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Twenty-three Democratic members of the House Financial Services Committee have sent a letter to Kathy Kraninger, the CFPB’s new Director, urging the Bureau to resume examining its supervised entities for compliance with the Military Lending Act (MLA).  The Democrats signing the letter include Maxine Waters, currently the Ranking Member, who is expected to become Committee…

In this week’s episode, we discuss recent state legislative and enforcement developments involving state analogues to the federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act.  We review state efforts to increase the duration of federal protections, expand the groups entitled to them, and extend similar protections to additional products and services.

To listen and subscribe to the podcast,…

In this week’s episode, we discuss recent enforcement activity under the Military Lending Act and the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, as well as takeaways about compliance.  We also review the CFPB’s controversial decision to no longer conduct exams for MLA compliance, look at the legal basis for the decision, and analyze the arguments made by…

The Department of Justice recently entered into a settlement with Hudson Valley Federal Credit Union to resolve allegations that it violated the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) by repossessing vehicles owned by servicemembers without first obtaining the required court orders.  The settlement agreement  requires Hudson Valley to pay $65,000 to compensate seven servicemembers whose vehicles…

The New York Attorney General has filed a lawsuit against a group of commonly owned and managed companies headquartered in New York that include companies operating retail jewelry stores in numerous states under the name Harris Jewelry and another company providing financing for sales made at such stores under the name Consumer Adjustment Corp.  One…

On September 19, 2018, California enacted AB-3212.  The Bill amends the California Military and Veterans Code to expand the protections offered to qualifying servicemembers under state law and to impose new criminal penalties for certain violations of its provisions.  Some of the key changes, which go into effect January 1, 2019, are as follows:

Expanded …

NPR reported last week that the Trump Administration is planning to end the current prohibition under the Military Lending Act (“MLA”) against creditors offering service members GAP insurance in connection with credit intended to finance the purchase of motor vehicles. Current interpretive guidance concerning the Department of Defense’s regulations implementing the MLA prohibits creditors from…

In response to reports that Acting CFPB Director Mick Mulvaney intends to dispense with routine supervisory examinations of creditors for violations of the Military Lending Act (MLA), Senate Democrats sent a joint letter addressed to Mulvaney in his capacity as Director of the Office of Management and Budget—urging him to reconsider.

The letter, signed by…

On August 10, the New York Times reported that Mick Mulvaney, the CFPB Acting Director, intends to dispense with routine supervisory examinations of creditors for violations of the Military Lending Act (MLA).  According to the report, Acting Director Mulvaney has argued in a two-page draft change to the CFPB’s policies that “proactive oversight is not…