On March 20, 2023, the CFPB published a final rule in the Federal Register that makes non-substantive corrections and updates to CFPB and other federal agency contact information found in various regulations, including the contact information that must be provided in ECOA adverse action notices and the FCRA Summary of Consumer Rights. … Continue Reading
Search results for: CRA
DOJ sues towing company over SCRA default judgment violations
On March 3, 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a complaint against a towing company located near a Marine base alleging violations of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act’s (SCRA) prohibition against default judgments against SCRA-protected servicemembers. The case, filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, alleges that the towing company failed to make a good faith effort to ascertain the military status of defendants before filing affidavits in court cases claiming military status could not be determined.… Continue Reading
Democratic Senators send letter to federal banking agencies raising concerns about fraudulent transactions
A group of five Democratic Senators have sent a letter to the Federal Reserve, OCC, FDIC, and NCUA asking them to take several steps to protect consumers from scams when using Zelle to transfer money.
The Senators ask the four agencies “to closely review and examine the customer reimbursement and anti-money laundering (AML) practices of depository institutions that participate in the Zelle network.”… Continue Reading
DOJ alleges SCRA violations by City of El Paso for auctioning servicemembers’ vehicles without court orders
On February 2, 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) filed a complaint against the City of El Paso, Texas (the “City”) and several co-defendants alleging violations of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (“SCRA”) for auctioning off at least 176 motor-vehicles owned by SCRA-protected servicemembers. According to DOJ, the actions taken by the City constitute enforcement of liens on the property or effects of servicemembers, which is prohibited under the SCRA without first obtaining a court order. … Continue Reading
Ninth Circuit holds mortgage servicer’s reporting of Covid-19 forbearance plan complied with FCRA and CARES Act
In a win for Ballard Spahr client Specialized Loan Servicing LLC (SLS), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently held that SLS, a mortgage servicer, properly reported a Covid-19 forbearance plan under the CARES Act amendments to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). The amendments require furnishers to “report [a consumer’s] credit obligation or account as current” if the furnisher agreed to provide forbearance or other relief on a consumer’s loan.… Continue Reading
Second Circuit holds inclusion on credit report of student loan debt alleged to have been discharged in bankruptcy did not make report inaccurate under FCRA
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit recently ruled that a plaintiff who alleged that Experian had violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act by including a discharged student loan debt on his credit report had not alleged an inaccuracy for purposes of the FCRA requirement that consumer reporting agencies (CRAs) follow reasonable procedures to assure the accuracy of information included in consumer reports. … Continue Reading
New CFPB report proactively encourages creditors to apply SCRA interest rate benefits
On December 7, 2022, the CFPB issued a report recommending that creditors proactively provide Servicemember Civil Relief Act (“SCRA”) interest rate benefits to eligible customers, bypassing the statute’s requirements of a written request from the servicemember and proof of military service. The report, titled “Protecting Those Who Protect Us: Evidence of activated Guard and Reserve servicemembers’ usage of credit protections under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act,” highlights the underutilization of the SCRA’s interest rate benefit by eligible servicemembers.… Continue Reading
Democratic Senators introduce bill to close industrial loan company “loophole”; coalition of financial services and consumer organizations voice support for bill
Earlier this week, Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) introduced a bill, the “Close the Shadow Banking Loophole Act,” (Act) that is intended to close what is often termed a “loophole” in the Bank Holding Company Act (BHCA) because it allows the parent companies of industrial loan companies (ILCs) to operate without the same level of federal oversight that applies to parent companies of other banking institutions.… Continue Reading
Fourth Circuit Rules Communications Decency Act Did Not Protect Data Aggregator From FCRA Liability
The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Henderson v. Source For Pub. Data, L.P., No. 21-1678, 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 30534 (4th Cir. Nov. 3, 2022) found that the protections of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act did not extend to a public data aggregation company. The ruling reversed the district court’s order dismissing all claims in a putative class action alleging Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”) violations against the data aggregator, PublicData.com… Continue Reading
Five Democratic Senators urge CFPB to revise remittance transfer rule
The Remittance Transfer Rule (“Remittance Rule”), Subpart B of Regulation E, 12 C.F.R. §§ 1005.30 to 1005.36, requires transfer providers to provide prepayment disclosures to consumers prior to paying for a remittance transfer. U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.),Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), and Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) sent a letter to CFPB Director Rohit Chopra to request that the Remittance Rule be modified to require transfer providers to disclose the true cost of remittance payments so consumers can comparison shop.… Continue Reading