Fair Credit

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To implement recent amendments to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has proposed a rule intended to assist survivors of trafficking. The rule would establish a way for survivors to submit documentation to consumer reporting agencies (CRAs) identifying any “adverse item of information” about the consumer resulting from human trafficking, and would prohibit CRAs from furnishing consumer reports containing such information.… Continue Reading

Maryland has enacted legislation that revises the rules of determining creditworthiness.  On May 30, 2021, Maryland Governor Lawrence J. Hogan (R) signed HB1213 into law, which adds to Maryland Code Ann. Financial Institutions (FI) § 1-212.

Effective October 1, 2021, certain financial institutions (banking institutions, credit unions, savings and loan associations, community development financial institutions, and certain credit grantors) must adhere to the rules concerning evaluations of applications under federal law, specifically 12 C.F.R.… Continue Reading

On August 23, 2021, the CFPB filed its sixth status report in the lawsuit alleging wrongful delay by the CFPB in adopting regulations to implement Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act.

Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act amended the Equal Credit Opportunity Act to require financial institutions to collect and report certain data in connection with credit applications made by women- or minority-owned businesses and small businesses.… Continue Reading

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has held that the Equal Credit Opportunity Act does not preempt New Jersey’s common-law doctrine of necessaries whereby a spouse is jointly liable for necessary expenses incurred by the other spouse.  As a result, the plaintiff could not rely on preemption as the basis for her claim that the defendant law firm violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act by attempting to collect a debt from her that she did not owe for her deceased husband’s medical expenses.… Continue Reading

As we recently reported, the CFPB released new guidance on January 13, 2021, in an effort to give industry participants more concrete guidance about how to tackle the sometimes-daunting issue of serving customers in non-English languages.  Director Kraninger announced the guidance in a blog post of her own, and reached out with telephone calls to announce the release of the guidance. … Continue Reading

The CFPB and the Arkansas Attorney General announced that they filed a proposed stipulated judgment and order settling their Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 (CFPA) claims against Alder Holdings, LLC, a home-alarm company that extends closed-end credit to its customers by providing them the right to defer payment for Alder’s alarm and security-system equipment over the life of a long-term contract.… Continue Reading

The Supreme Court has granted certiorari to review a $40 million class action trial judgment for statutory and punitive damages under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and its forthcoming decision later this Term will likely be the Supreme Court’s most important ruling in the consumer financial services space since its 2016 ruling in Spokeo, Inc.… Continue Reading

Since early June 2020 when cries for racial justice resulted in a period of social unrest in the U.S., federal and state financial institution regulators have taken meaningful, proactive steps to acknowledge financial inequality issues, reach out to traditionally underserved populations to expand access to credit, and further protect consumers from discrimination.… Continue Reading

On July 28, 2020, the CFPB issued a request for information (“RFI”) seeking public input on how best to create a regulatory environment that expands access to credit and ensures consumers and communities are protected from discrimination in all aspects of credit transactions. The Bureau issued the RFI in lieu of a symposium it had planned to host this fall on Equal Credit Opportunity Act (“ECOA”) issues.… Continue Reading

The Department of Justice recently announced that it had settled a lawsuit filed in 2019 that alleged a Maryland used car dealership discriminated against African Americans in violation of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act by offering different credit terms based on race.  The settlement includes the DOJ’s claims against the dealership’s individual owner and its manager.… Continue Reading