A coalition of groups that includes the Consumer Bankers Association, the National Council of Higher Education Resources, and consumer advocates, has sent a letter to House and Senate leadership urging Congress to extend relief to federal student loan borrowers whose loans are not covered by the CARES Act.

The borrowers in question are those with Perkins loans or Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) loans that are not federally-owned and instead are owned by financial institutions, non-profit or state entities. … Continue Reading

The CFPB has issued an interpretive rule addressing the application of the Electronic Fund Transfer Act/Regulation E compulsory use prohibition to COVID-19 relief payments made by federal, state, or local government agencies.

The prohibition makes it unlawful for any person to require a consumer to establish an account for the receipt of electronic funds with a particular financial institution as a condition of employment or receipt of a government benefit.… Continue Reading

Earlier this month, the Office of Servicemember Affairs (OSA) released its annual report covering the Office’s activities during fiscal year 2019, which covers the period of October 1, 2018 to September 30, 2019.

Noteworthy items include:

  • Top Complaints Received from Military Consumers During FY19.  In FY19, the same overall number of complaints (34,600) were submitted as in FY18. 
… Continue Reading

The CFPB has issued a policy statement regarding its approach to supervision and enforcement of remittance transfers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The EFTA, as implemented by the CFPB’s remittance rule, provides insured depository institutions with a temporary exception that allows them, under certain conditions, to disclose estimates of the exchange rate and covered third-party fees instead of exact amounts. … Continue Reading

Senator Elizabeth Warren, joined by a group of other Democratic Senators and Senator Bernie Sanders, sent a series of letters to companies that service private student loans requesting “a detailed report of the steps your company is taking in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and economic emergency to mitigate the financial burden facing your student loan borrowers.”… Continue Reading

The COVID-19 pandemic has created a perfect storm for money laundering and fraud.  Financial institutions subject to the Bank Secrecy Act are facing increased incidents of fraud and must catch and report suspicious or illegal activity while juggling financial concerns and trying to work remotely.  The pandemic also will expose existing incidents of fraud—and investigations and litigation will surely ensue as investors and consumers demand their cash back, only to discover that the money is gone. … Continue Reading

We recently provided an update in a case we’ve been following involving a lawsuit challenging a Nevada statute, SB 311, that allows an applicant for credit with no credit history to request that a creditor treat an applicant’s credit history as identical to that of the applicant’s spouse during the marriage.… Continue Reading

A unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, in Duran v. La Boom Disco, Inc., handed a win to the plaintiffs’ bar by holding that the Telephone Consumer Protection Act’s (TCPA) statutory definition of an automatic telephone 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. … Continue Reading

On April 7, the District of Columbia passed the COVID-19 Response Supplemental Emergency and Temporary Amendment Act of 2020 which goes into effect immediately and lasts until 60 days after the emergency ends.  The law prohibits debt collectors from initiating any communication with a debtor through any written or electronic communication, including email or text message, or telephone.  … Continue Reading