The CFPB has released a supervisory order which establishes that the CFPB has supervisory authority over World Acceptance Corp. (WAC) based on the CFPB’s conclusion that it has reasonable cause to determine that WAC “is...more
The CFPB has revised its internal supervisory appeals process for institutions seeking to appeal a compliance rating or an adverse material finding. The revisions became effective immediately upon publication in the Federal...more
With federal student loans approaching $1.7 trillion, private student loans approaching $129 billion, strident consumer group advocacy, and national elections on the horizon, student loan origination and servicing continues...more
In a blog post published earlier this week titled “The CFPB’s enforcement work in 2023 and what lies ahead,” the CFPB discussed its 2023 enforcement activity and highlighted its plans to expand its enforcement capacity in...more
The Office of Inspector General (OIG) for the Federal Reserve Board and CFPB has issued a report on its evaluation of the CFPB’s process for conducting enforcement investigations. OIG concluded that the CFPB can enhance...more
1/26/2024
/ Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement Authority ,
Fair Lending ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FRB ,
Investigations ,
OIG ,
Regulatory Violations
Last week, the CFPB released its twelfth annual report to Congress on college credit card agreements. The annual report is mandated by the CARD Act....more
12/27/2023
/ Annual Reports ,
CARD Act ,
Card Issuers ,
Colleges ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Credit Cards ,
Department of Education ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Students
This two-part podcast repurposes our most recent webinar on the latest salvo of actions in the Biden Administration’s initiative directed at combatting so-called “junk fees.” Launched in January 2022, the initiative shows no...more
The CFPB has released its Fall 2023 rulemaking agenda as part of the Fall 2023 Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions. The agenda’s preamble indicates that “[t]he Bureau reasonably anticipates having...more
12/8/2023
/ Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Credit Cards ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Committee ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Late Fees ,
Mortgage Servicing Rules ,
Overdraft Fees ,
Popular ,
Regulation DD ,
Regulation Z ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Truth in Lending Act (TILA)
Last week, the CFPB issued its Semi-Annual Report to Congress covering the period beginning October 1, 2022 and ending March 31, 2023. ...more
11/30/2023
/ Banks ,
Borrowers ,
CFPB Director ,
Congressional Investigations & Hearings ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v Community Financial Services Association of America Ltd ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Credit Cards ,
Credit Unions ,
Final Rules ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Committee ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Late Fees ,
Lenders ,
Proposed Rules ,
Section 1071 ,
Senate Committees
Earlier this month, the CFPB filed a notice with the Texas federal district court that it is appealing to the Fifth Circuit the district court’s order granting summary judgment to a group of trade associations in their...more
11/21/2023
/ Appeals ,
Banking Examinations ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v Community Financial Services Association of America Ltd ,
Federal Funding ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
SCOTUS ,
Summary Judgment ,
Trade Associations ,
UDAAP
In September 2023, the CFPB updated its UDAAP Examination Manual to remove the changes it made in March 2022 which provided that unfair acts or practices encompassed discriminatory conduct, even in circumstances to which...more
On November 6, the CFPB filed a notice with the Texas federal district court that it is appealing to the Fifth Circuit the district court’s order granting summary judgment to a group of trade associations in their lawsuit...more
The CFPB has issued a proposed rule to supervise nonbank companies that qualify as larger participants in a market for “general-use digital consumer payment applications.” Comments on the proposal are due by January 8, 2024...more
11/9/2023
/ Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Wallets ,
EFTs ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Mobile Payments ,
Money Transfer ,
Nonbank Firms ,
Payment Systems ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulation E ,
Small Business
The CFPB recently issued a policy statement in which it provided a framework for determining what constitutes abusive conduct under the CFPA. After reviewing the definition of abusive in the CFPA and the historical background...more
The Texas federal district court hearing the lawsuit challenging the validity of the CFPB’s final rule implementing Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act (Rule) has issued an order that preliminarily enjoins the CFPB from...more
10/31/2023
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v Community Financial Services Association of America Ltd ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Federal Funding ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
SCOTUS ,
Section 1071 ,
Small Business ,
Small Business Loans
The CFPB and FTC announced last week that they had entered into a settlement with Trans Union LLC (TU LLC) to resolve a lawsuit filed jointly in a Colorado federal district court by the agencies alleging that TU LLC and its...more
10/18/2023
/ Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Credit Reports ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FTC Act ,
Screening Procedures ,
Settlement ,
Statutory Violations ,
TransUnion
The CFPB has released a new issue of Supervisory Highlights that carries the title “Junk Fees Update Special Edition.” The report discusses the CFPB’s examinations involving fees in the areas of deposits, auto servicing, and...more
As we have previously reported on this blog and discussed on our Consumer Finance Monitor Podcast, last year, the CFPB embarked on a campaign orchestrated by the Biden Administration to eliminate “junk fees.” ...more
10/12/2023
/ Advisory Opinions ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Credit Unions ,
Fees ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Insufficient Funds ,
Regulation X ,
UDAAP
The CFPB recently released a report regarding higher education tuition payment plans that discusses prevailing practices and highlights certain CFPB concerns regarding consumer impact. The CFPB’s report was based upon (a) a...more
9/29/2023
/ Colleges ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Department of Education ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Higher Education Act ,
Payment Plans ,
Post-Secondary Institutions ,
Public Information ,
Regulation Z ,
Student Loans ,
Truth in Lending Act (TILA) ,
Tuition
Our special guest is Andrew Nigrinis, PhD, who formerly served as Enforcement Economist for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. We first discuss what is meant by “dark patterns” and the types of digital practices...more
As we predicted long ago, on Friday, September 8, 2023, the Federal District Court for the Eastern District of Texas vacated the changes made in March 2022 to the CFPB’s Exam Manual. On that date, the CFPB purported to use...more
9/13/2023
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Discriminatory Lending Practices ,
ECOA ,
Examination Procedures ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Regulatory Authority ,
Statutory Violations ,
UDAAP ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
The CFPB has filed its opposition to the motion for a preliminary injunction filed by the plaintiffs in the Kentucky federal court lawsuit challenging the CFPB’s final small business lending rule (Rule)....more
The CFPB announced this week that it has entered into a proposed settlement of a lawsuit it filed in 2019 in Utah federal district court against a group of defendants who constitute the largest credit repair organizations in...more
9/1/2023
/ Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Credit Repair Services ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FTC Act ,
Section 5 ,
Settlement ,
Statutory Violations ,
Telemarketing ,
Telemarketing Sales Rule
Yet another unopposed emergency motion for leave to intervene has been filed in the Texas lawsuit challenging the CFPB’s final small business lending rule (Rule). The latest proposed intervenors are XL Funding, LLC d/b/a...more
A group of trade associations has sent a letter to CFPB Director Chopra urging the CFPB to address the disparity that has resulted from the order entered by the Texas federal district court in the lawsuit challenging the...more