Regulatory and Enforcement

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On June 4, 2024, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) issued a Consumer Financial Protection Circular 2024-03 (“Circular”) warning that the use of unlawful or unenforceable terms and conditions in contracts for consumer financial products or services may violate the prohibition on deceptive acts or practices in the Consumer Financial Protection Act (“CFPA”).… Continue Reading

On May 17, 2024, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) filed suit against an online lending platform, alleging, among other things, the use of dark patterns to induce consumers to pay tips and donations, disclosure violations, and usury violations on loans offered through its lending platform. The complaint, filed in the U.S.… Continue Reading

On May 20, 2004, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) sent its annual report to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) highlighting its enforcement actions and initiatives in 2023 under the Truth in Lending Act (“TILA”), Consumer Leasing Act (“CLA”), and Electronic Fund Transfer Act (“EFTA”).

While the Dodd-Frank Act (“Dodd-Frank”) provided the CFPB with rulemaking and enforcement authority over the major consumer financial services laws and regulations, the FTC retained authority to enforce TILA and Regulation Z, CLA and Regulation M, EFTA and Regulation E, and CFPB rules applicable to entities within the FTC’s jurisdiction.… Continue Reading

The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling last week in CFSA v. CFPB that the CFPB’s funding mechanism does not violate the Appropriations Clause of the U.S. Constitution removes what many observers consider to be the last remaining existential threat to the agency.  The ruling will have a broad impact on the CFPB’s activities. … Continue Reading

On May 14, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission’s (“FTC”) filed its brief in opposition to Petitioners’ Brief in the legal challenge to the Combating Auto Retail Scams Rule (“CARS Rule”). The petitioners are the National Automobile Dealers Association and Texas Automobile Dealers Association (collectively, “NADA”). In its opposition, the FTC addresses NADA’s three main arguments, namely that the FTC: (1) unlawfully issued the CARS Rule without the required advance notice of proposed rulemaking (“ANPR”), (2) failed to articulate a rational connection between its factual findings and its decision to impose a far-reaching, industry-wide rule, and (3) unreasonably and arbitrarily evaluated the benefits and costs of the CARS Rule.… Continue Reading

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has issued two letters in support of state efforts to prohibit medical debt reporting. In March 2024, CFPB Director Rohit Chopra sent a letter to the California State Senate in support of Senate Bill 1061, which would prohibit the practice of including medical bills on credit reports.… Continue Reading

As we previously reported, here, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) voted to issue a final rule (the “Rule”) that would prevent most employers from enforcing noncompete agreements against workers, with only limited exceptions for existing noncompetes with senior executives and noncompetes made in connection with the bona fide sale of a business. … Continue Reading

On May 3, 2024, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the “Federal Reserve”), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”), and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) jointly released the “Third-Party Risk Management: A Guide for Community Banks” (the “Guide”), presenting it as a resource for community banks to bolster their third-party risk management programs, policies, and practices.… Continue Reading

As part of its junk fees initiative, the CFPB released a new report, “Price Complexity in Laboratory Markets.”  In its press release about the report, the CFPB states that because it “suggests consumers tend to pay more for products that have more complex pricing structures,” the report “has implications for understanding how junk fees impede fair and competitive pricing in markets like auto loans or mortgages, where consumers have to evaluate extended warranties, add-ons, closing costs, and a wide variety of other fees instead of an all-inclusive price.” … Continue Reading