Consumer Finance Monitor Podcast Episode: Should Medical Debt Be Included in Creditworthiness Measures?
Keeping Up With the Bureau Episode 3: Evolving Federal and State Requirements for Furnishers and Users of Consumer Reports - The Consumer Finance Podcast
Welcome to Wiley’s update on recent developments and what’s next in consumer protection at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC). In this newsletter, we analyze recent regulatory...more
On September 5, 2024, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released its annual report on debt collection, drawing attention to a range of activities with respect to medical and rental debt collection that the CFPB...more
On September 5, the CFPB issued its annual report on debt collection practices, detailing the Bureau’s efforts to enforce the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). This year’s report focuses on improper practices in the...more
On September 9, the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada granted summary judgment in favor of a debt collector in a case involving alleged violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and the...more
As one of the more toxic topics in the United States political and social realms, healthcare, and the debt associated with it, is always at the tip of most people’s tongue. Whether eagerly waiting to argue for proposed...more
CFPB Director Rohit Chopra on Thursday defended his agency’s proposed rule to prohibit the listing of medical debt on credit reports, contending that such debts are not a fair indication of a person’s financial health....more
On July 22, the Governor of New Jersey signed into law A 3861 (the “Act), also known as the Louisa Carman Medical Debt Relief Act, which codified the protection of consumers from “predatory medical debt collectors,” including...more
On July 1, North Carolina announced a new plan to relieve past medical debt for low- and middle-income consumers and mitigate the impact of medical debt going forward. Under the proposal, hospitals that choose to implement...more
Both houses of the New Jersey Legislature recently passed Assembly Bill No. 3861 (AB 3861), known as the Louisa Carman Medical Debt Relief Act. The legislation’s stated aims are to prevent undue financial hardship and protect...more
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) is poised to take medical debt off the table for creditors when evaluating a consumer’s eligibility for credit. As it is currently enacted, Regulation V of the Fair Credit...more
Over the course of the last year, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) has increased its scrutiny of medical financing products, such as medical credit cards and installment loans. In July 2023, the CFPB...more
To keep you informed of recent activities, below are several of the most significant federal and state events that have influenced the Consumer Financial Services industry over the past week...more
The steady drumbeat of steps during Rohit Chopra’s tenure as CFPB Director to call into question the reliability and predictability of medical debt information in credit underwriting reached a crescendo last week with the...more
On June 11, the CFPB announced a proposed rule amending Regulation V, which implements the Fair Credit Reporting Act, to alter the treatment of medical debts in credit reporting. The rule proposes to remove medical bills from...more
On June 11, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) released a proposed rule amending Regulation V, which implements the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), concerning medical debt. The proposed rule would...more
On May 16, the Illinois legislature passed Senate Bill (SB) 2933. The bill amends the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act making it unlawful for a consumer reporting agency (CRA) to create a consumer...more
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has issued two letters in support of state efforts to prohibit medical debt reporting. In March 2024, CFPB Director Rohit Chopra sent a letter to the California State Senate in...more
On May 9, the Governor of Connecticut approved SB 395 (the “Act”) banning health care providers from reporting medical debt to credit rating agencies. Further, the Act will prohibit hospitals and collection agents from...more
On April 29, the CFPB released a report entitled “Recent Changes in Medical Collections on Consumer Credit Records” that showed that as of June 2023 some 15 million Americans (approximately five percent) still have medical...more
Last summer we wrote about the notable questions of the applicability of Arizona Proposition 209, or the Predatory Debt Collection Act (the Act), due to the Act’s savings clause. On April 30, 2024, in a blow to the debt...more
Earlier this week, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) released its second report detailing changes in the credit reporting of medical debts made by the three national consumer reporting agencies (CRAs)...more
On April 15, the Minnesota House of Representatives passed the Commerce Policy Omnibus bill, which includes key provisions of the Minnesota Debt Fairness Act. Minnesota AG Keith Ellison supports this bill and celebrated its...more
On April 11, the General Counsel of the CFPB, Seth Frotman, delivered a speech at the National Consumer Law Center/National Association of Consumer Advocates Spring Training, highlighting how the FDCPA and the FCRA cover...more
On April 15, the CFPB released a letter written by Brian Shearer, the Assistant Director within the Office of Policy Planning and Strategy, throwing the Bureau’s support behind Connecticut’s new bill to bar medical debt on...more
On March 19, the Washington State Attorney General (AG) obtained an order from the King County Superior Court providing that a debt collection agency must pay civil penalties for allegedly failing to comply with the...more