On January 15, the American Arbitration Association (AAA) issued amended Mass Arbitration Supplementary Rules and new Consumer Mass Arbitration and Mediation Fee Schedules (collectively, the New Rules). The New Rules will...more
The Utah court of appeals has recently affirmed the dismissal of a plaintiff’s suit against a debt buyer based on its alleged failure to register as a collection agency prior to filing collection lawsuits. The court’s...more
In response to a petition filed last week by a number of consumer advocacy groups, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) announced that it will be seeking public input on a possible rule that would curtail...more
9/20/2023
/ Arbitration Agreements ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Congressional Review Act ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Protection Act ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Petition for Rulemaking ,
Pre-Dispute Arbitration ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Comment ,
Regulatory Agenda
On June 29, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont signed SB 1033, An Act Concerning Various Revisions to the Banking Statutes, into law. As discussed here, with this bill, Connecticut joins several other states that have set strict...more
7/14/2023
/ Banks ,
Capital Requirements ,
Connecticut ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Financing ,
Income Share Agreements ,
Military Lending Act ,
New Legislation ,
Refunds ,
Small Loans
Last week the U.S. Supreme Court issued a 5-4 decision in Coinbase, Inc. v. Bielski, holding that a district court must stay its proceedings while an interlocutory appeal on the question of arbitrability is pending. The...more
6/26/2023
/ Arbitration ,
Automatic Stay ,
Coinbase ,
Coinbase Inc v Bielski ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Griggs v Provident Disc Co ,
Interlocutory Appeals ,
Motion to Compel ,
SCOTUS ,
Stays
On June 20, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB or Bureau) Office of Servicemember Affairs published its Annual Report analyzing complaints submitted by servicemembers, veterans, and their families in 2022. The...more
6/22/2023
/ Annual Reports ,
Consumer Complaint Management ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Fraud ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Military Service Members ,
Mobile Apps ,
Regulation E ,
UDAAP
In Wood v. Omni Financial of Nevada, Inc., the plaintiffs filed a class action complaint alleging violations of the Military Lending Act (MLA). Specifically, the plaintiffs, two active duty service members who had entered...more
Today, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a much-awaited opinion affirming the dismissal of a servicemember’s class-action suit brought under the Military Lending Act (MLA or Act) because, even though the secured...more
On April 5, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) released its Consumer Compliance Supervisory Highlights report, providing a high-level overview of consumer compliance issues identified by the agency during 2022...more
In a significant boost to the financial services industry, Utah has taken major steps to streamline its debt collection bureaucracy — including the removal of criminal penalties for failure to comply with technical...more
On March 23, SB 1033, An Act Concerning Various Revisions to the Banking Statutes, was given a favorable report by the Legislative Commissioners’ Office and sent to the Connecticut Senate. With this bill, Connecticut hopes to...more
On February 13, a bill was introduced in the Utah House of Representatives, entitled HB 455, that would add protections relating to credit obligations and certain installment contracts for service members assigned to a...more
As forecasted in its 2022 Fall Rulemaking Agenda discussed here, today the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) published a proposed rule with request for public comments that would require certain nonbank covered...more
On December 7, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released a report entitled Protecting Those Who Protect Us. The report sought to quantify, for the first time, the use of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act...more
Please join Consumer Financial Services Partner Chris Willis and his colleagues Jeremy Rosenblum and Tony Kaye as they discuss the phenomenon of mass arbitrations, which pose increasing risk to the consumer finance industry....more
On November 21, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a joint amicus brief in Louis v. Bluegreen Vacations Unlimited, Inc., No. 22-12217 (11th Cir.) regarding servicemembers’...more
Please join Consumer Financial Services Partner Chris Willis and his guest and colleague Tony Kaye as they discuss the recently enacted California Senate Bill 1311 or Military and Veteran Consumer Protection Act of 2022....more
On September 27, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 1311, the Military and Veteran Consumer Protection Act of 2022 (the Act), into law. The Act takes direct aim at, among other things, the Military Lending...more
A recent federal court decision from the Northern District of Texas offers some useful lessons and insights for creditors relying on the Military Lending Act’s (MLA) safe harbors for verifying whether a consumer is a “covered...more
On July 29, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a joint letter to auto finance companies, reminding them of the protections the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) affords...more
This week, the Department of Justice (DOJ) resolved Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) claims against two affiliated Virginia landlords for allegedly obtaining unlawful court judgments against military tenants. To settle...more
Please join Consumer Financial Services Partner Chris Willis and his guest and fellow Partner Tony Kaye for this latest podcast episode as they discuss the Military Lending Act and the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act,...more
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) highlighted their efforts to aggressively enforce provisions of the Military Lending Act (MLA) in a recently issued press release and...more
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Office of Servicemember Affairs released its annual report, detailing over 17,000 complaints filed by servicemembers, veterans, and their families in 2021. The largest number of...more
In a recent post, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) discussed its ongoing efforts to investigate and curtail alleged abuses of the military allotment system by lenders. The military allotment system is a...more