CFPB, Federal Agencies, State Agencies, and Attorneys General
CFPB Chief Legal Officer Mark Paoletta has been selected as the bureau’s Deputy Director—a move that reflects that Acting Director Russell Vought’s term is coming to a close and that Paoletta will succeed him, Bloomberg reports.
Under federal law, Vought cannot serve as Acting Director past August 1. However, under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, a top deputy or other senior official may serve as Acting Director until a full-time agency head is confirmed by the Senate.… Continue Reading
As expected, advocacy groups and private companies have filed a lawsuit challenging the CFPB’s recent final rule (Final Rule) revising Regulation B, which implements the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA). The lawsuit was filed in the federal district court for the District of Columbia by the National Fair Housing Alliance, Rise Economy (fka California Reinvestment Coalition), BLDS, LLC and SolasAI.… Continue Reading
As previously reported, in July 2025 Congress passed legislation to reauthorize partial claims with U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) guaranteed home loans. The VA has now announced that the VA Partial Claim program will open for submissions on June 15, 2026, and that servicers will have until November 28, 2026, to implement the partial claim program into their systems.… Continue Reading
President Trump’s May 19, 2026 executive order, Restoring Integrity to America’s Financial System, directs Treasury, FinCEN, the CFPB, and the federal banking agencies to reassess how financial institutions identify and manage risks associated with non-work authorized populations and related cross border financial activity. The order reflects a significant shift in federal expectations across BSA/AML compliance, customer identification, and consumer credit underwriting.… Continue Reading
In a significant victory for bank-fintech partnership models, the Los Angeles County Superior Court on May 19, 2026 has now issued its final Statement of Decision granting summary judgment in favor of Opportunity Financial, LLC (“OppFi”) in its long-running litigation with the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (“DFPI”). The final opinion follows the court’s February 24, 2026 tentative ruling, which we previously discussed on this blog.… Continue Reading
On a recent episode of the Consumer Finance Monitor Podcast, Alan Kaplinsky, host of the podcast, had the opportunity to interview Amelia O’Rourke-Owens, a legal scholar and former CFPB policy fellow, about her article, “Tearing Holes in Consumer Protection: Democracy’s Safety Net.” Amelia is the founder and CEO of Resilience Solutions, which provides subject matter expertise and consulting services around policy solutions and strategic planning.… Continue Reading
The federal banking agencies have proposed on May 19, 2026 the most significant overhaul of the CAMELS supervisory rating system in nearly 30 years, signaling a major philosophical shift in bank supervision under the Trump Administration. The proposal, issued by the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (“FFIEC”), would revise the Uniform Financial Institutions Rating System (“UFIRS”) to place greater emphasis on material financial risks and less emphasis on process-oriented supervisory criticisms.… Continue Reading
As recently predicted in our May 8, 2026 blog, a new cert petition was filed on May 22, 2026 in Cantero v. Bank of America, asking the U.S. Supreme Court to revisit, again, the increasingly important question whether the National Bank Act preempts state laws requiring national banks to pay interest on mortgage escrow accounts.… Continue Reading
We are proud to announce that podcast database service Million Podcasts has ranked Ballard Spahr’s Consumer Finance Monitor podcast among the top business and financial services podcasts in the country.
Most recently, Million Podcasts ranked Consumer Finance Monitor as the number one podcast in its Top 70 Pennsylvania Business Podcasts list.… Continue Reading
President Donald Trump has nominated John Crews to serve on the NCUA board. If confirmed, Crews would replace Kyle Hauptman as the sole board member of the agency.
Hauptman’s term expired in August 2025, but he has stayed on the board as permitted by section 102(c) of the Federal Credit Union Act, which allows any board member to continue to serve after the expiration of their term until a successor has qualified.… Continue Reading
