CFPB Supervision

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On October 7, the CFPB released the Fall edition of its Supervisory Highlights, “Special Edition Auto Finance,” focusing on the auto finance market. The report highlights various supervisory observations and enforcement actions taken to address issues the CFPB asserts it has seen in the auto finance sector, including deceptive marketing practices, wrongful repossessions, and failures in servicing and add-on product administration.… Continue Reading

The CFPB is in the process of completing its final rule intended to ban the inclusion of medical debts in credit reports, bureau Director Rohit Chopra said at a White House session intended to focus on practices in the medical debt collection industry.

“Often, predatory companies threaten to put medical debt on people’s credit reports, where lenders, landlords, and employers presume their accuracy,” Chopra said, in his prepared remarks.… Continue Reading

On September 17, 2024, the CFPB issued Consumer Financial Protection Circular 2024-05 on improper overdraft practices. The circular reminded financial institutions of their obligation to retain records that prove the consumer consented to the institution’s payment of ATM and one-time debit card transactions.

The Electronic Funds Transfer Act (EFTA) and Regulation E (12 CFR § 1005.17(b)(1)), prohibit financial institutions from charging an overdraft fee for paying ATM or one-time debit card transactions (“regulated overdrafts”) unless an institution: (i) provides the consumer with its overdraft service disclosure (a/k/a What You Need to Know About Overdraft and Overdraft Fees); (ii) provides the consumer a reasonable opportunity to opt in; (iii) obtains the consumer’s affirmative consent, or opt-in; and (iv) provides the consumer with a written confirmation of the consent, which includes a statement informing the consumer of the right to revoke such consent.… Continue Reading

The CFPB has scheduled two sessions to provide a preview of its nonbank enforcement order registry. The virtual-only discussions are scheduled for September 30 and October 9. Both sessions will feature the same content.

The bureau said that the events are intended for compliance staff that will be registering covered orders with the CFPB’s nonbank enforcement order registry.… Continue Reading

Some dollar  store chains and other retailers now are charging consumers for obtaining cash back on debt or prepaid card purchases—transactions that generally have been free in the past–the CFPB reported.

Obtaining cash back on such purchases may be particularly important in banking deserts and in areas where financial institutions charge significant fees, the bureau said.… Continue Reading

The most frequent consumer debt collection complaints filed with the CFPB in 2023 were attempts to collect debts that actually were not owed, the bureau said in its annual Fair Debt Collection Practices Act report.

The CFPB said that those complaints amounted to 53% of the debt collection complaints filed with the bureau in 2023.… Continue Reading

The CFPB’s latest focus on consumer fees is targeting payment processors for school lunches. The CFPB says that families who choose to purchase school lunches are being forced to pay fees to companies that process their payments.

“These fees are widespread, regressive, and may be burdensome for families and districts, who have little control over fee rates and few opportunities to shop around,” the bureau said, in releasing a report on the payment processors.… Continue Reading

In an unusual move, the CFPB is coming to the defense of a bank being accused of failing to provide repayment disclosures to a borrower.

U.S. District Judge Manish Shah of the Northern District of Illinois asked for the agency to comment on whether the Bank of Orrick violated federal requirements to provide borrower Jose Lopez with required disclosures, including how long it would take for him to repay his loan if he only paid the monthly minimum payment.… Continue Reading

The CFPB has released its Summer, 2024 Supervisory Highlights, covering issues ranging from student loan servicing to financial institution supervision of medical providers offering payment products. The report covers the period from April 1, 2023 to December 31, 2023.

Here are key findings from the report:

  • CFPB examiners reported finding several instances of unfair, deceptive or abusive practices at companies servicing auto loans.
… Continue Reading

Our special guest is Brian Johnson, Managing Director of Patomak Global Partners and former CFPB Deputy Director.  In November 2023, the CFPB issued a proposed rule to supervise nonbank companies that qualify as larger participants in a market for “general-use digital consumer payment applications.”  In this episode, we first discuss the CFPB’s authority to supervise nonbank entities considered to be “a larger participant of a market for other consumer financial products or services” and  its previous use of that authority. … Continue Reading