Consumer Finance Monitor Podcast Episode: A Close Look at the Recent Study of the Effects of Illinois' 36% “All-In” Interest Rate Cap on Small-Dollar Credit Availability, with Special Guest Tom Miller
As we have reported in prior blogs, the Government of Canada is moving forward with plans to lower the criminal interest rate to an annual percentage rate (APR) of 35 percent (the current criminal interest rate, being an...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
The California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) has filed its opposition to Opportunity Financial, LLC’s (OppFi) Demurrer to the DFPI’s cross-complaint. In the Demurrer, OppFi asks the California...more
When the interest rate on a mortgage financing is not fixed, the amount that a borrower may be required to pay may fluctuate depending on changes in the underlying index to which the “margin” or “spread” is tied. While a...more
On April 8, the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) filed a cross-complaint against a Chicago-based FinTech company alleging that as the “true lender” of consumer installment loans, it is...more
Last week, Opportunity Financial, LLC filed a lawsuit challenging the Department of Financial Protection & Innovation's alleged threat to take enforcement action for violating AB 539, the so-called Fair Access to Credit Act. ...more
Beginning next year, New Mexico will join a handful of other states (including, among others, California, Illinois, and Colorado) setting stringent interest rate caps on consumer loans. House Bill 132, which Gov. Michelle...more
For at least the past 20 years, Maine has capped interest rates for most closed-end unsecured loans at 30% for loans of $2,000 or less, and at 18% on loans of $4,000 or more. See, e.g., 9-A M.R.S.A. Sec. 2-401....more
The Illinois legislature has passed a new law setting an interest rate cap of 36% on most consumer loans. What Happened - Under the new bill, “a lender shall not contract for or receive charges exceeding a 36% annual...more
Three weeks after California, Illinois and New York sued the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to enjoin its final rule purporting to override the Second Circuit’s Madden decision as to national banks and...more
The State of California is home to almost 40 million consumers and the world’s fifth largest economy. It represents a key exposure to most financial services companies’ US footprint. In recent years nonbank financial services...more
On January 31, 2020, by a vote of 65 to 33, the Virginia House of Delegates passed a bill that would establish a 36% rate cap on certain consumer loans. Since Democrats also hold a majority in the Virginia Senate, the Senate...more
The California Supreme Court recently handed Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. a decisive victory in a putative class action challenging the insurer’s assessment of compound interest on policy loans, holding that...more
“Nel contratto di mutuo non è giuridicamente configurabile un tasso di interesse negativo che incida sul capitale mutuato. Conseguentemente, quando il tasso d’interesse sia stato pattuito in misura variabile, esso non può...more
On Wednesday, February 5, the House Financial Services Committee will hold the first part of a two-part hearing on “rent-a-bank” structures. The hearing is titled “Rent-A-Bank Schemes and New Debt Traps: Assessing Efforts to...more
There were significant developments in 2019 as courts continued to issue important decisions in this space and significant legislation impacting the residential mortgage-backed securities (“RMBS”) market came into effect. A...more
The House Financial Services Committee has announced that it will hold the following hearings this month: On January 14, the Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Financial Institutions will hold a hearing entitled, “The...more
A new bill introduced in both houses of Congress would extend the Military Lending Act’s (MLA’s) 36 percent per annum interest rate cap to all consumer borrowers, not just military service members. The change would affect all...more
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed the Fair Access to Credit Act into law on October 11, 2019. Effective January 1, 2020, the Act will impose several significant changes to the small consumer loan (under $10,000)...more
According to an NPR report published last week, a group of lawmakers consisting of three Democratic Senators, one Democratic House member, and one Republican House member is expected to introduce House and Senate versions of...more
Last week, California Governor Newsom signed into law AB 539, which makes significant amendments to the California Financing Law (CFL), and SB 616, which creates a new exemption from levy for deposit account funds....more
On the last day of California’s 2019 legislative session, by a vote of 61 to 8, the California State Assembly overwhelmingly passed Senate Bill 539, the Fair Access to Credit Act. Governor Newsom has until October 13th to...more
In its recently published Summer 2019 Newsletter, the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions (“DFI”) reported that it had interpreted the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (“SCRA”) broadly to apply the SCRA’s 6%...more
On Tuesday, the FDIC released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPR) that outlines anticipated revisions to its regulations regarding interest rate restrictions that apply to less than well capitalized insured depository...more
Last week, by a vote of 60 to 4 (with 16 not voting), the California Assembly cleared AB 539, which would change several aspects of the California Financing Law (CFL), including by setting new interest rate caps, imposing new...more