CFPB, Federal Agencies, State Agencies, and Attorneys General
On January 3, 2026, the Senate sent the nomination of Stuart Levenbach to be CFPB Director back to the President without acting on it—a move that would allow Russell Vought to remain acting head of the bureau through August 1.
President Trump nominated Levenbach, an Associate Director of the Office of Management and Budget, as CFPB Director in November.… Continue Reading
The CFPB recently issued a final rule increasing the asset exemption threshold under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA).
Banks, savings associations and credit unions are not subject to the mortgage loan data collection and reporting requirements under HMDA for a calendar year if their assets as of December 31 of the prior calendar year did not exceed an asset threshold.… Continue Reading
The CFPB recently issued a final rule increasing the asset exemption threshold for the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) requirement to maintain an escrow account for a higher-priced mortgage loan (HPML).
Regulation Z, which implements the TILA, generally requires creditors to maintain an escrow account for the payment of taxes and insurance on a first lien HPML.… Continue Reading
In a case of first impression, in clarifying her injunction issued in the lawsuit brought by the National Treasury Employees Union and others challenging the planned reductions in force and other efforts to reduce functions at the CFPB, Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the DC Federal District Court vigorously rejected the opinion of the Office of Legal Counsel of the Department of Justice (“OLC”) that the CFPB may not be funded by the Fed because (1) the Dodd-Frank Act provides that the CFPB may only be funded by the Fed out of “combined earnings of the Federal Reserve System”, (2) the term “combined earnings” means combined profits and not combined revenues and (3) the Federal Reserve System has incurred losses since September 2022.… Continue Reading
Charging that Acting CFPB Director Russell Vought has been attempting to close down the CFPB by any means necessary, Democratic Attorneys Generals (AGs) from 21 states and the District of Columbia have filed suit, asking a federal court to require Vought to seek State AGs file suit to force CFPB to request funding from the Federal Reserve funds from the Federal Reserve to operate the bureau. … Continue Reading
The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has granted a request for an en banc rehearing in the National Treasury Employees Union’s (NTEU) and others’ challenge to the firing of more than 1,400 CFPB employees and the taking of certain other actions to curtail the operations of the CFPB.
The Plaintiffs sued the Administration, contending that its plan to lay off the employees at the CFPB and to take certain other actions is tantamount to an abolishment of the agency.… Continue Reading
Current and former Democratic members of Congress have told a federal court that the Trump Administration’s interpretation of the CFPB’s funding mechanism is at odds with Congress’ plan to provide the bureau with a stable, independent source of funding.
On December 5, Rise Economy, the National Reinvestment Coalition and the Woodstock Institute filed a lawsuit against the CFPB and its Acting Director Russell Vought in the Federal District Court for the Northern District of California seeking declaratory and injunctive relief related to Vought’s determination not to seek funding from the Federal Reserve Board because of an opinion from the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC).… Continue Reading
As required by amendments to the FDCPA made by Section 1089 of Dodd Frank, the CFPB recently released its annual report to Congress on FDCPA compliance. We note below information provided by the bureau about the complaints it received in 2024, the results of examinations publicly reported in 2024, and enforcement actions by other agencies. … Continue Reading
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently announced the 2026 loan limits for FHA insured forward mortgage loans and FHA insured Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECMs). The announcements were made in Mortgagee Letter 2025-23 and Mortgagee Letter 2025-22, respectively.
For forward mortgage loans in non-high-cost areas, the amount for a single unit home increased from $524,225 in 2025 to $541,287 in 2026.… Continue Reading
On December 5, 2025, Rise Economy, the National Reinvestment Coalition and the Woodstock Institute filed a lawsuit against the CFPB and its Acting Director Russell Vought in the Federal District Court for the Northern District of California (San Francisco) seeking declaratory and injunctive relief related to Vought’s determination not to seek funding from the Federal Reserve Board because of an opinion provided to the CFPB by the Office of Legal Counsel of the Department of Justice (“OLC”) that it would be unlawful for the CFPB to make such a request based on there being no “combined earnings of the Federal Reserve System.”… Continue Reading
