On May 8, 2019, the California Supreme Court will hear oral argument regarding an important issue involving class certification in California state courts: how to apply the requirement of ascertainability in the class...more
The Department of Housing and Urban Development has issued a “Charge of Discrimination” against Facebook that charges the company “with engaging in discriminatory housing practices in violation of the [provisions of the Fair...more
The California Department of Business Oversight (DBO) has filed an administrative enforcement action against a title lender for alleged violations of California law and launched an investigation into whether the interest...more
3/26/2019
/ Ability-to-Repay ,
Administrative Authority ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Department of Business Oversight ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Interest Rates ,
State and Local Government ,
Title Loans ,
Unconscionable Contracts
According to a Wall Street Journal report, Facebook has agreed to remove age, gender, and zip code targeting for housing, employment, and credit-related advertisements as part of a settlement of a lawsuit filed by the...more
A bill (AB 1428) has been introduced in the California Assembly that would apply to a “business” that uses prepaid cards to make refunds to customers located in California. ...more
Relying on the California Supreme Court's 2017 decision in McGill v. Citibank, class action plaintiffs increasingly have sought to circumvent class action waivers in arbitration agreements by filing lawsuits in California. ...more
In an executive order signed January 31, 2019, President Donald Trump extended "Buy American" requirements to all infrastructure projects that receive federal financial assistance....more
The CFPB announced that it has entered a settlement with Mark Corbett to resolve the Bureau’s allegations that Mr. Corbett violated the Consumer Financial Protection Act in connection with his brokering of contracts providing...more
The California Department of Business Oversight (DBO) has issued an invitation for comments from stakeholders in developing regulations to implement SB 1235, the bill signed into law on September 30, 2018 that requires...more
Consistent with the weight of authority, the Georgia Supreme Court has ruled that certain litigation financing agreements structured as asset sales were not disguised "loans," and therefore not subject to the state's...more
Piling on after undercover journalists published exposés on alleged misconduct involving Ticketmaster's TradeDesk reseller program, consumers have filed a wave of class actions against Ticketmaster, claiming that the company...more
Governor Brown signed into law SB 1235, a bill requiring consumer-like disclosures to be made on certain commercial finance products, including small business loans and merchant cash advances, among other things. ...more
A unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Thursday handed the plaintiffs’ bar a resounding win. ...more
9/24/2018
/ Appeals ,
ATDS ,
Auto-Dialed Calls ,
Banking Sector ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Popular ,
Robocalling ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
TCPA ,
Telecommunications ,
Text Messages
Politico has reported that in remarks made at a fintech policy event last week, Andrew Smith, the FTC’s Director of Consumer Protection, indicated that fintech companies will be a focus of the FTC’s enforcement activities....more
It appears likely that California Governor Jerry Brown will sign a bill passed on August 31 by the state’s Senate, Senate Bill 1235, which would create consumer-style disclosure requirements for certain commercial loans and...more
It appears likely that California Governor Jerry Brown will sign a bill passed on August 31 by the state's Senate, Senate Bill 1235, which would create consumer-style disclosure requirements for certain commercial loans and...more
Resolving an ambiguity in the California Finance Lender’s Law (CFLL), the California Supreme Court unanimously held that borrowers may use the unconscionability doctrine to challenge the interest rate on consumer loans of...more
8/21/2018
/ Ability-to-Repay ,
CA Supreme Court ,
CashCall ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Finance Lenders Law ,
Financial Services Industry ,
High-Interest Loans ,
Interest Rates ,
State and Local Government ,
Unconscionable Contracts ,
Unfair Competition Law (UCL) ,
Usury
Resolving an ambiguity in the California Finance Lender's Law (CFLL), the California Supreme Court unanimously held that borrowers may use the unconscionability doctrine to challenge the interest rate on consumer loans of...more
8/17/2018
/ Ability-to-Repay ,
CA Supreme Court ,
CashCall ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Finance Lenders Law ,
Financial Services Industry ,
High-Interest Loans ,
Interest Rates ,
State and Local Government ,
Unconscionable Contracts ,
Unfair Competition Law (UCL)
A report issued last week by the U.S. Treasury Department recommends sweeping regulatory changes intended to promote innovation in the consumer financial services market, reduce regulatory burdens on consumer financial...more
8/8/2018
/ Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Information ,
Data Security ,
Debt Collection ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Innovation ,
Non-Bank Lenders ,
Online Marketplace Lending ,
Reassigned Phone Numbers ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Special Purpose National Bank Charter ,
Student Loans ,
TCPA ,
True Lender ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Valid When Made Doctrine
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s (OCC) announcement this week that it will begin accepting applications for special purpose national bank (SPNB) charters from financial technology (Fintech) companies represents...more
8/3/2018
/ Capital Requirements ,
FDIA ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Fintech Charter ,
National Bank Charters ,
OCC ,
Policy Statement ,
Preemption ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Special Purpose National Bank Charter
In two closely-watched enforcement actions pending in Colorado state court, the Administrator of the Uniform Consumer Credit Code for the State of Colorado is employing the “true lender” theory and the Second Circuit’s...more
6/29/2018
/ Consumer Financial Products ,
Enforcement Actions ,
FDIA ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Madden v Midland Funding ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Motion To Intervene ,
Oral Argument ,
Preemption ,
State and Local Government ,
True Lender ,
Usury
The U.S. Supreme Court this week struck down a federal law that prohibits most states from allowing gambling on competitive sporting events. The Court's May 14 ruling in Murphy v. NCAA has significant potential implications...more
5/17/2018
/ Anti-Commandeering ,
Appeals ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Murphy v National Collegiate Athletic Association ,
NCAA ,
PASPA ,
Reversal ,
SCOTUS ,
Sports Gambling ,
State Sovereignty ,
States Rights ,
Tenth Amendment
A D.C. federal district court has dismissed the lawsuit filed by the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) in April 2017 challenging the OCC’s authority to grant special purpose national bank (SPNB) charters to...more
Arizona’s Governor recently signed into law legislation that directs the state’s Attorney General to establish a “regulatory sandbox program” for the purpose of “enabl[ing] a person to obtain limited access to the market in...more
The New York Department of Financial Services has sent a letter directed to businesses that the DFS “understands…may be involved in online lending in the State of New York” and that asks recipients to complete a “New York...more