On December 21, 2023, the New York Department of Financial Services (“DFS”) published guidance (the Guidance) to assist regulated institutions in assessing and managing their climate-related financial and operational risks.

This is a follow up to DFS’s previous letter published in October 2020, which highlighted the impact of risks from climate change on its regulated institutions.… Continue Reading

On February 22, 2024, California Attorney General Rob Bonta issued letters (the “AG Letter”) to California’s 197 state-chartered banks and credit unions warning that overdraft and returned deposited item fees may violate California’s Unfair Competition Law (UCL) and the federal Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA). The AG Letter encourages the institutions to review their practices and policies regarding: “(1) surprise overdraft fees, which are assessed even when a consumer cannot reasonably anticipate that a debit or checking transaction will overdraw their account; and (2) returned deposited item fees, which are assessed when a consumer deposits a check that is returned, even when the consumer has no knowledge of or control over the circumstances that caused the check to be returned.”… Continue Reading

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) recently issued Circular 26-23-10, Change 1, Circular 26-24-5 and an Exhibit to address fees that may be imposed in connection with the assumption of a VA-guaranteed home loan.

The VA advises in the Circulars that the holder or servicer of a VA-guaranteed home loan with automatic authority may charge an assumption processing fee not to exceed $300.… Continue Reading

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently announced a Payment Supplement loss mitigation program for Federal Housing Administration (FHA) insured Title 2 mortgage loans, the details of which are set forth in Mortgagee Letter 2024-02. Mortgage servicers may begin implementing the Payment Supplement on May 1, 2024, but must implement the solution for all eligible borrowers by January 1, 2025.… Continue Reading

On February 20, 2024, Director Samuel Levine of the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection (Bureau) issued a statement promoting the use and acceptance of tolling agreements. Tolling agreements pause the running of statutes of limitations, permitting enforcement agencies such as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to file an enforcement action against a party after the deadline otherwise established by the applicable statute.… Continue Reading

A proposed class action lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia on February 21, 2024 against TitleMax of Georgia, Inc. and TMX Finance LLC (together, “TitleMax”) accuses the Georgia-based title and pawn lender of various violations of the Military Lending Act (“MLA”), including charging servicemembers and their dependents interest in excess of the MLA’s 36% rate cap.… Continue Reading

On February 7, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit affirmed the district court’s Order granting a motion for judgment on the pleadings and holding that a charged-off loan made by a lender licensed under the Consumer Discount Company Act (“CDCA”) that is subsequently sold to a third-party debt collector is no longer subject to the CDCA and collecting on the debt without holding a CDCA license is not in and of itself a violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”).… Continue Reading

The oral argument in Cantero v. Bank of America, N.A. will be heard on Tuesday, February 27 before the US Supreme Court. The Court recently granted the unopposed motion of the Solicitor General to participate in the oral argument. The Solicitor General will be taking 10 minutes of the oral argument time allocated to the Petitioners.… Continue Reading

Federal News Wire – a non-partisan news group focusing on the activities of federal agencies – has issued a Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) request to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, seeking a list of all organizations who have received payments from the Bureau’s “Civil Penalty Fund” (“CPF”) since the Bureau’s formation in 2011.… Continue Reading

On February 16, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Center (“FinCEN”) published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) regarding residential real estate.  The final version of the NPRM published in the Federal Register is 47 pages long.  We have created a separate document which more clearly sets forth the proposed regulations themselves, at 31 C.F.R.… Continue Reading