CFPB, Federal Agencies, State Agencies, and Attorneys General
A federal judge has ruled that the President Trump violated federal law when he fired Rebecca Slaughter, a Democrat, as a member of the FTC.
“Ms. Slaughter remains a rightful member of the Federal Trade Commission until the expiration of her Senate-confirmed term on September 25, 2029 … and … she may only be removed by the President for ‘inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office,’” Judge Loren AliKhan, of the U.S.… Continue Reading
The consumer financial services landscape is undergoing a transformative shift under the second Trump administration, with significant deregulatory changes at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and federal banking agencies. These developments are creating exciting opportunities for banks, fintech companies, and innovators to explore new business models and expand market reach.… Continue Reading
A debt collector company, Blackstone Legal, its associated companies and its owners, Ryan and Mitchell Evans, are facing a permanent ban from the debt collection business as a result of an FTC lawsuit charging that they deceived and harassed consumers to collect debts the consumers did not owe.
In February 2025, the FTC charged Blackstone Legal and its associated companies and owners with convincing consumers to pay fake debts.… Continue Reading
The FTC has recently taken action against two student loan debt relief companies and their owners.
In the first case, a federal judge has permanently banned Florida-based Start Connecting LLC and Colombia-based Start Connecting SAS (doing business as USA Student Debt Relief (USASDR)), and their owners and operators Douglas Goodman, Doris Gallon-Goodman, and Juan Rojas from the debt relief industry as well as from participating in any telemarketing.… Continue Reading
Alleging that Global Circulation, Inc. (GCI) threatened consumers with jail time, lawsuits, and wage garnishments to pressure them into paying debts they did not owe, the FTC entered into a stipulated order with GCI and its owner, Kenneth Redon III, to permanently ban them from the debt collection industry.
The defendants were also enjoined from making misrepresentations to consumer about legal obligations, making false statements to obtain payment information, and impersonating other businesses.… Continue Reading
We are releasing today on our podcast show a repurposed webinar which we produced on May 13, 2025 entitled “What is happening at the federal agencies (other than the CFPB) that is relevant to the consumer financial services industry.”
During this podcast, we will inform you about recent developments at those other agencies, including the FTC, OCC, FDIC, FRB and DOJ (collectively, the “Agencies”) and the White House (through the issuance of Executive Orders).… Continue Reading
In a move that could have ramifications for lawsuits filed by former FTC and NCUA board members, by a vote of 6-3 the Supreme Court has issued a stay that prohibits the Democratic members of the National Labor Relations Board and the Merit Systems Protection Board who were fired by President Trump from continuing to serve while challenging the legality of their removal.… Continue Reading
Today’s podcast features Stephen Calkins, a law professor at Wayne State University in Detroit and former General Counsel of the Federal Trade Commission (the “FTC”).
President Trump recently fired, without good cause, the two Democratic members of the FTC, leaving only two Republican members as commissioners. He did this even though the FTC Act provides that a commissioner may be fired by the President only for good cause and that the commission is to be governed by a bi-partisan 5-member commission This is the third time in the past few weeks that Trump has fired without good cause democratic members of other federal agencies; the other two being the National Labor Relations Board (The “NLRB”) and the Merit Selection Protection Board (The “MSPB”).… Continue Reading
The two Democratic FTC members who were fired by President Trump have filed suit in federal court challenging their dismissal.
Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Slaughter filed suit in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia contending that their dismissals were illegal since the FTC is supposed to be an independent agency.… Continue Reading
President Trump on Tuesday fired the remaining two Democratic members of the FTC, leaving only two Republicans on the commission.
The commissioners, Alvaro Bedoy and Rebecca Slaughter, announced their dismissals on social media. Both called their dismissals illegal, since the FTC is supposed to be an independent agency. Both of them called their firings illegal and Bedoy already has said he would challenge his dismissal in court.… Continue Reading
