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  The order denying the petition was entered after the CFPB filed a Notice in which it indicated that it had withdrawn the petition on June 1, stated that “because the CID is no longer active, the Bureau intends to soon dismiss the Petition,” and asked the court to refrain from ruling on the petition.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

In his prepared remarks for today’s Consumer Advisory Board meeting, Director Cordray discussed CFPB initiatives in four areas.  In addition to the CFPB’s letter to the top retail credit card companies encouraging them to use zero-interest promotions instead of deferred-interest promotions and its new report on consumers transitioning to credit visibility, Director Cordray discussed the CFPB’s RFI on the small business lending market and its debt collection rulemaking.  … Continue Reading

The CFPB has issued a new report, “Data Point: Becoming Credit Visible,” that discusses how consumers transitioned out of “credit invisibility” and how such transitions differed across consumers of different ages and across neighborhood income levels.  For purposes of the report, the CFPB uses a definition of “credit invisibility” that includes only consumers without a credit record at one of the nationwide credit reporting companies.… Continue Reading

On June 7, 2017, Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a memorandum directing that “Department attorneys may not enter into any agreement on behalf of the United States in settlement of federal claims or charges . . . that directs or provides for a payment or loan to any non-governmental person or entity that is not a party to the dispute.”… Continue Reading

The CFPB announced that it sent letters to “top retail credit card companies” encouraging them to use zero-interest promotions instead of deferred-interest promotions.  The CFPB also provided a sample letter and published a new blog on its website for consumers to explain how deferred-interest and zero interest promotions operate and the key differences between them.… Continue Reading