On March 23, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC” or “Commission”) issued a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (“NPRM”) seeking comment on proposed amendments to the Commission’s Negative Option Rule.  The proposed amendments, which would expand the scope of the rule’s coverage to all forms of negative option marketing and consolidate various requirements dispersed across various statutes and regulations, include a “click to cancel” provision which would require a simple cancellation mechanism for consumers to easily cancel subscriptions by using the same method they used to initially enroll.… Continue Reading

Three Republican House members sent a letter last week to CFPB Director Chopra raising questions about the Bureau’s relationship with state attorneys general and its interpretive rule issued in May 2022 regarding the authority of state attorneys general and state regulators (State Officials) to enforce the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA).… Continue Reading

The CFPB has issued a procedural rule that updates its Rules of Practice for Adjudication Proceedings (Rules of Practice) and a request for comment.  The procedural rule is effective February 22, 2022.  However, the Bureau indicates that it “may make further amendments if it receives comments warranting changes.”  Comments must be submitted by April 8, 2022.… Continue Reading

In CFPB v. National Collegiate Master Student Loan Trust et al., the district court rejected the Trusts’ arguments that they were not “covered persons” under the CFPA and that because the enforcement action was filed by an unconstitutionally structured CFPB, it was void when filed and could not stop the statute of limitations from running. … Continue Reading

The Connecticut federal district court has ruled in Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency v. Perez that demands by the Connecticut Department of Banking (DOB) to the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA) for federal student loan documents are preempted by federal law.  PHEAA was represented by Ballard Spahr.

PHEAA services federal student loans made by the Department of Education (ED) under the Direct Loan Program pursuant to a contract between the ED and PHEAA. … Continue Reading