In an interesting twist, the FHFA has informed the Fifth Circuit in Collins v. Mnuchin, that despite having previously advised the en banc court that it would not defend the FHFA’s constitutionality, it has reconsidered its position under the leadership of its new Director and will take the position going forward that the agency’s
Federal Agencies
FCC’s call blocking plans could create problems for collections
By Daniel JT McKenna & John L. Culhane, Jr. on
Plans announced on May 15 by the FCC to empower voice service providers to offer more aggressive call-blocking programs could create significant problems for creditors and debt collectors. In addition to allowing providers to block unwanted calls by default, the FCC plans to allow providers to offer opt-in blocking in which a consumer can elect…
CFPB Director Kraninger to serve as FFIEC Chairman
By Barbara S. Mishkin on
Posted in CFPB Monitor, Federal Agencies
The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) announced that CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger became the Chairman of the FFIEC on April 1, 2019. Ms. Kraninger is the first CFPB Director to serve as FFIEC Chairman. Her two-year term runs until March 31, 2021.
The FFIEC chairmanship rotates among the FFIEC’s federal members for two-year terms…
Justice Department Obtains Its Largest Ever Settlement Against A Property Management Company for Alleged Violations of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act
By Rachel R. Mentz on
The Justice Department announced in a March 15 press release that it has reached an agreement with property management company PRG Real Estate Management (PRG) and several related entities to settle claims that PRG violated the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) by obtaining evictions and money judgments against service-member tenants by filing affidavits that did…
Largest-Ever Crackdown Against Elder Fraud Led by the Department of Justice
By Kay Fitz-Patrick on
On March 7, 2019, the DOJ announced the largest coordinated sweep of elder fraud cases to date. Joined by the FBI and other federal and state partners, the DOJ held a press conference detailing the results of the coordinated effort. Coordinated law enforcement actions in the past year, they said, resulted in criminal cases against…
FFIEC Adopts Policy Statement Updating the Uniform Report of Examination
By Elanor A. Mulhern on
The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC)—the interagency body tasked with setting uniform principles and standards for the examination of financial institutions by federal regulators, including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau—has adopted a Policy Statement designed to streamline the information presented in examination reports (“ROE”). While the agencies represented by the FFIEC will make any…
Industry continues efforts seeking withdrawal of Department of Defense MLA interpretation on GAP insurance financing
By John L. Culhane, Jr. on
Early last year, several trade groups, including the National Automotive Dealers Association (NADA), sent letters petitioning the Department of Defense (DoD) to rescind or withdraw Question and Answer #2 (Q&A 2) from its 2016 interpretative rule for the Military Lending Act (MLA) final rule and its December 2017 amendments. Q&A 2 has generated much uncertainty…
House Appropriations subcommittee to hold March 6 hearing on student loan servicing
By Barbara S. Mishkin on
Posted in Federal Agencies, Student Loans
The Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing on March 6, 2019 entitled “Protecting Student Borrowers: Loan Servicing Oversight.”
The witnesses for the hearing are:
- Colleen Campbell, Director, Postsecondary Education, Center for American Progress
- Preston Cooper, Research Analyst in
…
Ninth Circuit case on TCPA autodialer definition settles: what does it mean?
By Joel E. Tasca on
In September 2018, in Marks v. San Diego Crunch, a unanimous Ninth Circuit three-judge panel held that the TCPA’s definition of an automatic dialing system (ATDS) includes telephone equipment that can automatically dial phone numbers stored in a list, rather than just phone numbers that the equipment randomly or sequentially generates. This decision departed…
White House issues executive order on artificial intelligence
By Christopher D. Ford & Judy Mok on
Posted in Federal Agencies, FinTech
A new executive order signed by President Trump on February 11, 2019 is intended to maintain American leadership in artificial intelligence (AI) research and development (R &D). The order directs certain federal agencies to pursue various strategic objectives to promote and protect American advancement in AI. Those agencies are to be identified by the National…