In a tentative win for the CFPB, a federal judge in Texas ruled on August 26, 2024, that the agency did not exceed its authority when it issued its final Section 1071 small business lending rule. The court also rejected...more
8/30/2024
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v Community Financial Services Association of America Ltd ,
Data Collection ,
Dodd-Frank ,
ECOA ,
Final Rules ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Motion to Amend ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Authority ,
Reporting Requirements ,
SCOTUS ,
Section 1071 ,
Small Business
The National Consumer Law Center is asking the CFPB, by way of a petition, for rulemaking that is long on policy arguments but woefully short on legal support, as we note below, to define residential leases as “credit” under...more
8/28/2024
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Credit ,
Credit Reports ,
Creditors ,
Data Collection ,
ECOA ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Final Rules ,
Financial Services Industry ,
NCLC ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulation B ,
Regulation Z ,
Residential Leases ,
Small Business ,
Truth in Lending Act (TILA)
On August 15, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and Arizona Attorney General announced a proposed settlement with an Arizona-based vehicle dealership to resolve allegations that the dealership misrepresented prices...more
8/21/2024
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Arizona ,
Borrowers ,
Car Dealerships ,
CARS Rule ,
Consent ,
Consumer Fraud ,
ECOA ,
Fair Lending ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FTC Act ,
Motor Vehicles ,
Section 5 ,
UDAAP ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
On July 17, Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael Hsu delivered prepared remarks before the Exchequer Club entitled “Size, Complexity, and Polarization in Banking.”...more
7/22/2024
/ Bank of America ,
Banks ,
Cantero v Bank of America NA ,
Chevron Deference ,
Comptroller ,
Discriminatory Lending Practices ,
Dodd-Frank ,
ECOA ,
Electronic Fund Transfer Act ,
FDCPA ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
National Bank Act ,
OCC ,
Preemption ,
SCOTUS
In a major win for the CFPB, in CFPB v. Townstone Financial, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (7th Circuit) recently held that the Regulation B provision prohibiting discrimination under the Equal...more
7/18/2024
/ Chevron Deference ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Credit ,
Creditors ,
Discriminatory Lending Practices ,
ECOA ,
Fair Housing Act (FHA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Oral Argument ,
Regulation B
On June 26, 2024, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB” or the “Bureau”) released its annual Fair Lending Report (the “Report”) for the calendar year 2023. The reporting period ran through December 31, 2023, so any...more
We already have published a short blog about the Supreme Court’s opinion issued on Friday, July 28 in Loper Bright Enterprises et al v. Raimondo, Secretary of Commerce, et al, No. 22-451....more
7/3/2024
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Chevron ,
Chevron Deference ,
Chevron v NRDC ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
ECOA ,
Final Rules ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Loper Bright Enterprises v Raimondo ,
SCOTUS ,
Section 7 ,
Statutory Interpretation
On March 28, 2024, four former Walden University students (“Plaintiffs”) filed a proposed settlement both individually and on behalf of a putative class of current and former Walden University (“Walden”) students with the...more
4/8/2024
/ Civil Rights Act ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
ECOA ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Student Loans ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Race Discrimination ,
Redlining ,
Settlement ,
Title VI
The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that Patriot Bank (Patriot or Bank) has agreed to pay $1.9 million to resolve allegations that the Bank engaged in a pattern or practice of redlining majority-Black and Hispanic...more
1/31/2024
/ Banks ,
Consent Order ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
ECOA ,
Fair Housing Act (FHA) ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Mortgages ,
Race Discrimination ,
Redlining
As previously reported, in late December 2023 President Biden vetoed legislation adopted by the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate under the Congressional Review Act to override the CFPB’s final Section 1071 small...more
1/12/2024
/ Constitutional Challenges ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v Community Financial Services Association of America Ltd ,
ECOA ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Oral Argument ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Presidential Veto ,
SCOTUS ,
Section 1071 ,
Small Business ,
Small Business Loans
Revenue Based Finance Coalition (RBFC), a trade group whose members include non-banks that provide sales-based financing to businesses, filed a lawsuit last week against the CFPB in a Florida federal district court...more
1/5/2024
/ CFPB v Community Financial Services Association of America ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Data Collection ,
Dodd-Frank ,
ECOA ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Regulation B ,
Section 1071 ,
Small Business ,
Small Business Loans
The CFPB and Justice Department filed a joint complaint last week in a Texas federal district court against Colony Ridge Development, LLC and three related entities (collectively, “Colony Ridge”) in which the agencies allege...more
12/28/2023
/ Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
ECOA ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
ILSA ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Mortgages ,
Predatory Lending ,
Statutory Violations
On December 8, 2023, oral arguments were held before a three judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in the CFPB v. Townstone Financial case, in which the CFPB alleges that Townstone Financial, a...more
12/14/2023
/ Chevron Deference ,
Consumer Credit Protection Act (CCPA) ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Discriminatory Lending Practices ,
ECOA ,
Fair Housing Act (FHA) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Mortgages ,
Oral Argument ,
Redlining ,
Regulation B ,
SCOTUS
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
A group of eleven Republican Senators who are members of the Senate Banking Committee have sent a letter to CFPB Director Rohit Chopra and Attorney General Merrick Garland to urge the CFPB and DOJ to retract the joint...more
11/8/2023
/ Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Credit Applicants ,
Credit History ,
Creditors ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Discriminatory Lending Practices ,
ECOA ,
Fair Lending ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Immigration Status Discrimination ,
Joint Statements ,
Lenders ,
Loans ,
Regulation B
Recently the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) entered into a proposed consent order with Ameris Bank to resolve allegations of redlining from 2016 through 2021 in majority Black and Hispanic areas in the Bank’s Jacksonville,...more
10/30/2023
/ Banks ,
Community Reinvestment Act ,
Consent Order ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Discriminatory Lending Practices ,
ECOA ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fair Housing Act (FHA) ,
Fair Lending ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Mortgages ,
Race Discrimination ,
Redlining ,
Regulation B
The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a settlement agreement with Washington Trust Company, of Westerly (WTC) to resolve claims that WTC redlined majority Black and Hispanic neighborhoods in Rhode Island....more
10/24/2023
/ Consent Order ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Discriminatory Lending Practices ,
ECOA ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fair Housing Act (FHA) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Mortgage Loan Officer ,
Mortgages ,
Race Discrimination ,
Redlining ,
Regulation B ,
Rhode Island ,
Settlement
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Department of Justice have issued a joint statement regarding “the potential civil rights implications of a creditor’s consideration of an individual’s immigration status under the...more
10/17/2023
/ Ability-to-Repay ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Discriminatory Lending Practices ,
ECOA ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Immigration ,
Immigration Status Discrimination ,
Joint Statements ,
Regulation B ,
Regulation Z
In May 2022, the CFPB issued Circular 2022-3 addressing Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) adverse action notice requirements in connection with credit decisions based on algorithms. The CFPB is now revisiting the issue in...more
Monday, we blogged about the opinion issued on September 8 by the Federal District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in the lawsuit brought last year by several trade associations against the CFPB. In that lawsuit, the...more
9/13/2023
/ Constitutional Challenges ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v Community Financial Services Association of America Ltd ,
Dodd-Frank ,
ECOA ,
Examination Procedures ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Injunctions ,
Injunctive Relief ,
Trade Associations ,
UDAAP
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 Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it has entered into a settlement with American Bank of Oklahoma (ABOK) to resolve allegations that ABOK engaged in unlawful redlining in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The DOJ opened its...more
9/1/2023
/ Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Discriminatory Lending Practices ,
ECOA ,
Enforcement Actions ,
FDIC ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Mortgages ,
Redlining
The Mortgage Bankers Association and Housing Policy Council (the “Associations”) recently filed an Amici Curiae brief supporting the position of Townstone Financial regarding the scope of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act...more
Townstone Mortgage (Townstone) has filed its brief in the CFPB’s appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit from the district court’s decision in the CFPB’s enforcement action against Townstone. In the...more
8/23/2023
/ American Bar Association (ABA) ,
Chevron Deference ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
ECOA ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Mortgages ,
Popular ,
Regulation B