorium on most evictions through the end of 2020 as a means to stop the spread of COVID-19, which will go into effect on September 4, 2020. According to...more
9/8/2020
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Commerce Clause ,
Contracts Clause ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Due Process ,
Eviction ,
Foreclosure ,
Landlords ,
Moratorium ,
Property Owners ,
Public Health Service Act ,
Takings Clause ,
Tenants
On June 30, 2020, Oregon joined D.C., Massachusetts, and New York in passing state-specific COVID-19 mortgage assistance programs into law. This new law further confuses the patchwork quilt of compliance issues for mortgage...more
The CFPB recently issued its “Consumer Reporting FAQs Related to the CARES Act and COVID-19 Pandemic,” addressing 10 credit reporting issues. While the FAQs provide some much-needed clarity for furnishers of information and...more
On June 17, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed one of the most far-reaching COVID-19 mortgage assistance state programs yet into law. Affected servicers and lenders will soon need to decide whether they should find a way to...more
6/23/2020
/ Compliance ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Contracts Clause ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Forbearance Agreements ,
Governor Cuomo ,
Loan Modifications ,
Loss Mitigation ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Mortgage Servicers ,
Relief Measures
Several states have recently ramped up their regulation of the student lending industry by passing laws requiring student loan servicers to be licensed in the state in order to operate there. Many of these state licensing...more
The Nevada Supreme Court again turned its attention to superpriority liens in the first quarter of 2020, issuing two opinions dealing with tenders, i.e. attempts or offers to pay. These decisions outline additional ways that...more
As we’ve been tracking for over a year now, courts across the country have addressed the significant question of whether the federal laws governing federally owned or guaranteed student loans preempt state laws placing...more
4/14/2020
/ Debt Collection ,
Department of Education ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Federal Student Loans ,
Higher Education Act ,
Loan Servicer ,
Misrepresentation ,
Preemption ,
Private Student Loans ,
Public Service Loan Forgiveness program (PSLF program) ,
State Regulators ,
Student Loan Servicers Regulation ,
Student Loans
The CFPB’s April 1, 2020, statement regarding credit reporting for loans affected by COVID-19 announced a “flexible supervisory and enforcement approach during this pandemic.” In addition to guidance regarding furnishing...more