On November 28, 2017, the Federal Reserve Board announced a Consent Order with Peoples Bank (Peoples) in Lawrence, Kansas.  The Order charges Peoples with violating Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTCA) by engaging in deceptive mortgage origination practices between January 2011 and March 2015.  According to the Order, Peoples “often” gave prospective borrowers the option of paying discount points (an amount calculated as a percentage of the loan amount) at the time of closing, in order to obtain a lower interest rate. … Continue Reading

On November 13, members of the Senate Banking Committee announced that they had reached bipartisan agreement on “legislative proposals to improve our nation’s financial regulatory framework and promote economic growth.”  Following the announcement, a draft of a bill was released by Senator Mike Crapo, who chairs the Banking Committee.  A markup of the bill is scheduled for December 5, 2017.… Continue Reading