The report issued earlier this week by the U.S. Treasury Department to President Trump in response to his February 2017 Executive Order 13772, “A Financial System That Creates Economic Opportunities-Banks and Credit Unions,” recommends numerous CFPB changes.

Entitled “Core Principles for Regulating the United States Financial System,” the Executive Order was a high-level policy statement consisting of a series of Core Principles designed to inform the manner in which the Trump Administration regulates the financial system. … Continue Reading

In a notice published in today’s Federal Register, the Dept. of Education announced that it is postponing  “until further notice” the July 1, 2017 effective date of various provisions of the “borrower defense” final rule issued by the ED last November, including the rule’s ban on arbitration agreements.  In a second notice also published in today’s Federal Register, the ED announced that it plans to establish two negotiated rulemaking committees, with one committee to develop proposed regulations to revise the “borrower defense” rule and the other to develop proposed revisions to the “gainful employment” rule that became effective in July 2015 and includes requirements for schools to make various disclosures such as graduation rates, earnings of graduates, and student debt amounts.… Continue Reading

On June 7, the CFPB submitted a Rule 28(j) letter to the D.C. Circuit in the PHH case.  In the letter, the CFPB embraced the fact that the Supreme Court’s recent Kokesh v. SEC decision makes the five-year statute of limitations in 28 USC § 2462 applicable to disgorgement remedies in CFPB administrative proceedings. … Continue Reading

The CFPB recently announced that it has entered into a consent order with Fay Servicing, LLC (“Fay”) to settle alleged mortgage servicing violations.  A copy of the consent order can be found here.  As is typical for CFPB enforcement activity in the mortgage servicing space, the focus of this consent order is alleged misconduct in connection with loss mitigation procedures and foreclosure protections.… Continue Reading

An Illinois federal judge ordered Dish Network to pay the federal government $168 million for violating the FTC’s Telephone Sales Rule (“TSR”).  The judgment is the largest civil penalty ever obtained for a violation of the TSR.  The remainder of the civil penalty was awarded to the states of California, Illinois, North Carolina, and Ohio for violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) and various state statutes. … Continue Reading

We recently reported on a bill introduced in the House of Representatives by Congressman Dan Kildee (D-Michigan) that would amend the Military Lending Act (“MLA”) to require that creditors provide additional disclosures to covered members of the armed forces and their families. The text of H.R. 2697 is now available.

Titled the “Transparency in Military Lending Act of 2017,” the bill would add the following items to the list of mandatory disclosures required under the MLA:

  • A statement that the Department of Defense (“DoD”) and each service branch offers a variety of financial counseling services.
… Continue Reading

We previously reported on the Executive Order 13772 titled “Core Principles for Regulating the United States Financial System,” which is a high-level policy statement consisting of a series of Core Principles that are designed to inform the manner in which the Administration regulates the financial system.  The Executive Order directs the Secretary of the Treasury to identify, in a report to the President, any laws, regulations, guidance and other Government policies “that inhibit Federal regulation of the United States financial system in a manner consistent with the Core Principles.”… Continue Reading

The CFPB’s petition filed in a Pennsylvania federal district court last June to enforce a CID issued to J.G. Wentworth, LLC, a purchaser of structured settlements and annuities, was denied by the court last week as moot.  The order denying the petition was entered after the CFPB filed a Notice in which it indicated that it had withdrawn the petition on June 1, stated that “because the CID is no longer active, the Bureau intends to soon dismiss the Petition,” and asked the court to refrain from ruling on the petition. … Continue Reading

By a vote of 233-188, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 10, the Financial CHOICE Act yesterday.  The bill, often referred to as the Dodd-Frank Act replacement bill, includes an overhaul of the CFPB’s structure and authority and makes significant changes to the rulemaking process followed by the CFPB and federal banking agencies.… Continue Reading