House Republicans appear ready to start the Congressional Review Act (CRA) process to attempt to repeal the Biden Administration’s controversial overdraft rule.

The rule is scheduled to go into effect Oct. 1, but Acting CFPB Director Scott Bessent has ordered a halt to all work at the agency, and a suspension of the effective dates for all rules that have not yet taken effect, so it is unclear when the overdraft rule might take effect.… Continue Reading

Republicans on Capitol Hill are seeking to repeal a section of the Dodd-Frank Act that requires financial institutions to report information contained in loan applications submitted by women-owned, minority-owned and LGBTQI+-owned small businesses.

My bill seeks to eliminate costly regulatory burdens on financial institutions, ensuring greater access to credit for small businesses,” House Small Business Committee Chairman Rep.… Continue Reading

If there was any doubt about how the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) (under current leadership) feels about what it calls “home equity contracts” (also known as shared appreciation agreements, shared equity agreements, home equity investments, among other names) its actions last week make it clear. 

Among the flurry of issuances, enforcement actions and guidance coming out of the CFPB in the lead up to January 20, the bureau took aim at home contracts with i) the issuance of a Consumer Advisory warning consumers about the risks of these types of agreements, ii) the issuance of an Issue Spotlight, which similarly addressed potential risks to homeowners and provided a detailed summary of how these types of products typically work and how their features compare other home equity products, and iii) the filing of an amicus brief in Roberts v.… Continue Reading

Earlier this month, the CFPB issued a report titled Strengthening State-Level Consumer Protection.  The report argues, among other things, that states should “[r]evitalize private enforcement” by promulgating additional UDAAP laws and regulations that permit consumers to file “representational and “organizational” actions against companies because the widespread use of arbitration clauses by companies has “severely constrained consumers’ ability to enforce the law.”… Continue Reading

We are very pleased to report that the CFPB has denied a Petition for Rulemaking filed by a group of consumer advocate organizations that would prohibit the use of pre-dispute arbitration clauses in consumer contracts in favor of arbitration clauses that would permit consumers to choose between arbitration and litigation only after a dispute has arisen. … Continue Reading

President Trump on Monday issued an Executive Order that prohibits most federal agencies from issuing proposed rules until an administration-appointed agency head reviews the regulation.

The President also imposed a hiring freeze at most federal agencies through another Executive Order.

The Executive Orders do not expressly exclude independent agencies, such as the CFPB.… Continue Reading

As the Biden Administration came to a close, the CFPB released a compendium of guidance documents issued by the bureau between October 2021 and January 2025.

“CFPB guidance documents have provided clarification on the best interpretations of the federal consumer financial laws for those tasked with enforcing them, as well as the courts,” Brian Shearer, the bureau’s assistant director in the Office of Planning & Strategy and CFPB General Counsel Seth Frotman, wrote in an introduction to the volume.… Continue Reading

Earlier this week, the CFPB issued a proposed rule.  Among other things, the proposed rule would “forbid covered persons from including in their consumer contracts any terms or conditions that purport to waive substantive legal rights and protections” or that “reserve to the covered person the right to unilaterally amend a material term of the contract.” … Continue Reading

In today’s episode, we discuss the CFPB’s recent proposed data broker rule—a proposal that would greatly expand the reach of the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

On December 3, the CFPB issued a proposed rule promoted as one that would require companies that sell data about income or financial tier, credit history, credit score or debt payments to comply with the Fair Credit Reporting Act.… Continue Reading