CFPB, Federal Agencies, State Agencies, and Attorneys General
The District of Columbia Department of Insurance, Securities, and Banking (DISB) published its final rules under the Student Loan Ombudsman Establishment and Servicing Regulation Amendment Act of 2016. The final rules became effective when published in the D.C. Register on August 10, 2018.
The rules are unchanged from the latest revisions. … Continue Reading
The California Department of Business Oversight (DBO) has published a second round of modifications to its proposed regulations under the State’s Student Loan Servicing Act. As previously covered, the DBO published its first round of revised rules last month.
The latest revisions to the regulations clarify servicer responsibilities related to application of payments, borrower communications and handling of qualified written requests (QWRs), and recordkeeping requirements, among other miscellaneous changes.… Continue Reading
The California Department of Business Oversight (DBO) has published modifications to its proposed regulations under the State’s Student Loan Servicing Act. As previously covered, the DBO published notice of its initial proposed rules on September 8, 2017. A blackline of the changes is available here.
The initial regulations mandated extensive customer service obligations. … Continue Reading
The District of Columbia Department of Insurance, Securities, and Banking (DISB) has issued a second round of revised emergency and proposed rules under the Student Loan Ombudsman Establishment and Servicing Regulation Amendment Act of 2016. The latest revision, backdated to April 20 from its May release, provides “numerous substantive changes” in response to public comments. … Continue Reading
The Student Loan Servicing Alliance, a trade group representing student loan servicers, has sued the District of Columbia to enjoin the operation of Law 21-214, the Student Loan Ombudsman Establishment and Servicing Regulation Amendment Act of 2016. The Act, which became effective February 18, 2017, established a student loan ombudsman within the D.C.… Continue Reading
The FCC has issued a Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (Order) adopting new rules to allow voice service providers to proactively block calls from certain numbers that are suspected to be fraudulent. The November 16 Order seeks to prevent fraud or identity theft that often accompanies calls which “spoof” or manipulate Caller ID information.… Continue Reading
The Department of Education (ED) has apparently declined a request by 39 members of Congress to reinstate the Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) between ED and the CFPB. The members of Congress, including Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions ranking Democratic member Patty Murray, penned a September 14th letter just one week after CFPB Director Richard Cordray made a similar request.… Continue Reading
The FRB recently hosted a fair lending “hot topics” webinar in conjunction the DOJ, HUD, CFPB, FDIC, OCC, and NCUA. The seven agencies discussed fair lending developments, including the revised HMDA reporting requirements, compliance management for consumer loans, and various issues related to fair lending complaints, investigations, and enforcement.
HMDA and Revised Regulation C:
Eric Wang, Deputy Fair Lending Director of the CFPB’s Office of Fair Lending and Equal Opportunity, emphasized that the CFPB is currently updating its HMDA exam procedures and that the industry should be “on the lookout” for the revised “Getting it Right” guide.… Continue Reading
California and the District of Columbia have recently released regulations under their respective student loan servicing laws. Each is taking comments on its regulations, but whereas California has merely issued proposed regulations, the District of Columbia has issued emergency regulations that are currently in effect. A brief summary of the regulations and their effective dates appears below, with links to more detailed discussions that also note the extraordinarily small number of complaints to the CFPB from residents of these jurisdictions as well as the bizarre economic impact of these licensing regimes, which will effectively result in the Department of Education paying the administrative expenses incurred by states asserting the authority to supervise federal student loan servicers.… Continue Reading
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Richard Cordray has responded to the letter from the Department of Education (ED) terminating the Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) between the agencies. ED’s August 31st letter—signed only by Kathleen Smith of the Office of Postsecondary Education and Dr. A. Wayne Johnson of Federal Student Aid—provided 30 days’ notice of the termination of two MOUs: a 2011 agreement providing collaboration to resolve student loan complaints and a 2014 agreement encouraging coordination of supervisory activities.… Continue Reading
