CFPB, Federal Agencies, State Agencies, and Attorneys General
The CFPB is calling on state governments to increase their focus on consumer financial protection laws.
“Enforcing consumer protection law has long been a state-federal partnership in which the states have often taken the lead,” the CFPB said, in a report that includes legislative and regulatory language that states may use.… Continue Reading
In an effort to foster innovation in financial services, the CFPB is reinstituting its programs that allow companies to obtain regulatory safe harbors through no-action letters and sandboxes to test new products and services.
The CFPB had such programs during the first Trump Administration, but the Biden Administration scrapped them, saying that they were ineffective and unfair.… Continue Reading
Today’s podcast episode is a repurposing of part one of our December 16 highly-attended and praised webinar consisting of Alan Kaplinsky’s exclusive interview of David Silberman, who held several senior positions at the CFPB for almost 10 years under both Democratic and Republican administrations. Part two of our December 16 webinar, featuring Ballard Spahr partners John Culhane and Joseph Schuster, is to be released on January 9.… Continue Reading
The CFPB’s Student Loan Ombudsman has released his annual report, again emphasizing complaint volume without investigating all complaints, suggesting that states should acquiesce when the Department of Education promulgates rules that exceed its statutory authority, and blaming servicers for communications issues caused in no small part by the Department of Education’s failure to provide clear directions and to set and adequately fund appropriate staffing levels for federal student loan servicing.… Continue Reading
In today’s podcast episode, we are joined by Raj Date, who has served in a variety of roles at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, including as the acting head of the agency and as it’s first-ever Deputy Director. He recently wrote a thought-provoking article in a new online publication, Open Banker, entitled “Banks Aren’t Over-Regulated, They Are Over-Supervised.”… Continue Reading
The CFPB recently issued a report entitled Matched-Pair Testing in Small Business Lending Markets that summarizes results of small business lending matched pair testing that it conducted in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Justice.
The CFPB notes that its Small Business Lending Rule,, which implements section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act, requires financial institutions to collect and report to the CFPB data regarding applications for credit by small businesses.… Continue Reading
A federal court has ordered Harris Jewelry to reopen its claims process and to again notify consumers that they may submit their claims for refunds from the jewelry company.
Most of the consumers affected are active-duty servicemembers.
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York found that Harris Jewelry violated its prior settlement with the Federal Trade Commission and a multistate group led by the New York Attorney General’s Office by prematurely shutting down the claims portal.… Continue Reading
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
