On November 15, the CFPB issued an order requiring an Illinois-based fintech lender to pay $15 million in fines. The order additionally prohibits the company from operating in certain lines of business and requires revision...more
11/17/2023
/ Borrowers ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Executive Compensation ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Informed Consent ,
Lenders ,
Redress Payments ,
Short-Term Loans
On November 2, the FTC entered into a settlement agreement with a Manhattan-based fintech company for $18 million over alleged deceptively marketed cash advances to consumers and impeding customers’ ability to cancel...more
On November 1, the OCC issued Bulletin 2023-34 addressing the topic of “venture lending,” referred to as “commercial loans to early-, expansion-, and late-stage companies.” According to the Bulletin, venture lending is often...more
On October 30, the Superior Court of California County of Los Angeles denied the DFPI’s motion for a preliminary injunction to force a Chicago-based fintech company to stop facilitating loans to California borrowers from its...more
11/10/2023
/ Banks ,
Borrowers ,
California ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Interest Rates ,
Loans ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
True Lender
On November 2, the CFPB issued a new report on state Community Reinvestment Act laws. The report found that many states adopted Community Reinvestment Acts (CRAs) similar to the federal Community Reinvestment Act of 1977. The...more
On October 27, the FTC has approved an amendment to the Safeguards Rule that would require non-banking institutions to report certain data breaches and other security events to the agency. The amendment requires financial...more
On October 31, a federal jury in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri found the defendants, a trade association, which represents residential and commercial real estate industries, and multiple...more
On October 17, the CFPB took action against a nonbank fintech company for allegedly deceiving consumers about the speed and cost of remittance transfers through its mobile app. The Bureau also alleges that the company...more
On October 12, the CFPB and DOJ issued a joint statement that reminds financial institutions that all credit applicants are protected from discrimination on the basis of their national origin, race, and other characteristics...more
10/20/2023
/ Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Credit Applicants ,
Credit History ,
Creditors ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Discriminatory Lending Practices ,
ECOA ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Immigration ,
Immigration Status Discrimination ,
Joint Statements ,
Lenders ,
Loans ,
Regulation B
In August, a New York federal district court denied a motion to dismiss a CFPB lawsuit against three affiliated companies engaged in the business of purchasing distressed consumer debt and several of the companies’ owners and...more
10/20/2023
/ Compliance ,
Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Debt Collection ,
Debt Collectors ,
Distressed Debt ,
FDCPA ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
New York ,
Third-Party
Recently, the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) approved the final rule implementing and interpreting certain sections of the California Consumer Financial Protection Law (CCFPL) that...more
On August 22, the CFPB filed a lawsuit against an installment lending company and several of its subsidiaries in South Carolina federal court, alleging that the company engaged in illegal “loan-churning” practices that...more
Financial services companies beware: the new state privacy laws exemption are not uniform. To recap, there are privacy laws in 12 states: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Montana, Oregon, Tennessee,...more
On July 26, the CFPB released its Summer 2023 Supervisory Highlights reporting unfair, deceptive, and abusive acts or practices (UDAAPs) across a number of consumer financial products, including auto origination, auto...more
In June, the Nevada governor signed SB 290 into law, making Nevada the first state to enact legislation creating a comprehensive statutory framework that specifically defines and regulates the provision of earned wage access...more
On July 31, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas enjoined the CFPB from implementing and enforcing the small business lending rule (Section 1071) requirements pending the Supreme Court’s decision in...more
On July 7, the CFPB, HHS, and Treasury announced a joint inquiry into high-cost specialty financial products which are being offered to patients as alternate forms of payment for routine medical care. Traditionally, these...more
On July 19, the CPFB filed a complaint against a lease-to-own finance company, alleging that the company has offered and provided millions of “lease-purchase” and “rental-purchase” financing agreements in ways that have...more
7/20/2023
/ Advertising ,
Consumer Contracts ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Advertising ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Misleading Statements ,
Misrepresentation ,
UDAAP ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
On the June 20, the CFPB released its Office of Servicemember “(“OSA”) Affairs Annual Report. This year’s report focuses on the challenges faced by servicemembers and their families when using digital payment apps. As further...more
Earlier this month, the Colorado legislature voted to approve HB23-1229, which would opt the State out of Section 521 of the Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act of 1980 (“DIDMCA”), a federal law...more
On April 20, Washington Governor, Jay Inslee, signed into law HB 1311 creating new regulations for credit repair organizations (CROs) in the state. Among other things, the new law outlines requirements for CROs, which include...more
On May 1, NYDFS settled with a cryptocurrency trading platform over the company’s cybersecurity deficiencies, resulting in a consent order and $1.2 million fine for the crypto company. NYDFS alleged “multiple deficiencies in...more
5/15/2023
/ Crypto Exchanges ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cybersecurity ,
Digital Currency ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Investment ,
Legislative Agendas ,
NYDFS ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Settlement ,
Trading Platforms
On March 8, the CFPB released a special edition of its Supervisory Highlights reporting on unlawful junk fees that were uncovered in a variety of servicing markets, including bank account deposits, auto loan servicing,...more
5/2/2023
/ Automotive Loans ,
Banking Sector ,
Banks ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Deposit Accounts ,
Fees ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Loan Servicing ,
Mortgages ,
Payday Loans ,
Student Loans ,
Title Loans
On March 28, the CFPB issued a preemption determination that that TILA does not preempt commercial lending disclosure regulations enacted in California, New York, Utah, and Virginia (we discussed state commercial financing...more
On March 2, the CFPB published a report analyzing the financial profiles of consumers who borrow through buy now, pay later (BNPL) lending products. The report found that BNPL borrowers on average are more likely to be active...more
3/17/2023
/ Borrowers ,
Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Credit Cards ,
Delinquent Borrowers ,
Financial Distress ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Surveys