CFPB, Federal Agencies, State Agencies, and Attorneys General
The CFPB has issued its annual Fair Debt Collection Practices Act report covering the CFPB’s debt collection activities in 2022. The report incorporates information from the FTC’s most recent annual letter to the CFPB describing its 2022 activities in the debt collection market.
CFPB Report. The CFPB report includes a “spotlight” section on the collection of medical bills. … Continue Reading
The U.S. Supreme Court recently granted certiorari to hear the Second Circuit case of Cantero et al. v. Bank of America, N.A., involving National Bank Act (NBA) preemption of New York’s law requiring that interest be paid to consumers on mortgage escrow account funds. The decision would address a split between the Second and Ninth Circuits on the topic of NBA preemption of state “interest-on-escrow” laws.… Continue Reading
A New York federal district court has denied a motion to dismiss the lawsuit filed in January 2022 by the CFPB against three companies that purchase portfolios of defaulted debts (Corporate Defendants) and three individuals who are owners and/or officers of the Corporate Defendants (Individual Defendants).
The lawsuit alleges that the Corporate Defendants contracted with debt collectors to collect consumer debts on their behalf either directly or through other debt collectors or sold consumer debts to debt collectors, some of whom were contractually required to make ongoing payments to the Corporate Defendants. … Continue Reading
On September 21, 2023, with limited time to digest the comments received by September 11, 2023 from the request for information regarding medical payment products, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) started the FCRA rulemaking process. The press release describes a “rulemaking process to remove medical bills from Americans’ credit reports.”… Continue Reading
The CFPB has released the Summer 2023 edition of Supervisory Highlights. The report discusses the Bureau’s examinations in the areas of auto origination and servicing, consumer reporting, debt collection, deposits, mortgage origination and servicing, and payday and small dollar lending, that were completed from July 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023. … Continue Reading
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has ruled that a plaintiff in a putative class action had standing to assert FDCPA claims against the purchaser of her debt and the purchaser’s servicer based on the $3.95 she paid in postage to respond to a second validation letter after she had already responded to the first validation notice.… Continue Reading
Continuing its (and the White House’s) “junk fees” rhetoric, the CFPB has released a new issue of Supervisory Highlights that carries the title “Junk Fees Special Edition.” The report discusses the Bureau’s examinations involving fees in the areas of deposits, auto servicing, mortgage servicing, payday and small-dollar lending, and student loan servicing that were completed between July 1, 2022 and February 1, 2023.… Continue Reading
The CFPB has released the Fall 2022 edition of its Supervisory Highlights. The report discusses the Bureau’s examinations in the areas of auto servicing, consumer reporting, credit card account management, debt collection, deposits, mortgage origination, mortgage servicing, and payday lending that were completed between January 1, 2022 and June 31, 2022. … Continue Reading
The FHFA announced that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will require mortgage servicers to maintain certain fair lending data elements, including the borrower’s age, race, ethnicity, gender, and preferred language. The fair lending data must be stored in a searchable format, and must transfer with servicing throughout the loan term.
On the topic, Freddie Mac issued Bulletin 2022-17, and Fannie Mae issued Servicing Guide Announcement SVC-2022-06.… Continue Reading
The CFPB has issued an advisory opinion that addresses when the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act permits a debt collector to charge “pay-to-pay” or “convenience fees,” such as fees imposed for making a payment online or by phone.
FDCPA section 808(1) prohibits debt collectors from collecting “any amount (including any interest, fee, charge, or expense incidental to the principal obligation) unless such amount is expressly authorized by the agreement creating the debt or permitted by law.” … Continue Reading
