In an editorial last week in the Philadelphia Inquirer, Rohit Chopra, the CFPB’s Student Loan Ombudsman, once again made servicers of student loans the focus of his comments. In August, in remarks to the Congressional Forum on Student Loans, Mr. Chopra spoke about lessons learned from the mortgage market that might be applied to student loans. … Continue Reading

In his remarks last week to the National Consumer Law Center Conference, Director Cordray identified several issues on which the CFPB will be focusing when it begins examining members of the debt collection industry. Those exams are expected to begin on or after January 2, 2013, the effective date of the CFPB’s debt collection larger participant rule issued last week.  … Continue Reading

In August, the CFPB issued a notice seeking public comment on its plans to determine whether certain provisions of Maine and Tennessee laws relating to unclaimed gift cards are preempted by federal law on gift card expiration dates.  We were pleased to see that the CFPB had invited public input and, in response to that invitation, the American Bankers Association submitted a comment letter earlier this week urging the CFPB to issue a broad preemption ruling. … Continue Reading

Hiring by the CFPB shows no signs of slowing down even though the Bureau has already significantly increased its ranks during 2012.  This week, in an announcement directed at New York City college students, college graduates and students in graduate programs, the CFPB indicated that there are “hundreds of potential [job] opportunities” available at the CFPB and promoted a program for job seekers it is holding today in New York City.… Continue Reading

On Wednesday, the CFPB released its debt collection larger participant final rule and the examination procedures its examiners will use to examine members of the debt collection industry that qualify as larger participants and other industry members over whom the CFPB has supervisory authority. Those exams are expected to begin on or soon after the final rule’s January 2, 2013 effective date.    … Continue Reading

A new CFPB report titled “The Next Front? Student Loan Servicing and the Cost to Our Men and Women in Uniform” focuses on repayment issues faced by servicemembers with private and federal student loans.  One of the report’s findings is that many servicemembers could be entering into more favorable repayment plans if they had better information about their available options. … Continue Reading

Today, the CFPB issued its final rule defining larger participants of the consumer debt collection market.  The final rule becomes effective on
January 2, 2013.  The CFPB acted pursuant to Section 1024 of Dodd-Frank which grants the CFPB the authority to supervise non-bank covered persons for compliance with Federal consumer financial laws.… Continue Reading

The CFPB has announced that its complaint system has begun taking complaints about credit reports.  The issues a consumer can select to describe his or her complaint are: (1) incorrect information on the consumer’s credit report, (2) a consumer reporting agency’s investigation, (3) improper use of a credit report, (4) inability to obtain a credit report or credit score, and (5) problems with credit monitoring or identity protection services. … Continue Reading

The CFPB has issued a Small Entity Compliance Guide to assist small businesses in complying with the remittance transfer rule. The final rule takes effect on February 7, 2013.  The guide includes a summary of the remittance rule, information to assist a business in determining whether it will be subject to the rule, and details on the rule’s requirements.… Continue Reading

Recently, the CFPB’s Consumer Response Team released its Snapshot of Complaints, providing a one-page summary of the approximately 2900 private student loan complaints received by the CFPB from March 1, 2012 through September 30, 2012.  Last week, only six days later, Rohit Chopra, the CFPB’s Student Loan Ombudsman, released his first Annual Report, providing a more detailed discussion of the issues faced by private student loan borrowers, his observations regarding them, and his recommendations for legislative and regulatory initiatives to address them.… Continue Reading