In the last several weeks, California's Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (fka the Department of Business Oversight) has issued a number of consumer alerts involving companies fraudulently claiming to hold a...more
California’s governor is expected to sign into law soon a bill creating a state consumer financial protection agency, the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI), which some have called California’s...more
On September 3, 2020, the California Department of Business Oversight (DBO) announced that it has launched a formal investigation into whether Wheels Financial Group, LLC d/b/a LoanMart, formerly one of California’s largest...more
California is poised to enact broad new legislation creating an entirely revamped financial protection regimen, including a powerful new Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI). In this article, we provide...more
What happened - On August 3, 2020, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a complaint against a merchant cash advance (MCA) provider and two of its officers, alleging misconduct ranging from grossly misrepresenting the...more
California's Governor Gavin Newsom has big plans for the Department of Business Oversight. These plans were described in his proposed 2020-2021 budget as follows...more
Following the departure of former CFPB Director Richard Cordray in 2017, consumer advocates and state attorneys general raised concerns regarding the new hands-off approach by the Trump administration pertaining to consumer...more
A recent legal conference in Washington, DC, highlighted newly proposed and ongoing regulatory changes in California concerning consumer and commercial lending. ...more
California is poised to join the growing cadre of states enhancing their consumer financial protection functions in response to perceived decreasing federal oversight and enforcement under the Trump administration. Following...more
At the start of the new year, both California’s Governor Newson and New York’s Governor Cuomo proposed expansions to their respective state’s regulatory oversight of consumer financial services. Of particular note,...more
On December 30, 2019, the California Department of Business Oversight (DBO) announced two actions regarding companies offering unregulated, point-of-sale financing to California residents. In the first action, the DBO...more
The California Department of Business Oversight (DBO) has issued proposed regulations to implement SB 1235, the bill signed into law in September 2018 that requires consumer-like disclosures to be made for certain commercial...more
California prohibits any person (unless exempt) from engaging in the business of a finance lender or broker without obtaining a license from the Commissioner of Business Oversight. Cal. Fin. Code § 22100(a). This applies to...more
The California Department of Business Oversight has sent an email to servicers notifying them of the publication of its final student loan servicer regulations, which became effective March 28, 2019....more
The California Department of Business Oversight (DBO) has filed an administrative enforcement action against a title lender for alleged violations of California law and launched an investigation into whether the interest...more
The California Commissioner of Business Oversight is require to prepare an annual report summarizing the data collected from issuers that were granted permits to offer and sell securities pursuant to Corporations Code §...more
The California Department of Business Oversight (DBO) has issued an invitation for comments from stakeholders in developing regulations to implement SB 1235, the bill signed into law on September 30, 2018 that requires...more
Section 22303 of the California Financial Code establishes the maximum interest rates applicable to loans less than $2,500. The preceding section incorporates by reference the general Civil Code provision about contract...more
The California Department of Business Oversight (DBO) has published a second round of modifications to its proposed regulations under the State’s Student Loan Servicing Act. As previously covered, the DBO published its first...more
On June 29, 2018, the California Commissioner of Business Oversight warned California residential mortgage lenders and servicers that their failure to file annual reports could lead to enforcement actions. ...more
The California Department of Business Oversight (DBO) has published modifications to its proposed regulations under the State’s Student Loan Servicing Act. As previously covered, the DBO published notice of its initial...more
California and the District of Columbia have recently released regulations under their respective student loan servicing laws. Each is taking comments on its regulations, but whereas California has merely issued proposed...more
In a clear message to FinTech start-ups, on September 27, 2016, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ordered online lender Flurish, Inc. to pay $1.83 million in refunds and a civil penalty of $1.8 million for...more
The California Department of Business Oversight (DBO) has issued a summary report of aggregate data provided by the companies that responded to the DBO's online survey sent to 14 marketplace lenders engaged in online consumer...more