The CFPB announced last week that it has entered into a consent order with Commonwealth Financial Systems, Inc. (Commonwealth), a third-party debt collection company that collects past-due medical debts and furnishes information about consumers to consumer reporting agencies (CRAs), to resolve Commonwealth’s alleged violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). … Continue Reading

Recently, 93 members of Congress (all Democrats) signed a letter in support of the pending Petition for Rulemaking filed by consumer advocacy groups in September that would prohibit pre-dispute consumer arbitration clauses and permit only post-dispute clauses.  The letter argues that the proposed rulemaking is “much-needed” to protect consumers from “forced arbitration clauses in the fine print, take-it-or-leave-it terms accompanying many financial products and services.”… Continue Reading

On December 8, 2023, oral arguments were held before a three judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in the CFPB v. Townstone Financial case, in which the CFPB alleges that Townstone Financial, a non-bank mortgage company (Townstone), engaged in redlining in the Chicago area in violation of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA).… Continue Reading

This two-part podcast repurposes our most recent webinar on the latest salvo of actions in the Biden Administration’s initiative directed at combatting so-called “junk fees.”  Launched in January 2022, the initiative shows no signs of abating.

In Part II, we first look at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s advisory opinion on fees charged by large banks and credit unions to respond to information requests, including the Bureau’s discussion of non-fee obstacles such as chatbots that could unlawfully impede consumers’ ability to make an information request. … Continue Reading

Recently, Professor Sovern replied to our blog post that commented on the letter that he and 160 other law academicians submitted to the CFPB in support of the pending Petition for Rulemaking that would prohibit pre-dispute consumer arbitration clauses and permit only post-dispute clauses. 

In response, we would like to acknowledge that two of Professor Sovern’s statements are accurate. … Continue Reading

As we reported, the CFPB just released its Fall 2023 rulemaking agenda as part of the Fall 2023 Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions.  

I have been contacted by many clients who have asked me whether we should read any significance into the fact that the anti-arbitration Petition for Rulemaking submitted to the CFPB by a consortium of consumer advocacy groups on September 13 is not mentioned in the new rulemaking agenda. … Continue Reading

On December 7, 2023, Atlantic Union Bank (the “Bank”) entered into a consent order with the Consumer Financial Protections Bureau (CFPB) related to its in-person and telephone overdraft opt-in sales practices during 2017-2020. The settlement requires the Bank to refund affected consumers $5 million in overdraft fees and pay a $1.2 million civil money penalty to the CFPB.… Continue Reading

The CFPB has released its Fall 2023 rulemaking agenda as part of the Fall 2023 Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions.  The agenda’s preamble indicates that “[t]he Bureau reasonably anticipates having the regulatory matters identified [in the agenda] under consideration during the period from November 2023 to October 2024.”… Continue Reading

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has sent a letter to the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) commenting on the DFPI’s proposal that would require providers of “income-based advances” to register with or obtain a license from the  DFPI and comply with the fee and interest rate limits of the California Financing Law (CFL).… Continue Reading