John L. Culhane, Jr.

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On April 26, 2024, Plaintiffs filed their response to the CFPB’s Petition for a Panel Rehearing with the Fifth Circuit in the lawsuit challenging the CFPB’s credit card penalty fees rule (Rule). On the same date, the Plaintiffs also filed their brief in support of their motion for a preliminary injunction with the Fifth Circuit.… Continue Reading

In furtherance of the Biden Administration’s “junk fee” agenda, on Thursday, May 9, 2024, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the U.S. Department of Transportation will host a hearing on airline and credit card rewards programs. CFPB Director Rohit Chopra and Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg will moderate a discussion with the following industry representatives, labor leaders, and consumer advocates:

  1. Scott DeAngelo, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Allegiant Air
  2. Morgan Harper, Director of Policy and Advocacy, American Economic Liberties Project
  3. Andrew Grimm, President and CEO, Apple Federal Credit Union
  4. Sara Nelson, International President, Association of Flight Attendants
  5. Lukas Johnson, Chief Commercial Officer, Breeze Airways
  6. Erin Witte, Director of Consumer Protection, Consumer Federation of America
  7. Robert Patrick Cooper, Senior Vice President and General Counsel, OneUnited Bank

We will attend the joint hearing and blog about it thereafter. … Continue Reading

The CFPB (or “Bureau”) filed a cross-motion for summary judgment in the lawsuit regarding the small business lending data collection and reporting rule, also known as the 1071 rule based on the Dodd-Frank section that requires the CFPB to adopt the rule (the “Rule”). Last month, the plaintiffs and intervenors in the lawsuit challenging the Rule filed a consolidated motion for summary judgment.… Continue Reading

On April 17th, the CFPB issued a consent order to a for-profit training school alleging numerous violations of law related to its use if income share agreements (“ISAs”). According to the Bureau, BloomTech, Inc. (“BloomTech”) and the company’s founder and CEO engaged in deceptive and abusive acts or practices, violated the Truth in Lending Act (“TILA”) and Regulation Z, and violated the Federal Trade Commission’s (“FTC”) Holder Rule.… Continue Reading

As expected, the Colorado Attorney General and Colorado Uniform Consumer Credit Code Administrator filed their responsive brief in opposition to the plaintiffs’ motion for preliminary injunction filed earlier this month in federal district court in Colorado.  As explained in our earlier blog, in NAIB et al. v. Weiser et al.,… Continue Reading

Last week ended with several new developments in the lawsuit challenging the CFPB’s final credit card late fee rule (Rule), both of which appear to reduce the likelihood that the Rule will be stayed before its May 14 effective date.

First, the CFPB filed a Petition for Panel Rehearing on April 18 and the Fifth Circuit has directed the plaintiffs to file a response by April 30. … Continue Reading

The Committee on Codes of Conduct of the Judicial Conference of the United States (Committee) has unanimously concluded that Fifth Circuit Judge Willett is not required to recuse in the trade group plaintiffs’ appeal in their lawsuit challenging the CFPB’s final credit card late fee rule (Rule).

Last Friday, pursuant to a directive issued by the Clerk of the Fifth Circuit, the trade group plaintiffs and the CFPB filed letter briefs with the Fifth Circuit regarding whether an ownership interest in a nonparty large credit card issuer would be substantially affected by the outcome of the case. … Continue Reading

After its passage by the Washington state legislature, Substitute Senate Bill (SSB) 6025, the Washington “predatory loan prevention act”, was approved by Governor Jay Inslee on March 25, 2024, with an effective date of June 6, 2024.

Unlike the original version of this act proposed in Senate Bill 6025 and its identical companion bill, House Bill 1874, SSB 6025 as enacted does not include language expanding the definition of “loan” under the Washington Consumer Loan Act.… Continue Reading

Last Wednesday, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia terminated on its docket the case challenging the CFPB’s final credit card late fee rule (Rule) which had been transferred to D.D.C. by the Texas federal district court.  The termination occurred after the Texas court entered an order reopening the case and providing notice to D.D.C.… Continue Reading

The FTC recently issued a report to Congress on its collaboration with state attorneys general.  Titled “Working Together to Protect Consumers: A Study and Recommendations on FTC Collaboration with the State Attorneys General,” the report was issued pursuant to the FTC Collaboration Act of 2021.  The Collaboration Act required the FTC to conduct a study “on facilitating and refining existing efforts with State Attorneys General to prevent, publicize, and penalize frauds and scams being perpetrated on individuals in the United States” and directed the FTC to report the results of the study to Congress together with recommendations for enhancing collaboration between the FTC and state AGs.… Continue Reading