On July 1, Virginia Governor Northam signed Senate Bill 1410 which amended several Virginia anti-discrimination statutes to prohibit discrimination based on “military status.”  For purposes of the various amendments, the term “military status” is defined as:

status as (i) an active military service member who performs full-time duty in the Armed Forces of the United States, or a reserve component thereof, including the United States National Guard and the Virginia National Guard, (ii) a veteran who was an active military service member discharged or released therefrom under conditions other than dishonorable, or (iii) a spouse or child of an active military service member or veteran, or an individual of any relationship to an active service member or veteran where the active service member or veteran provided more than one-half of the individual’s support for at least 180 days immediately preceding an alleged action that if proven would constitute unlawful discrimination under this chapter.… Continue Reading

July 21, 2021 will mark the 10th anniversary of the CFPB opening for business.  It will also mark the 10th anniversary of our blog, Consumer Finance Monitor, which we intentionally launched on the CFPB’s first day.

In our two-part webinar, we will review the Bureau’s significant initiatives to date and share our thoughts on the Bureau’s likely direction throughout the Biden Administration. … Continue Reading

On June 29, 2021, the CFPB and the Attorney General of the State of Georgia filed a proposed order in connection with a joint lawsuit they filed a day earlier in federal district court in Georgia against Maryland-based debt-relief and credit-repair company Burlington Financial Group (“Burlington”) and three individual owners and executives. … Continue Reading

The CFPB has released the Summer 2021 edition of its Supervisory Highlights.  The report, which contains 48 pages of supervisory observations, discusses the Bureau’s examinations in the areas of auto servicing, consumer reporting, debt collection, deposits, fair lending, mortgage origination and servicing, private student loans, payday lending, and student loan servicing that were completed between January 1, 2020 and December 31, 2020 (which was the last full year of Kathleen Kraninger’s tenure as CFPB Director).… Continue Reading

As required by the Anti-Money Laundering Act (“AML Act”), the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) issued on June 30, 2021 the first government-wide list of priorities for anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (“AML/CFT”) (the “Priorities”).  The Priorities purport to identify and describe the most significant AML/CFT threats facing the United States. … Continue Reading

On June 25, a group of collection agencies, law firms, and industry associations filed a lawsuit against the Nevada State Commissioner requesting the Court declare invalid Nevada Senate Bill 248, which regulates medical debt collection.  The new law took effect on July 1, 2021.  Nevada enacted the new law last month.… Continue Reading

Pursuant to the authority set forth in Section 205 of Senate Bill 1202, Connecticut’s Banking Commissioner signed an order that permits individuals engaged in certain licensable activity on behalf of certain consumer credit licensees to work from remote office locations not licensed as branch office locations.  The order, available here, extends the previous no-action position of the Commissioner and is effective July 1, 2021.… Continue Reading

Phil Yannella, Ballard Spahr litigation partner and Practice Leader of Ballard’s Privacy & Data Security Group, recently authored a treatise on data breach and privacy litigation.  The book, Cyber Litigation: Data Brach, Data Privacy & Digital Rights, is published by Thomson Reuters and is available now for purchase.  The publication of CyberLitigation comes at an important moment as the U.S.… Continue Reading

After announcing several years ago that it intended to pick up with fair lending enforcement in the indirect auto finance market where the CFPB left off, the New York Department of Financial Services has announced two consent orders with smaller, New York-chartered banks based on the allegation that allowing auto dealers to negotiate the retail prices of retail installment contracts resulted in a disparate impact on the basis of race and national origin.… Continue Reading

The final step in the demise of the OCC’s true lender rule occurred yesterday with President Biden signing the resolution under the Congressional Review Act (CRA) overturning the rule that was passed by the House and Senate.

On August 9, 2021, from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. ET, Ballard Spahr will hold a webinar, “Congress Overrides the OCC’s True Lender Rule: What Are the Risks for Banks and Their Loan Program Nonbank Partners?” … Continue Reading