This morning, the CFPB released a proposed rule to define “larger participants” subject to its supervision and enforcement authority.  We will write more about this proposed rule after we get the chance to review it, but from an initial review of the press release, there are several interesting aspects to the proposed rule:

  • Initially, the CFPB is seeking to cover only “large” consumer reporting agencies and debt collectors, with revenue thresholds of $7 million and $10 million, respectively, to define the covered entities.
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On February 6, Professor Jeff Sovern published a blog post in which he seems to be urging the CFPB to regulate rent-to-own (“RTO”) companies.  He quoted an article in the Huffington Post which, in turn quoted a CFPB spokeswoman as saying that the CFPB is reviewing the RTO industry and has not yet decided what action, if any, would be appropriate. … Continue Reading

The CFPB now wants comments on a prototype monthly mortgage statement.  The form already has been through one round of testing, and two more rounds are planned.

Despite industry opposition, the Dodd-Frank Act included a requirement for creditors, assignees or servicers of mortgage loans to provide periodic statements to borrowers containing specified information and directed the CFPB to develop a model form for the statements that takes into account the possibility of either written or electronic delivery.… Continue Reading

The CFPB has announced that it will be holding a town hall in New York City on February 22 “to talk about checking accounts.” While the notice contains no information about the issues to be discussed, we expect the focus will be on fees and disclosures. As we previously reported, the CFPB has been urged by Senate Democrats to require standardized disclosures for checking accounts.… Continue Reading

In a recent blog on the Bacchus-Capito letter to CFPB Director Richard Cordray, possible “legislative fixes” to the highly publicized privilege waiver issues involving the Bureau and possible amendments to 12 U.S.C. §§ 1821(t) and 1828(x) were discussed.  The major shortcoming identified with regard to such amendments was the persistent problem of the Bureau’s sharing privileged information, whether obtained from a regulated entity or from another federal regulatory agency, with State Attorneys General or other law enforcement authorities.… Continue Reading

Recently, 38 Republican Senators signed a document in which they vowed to submit an amicus brief in support of litigation challenging President Obama’s appointments of Richard Cordray and the three new members of the NLRB. Last month, we reported on a case challenging the NLRB appointments that is pending in the U.S.… Continue Reading

Shortly after the President appointed Richard Cordray and several members of the NLRB through “recess” appointments, Alan Kaplinsky predicted on this blog that there would be litigation over the validity of the recess appointments first with regard to the NLRB, simply because it was likely to result in a “case or controversy” before anything involving the CFPB. … Continue Reading

Last week, the CFPB released to the public a memo it had sent to consumers and industry members who participated in its “Know Before You Owe” student loan project reporting on the feedback it received. The project, described as the product of the CFPB’s partnership with the Department of Education (“DOE”), solicited comments on a “financial aid shopping sheet” which was actually a draft model financial aid form.… Continue Reading

Last week, a second legislative effort was launched to attempt to fix the much-discussed issue regarding the CFPB’s demands for attorney-client privileged information from banks subject to its supervision.  The new bill, H.R. 3871, seeks to “preserve privilege for information submitted to” the Bureau, but the key text of the legislation may or may not fully address the problem.… Continue Reading

It’s hard not to gasp at the CFPB’s estimate that the final remittance transfer rule will require more than 3.4 million employee hours to implement and an ongoing burden of nearly 4.3 million employee hours annually to comply. The rule, which represents the first example of substantive rulemaking by the CFPB, amends Regulation E (Electronic Fund Transfer Act) to require new disclosures, error resolution procedures, and cancellation and refunds rights for remittance transfers to consumers or businesses in a foreign country.… Continue Reading