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In this episode of the Consumer Finance Monitor Podcast, Ballard Spahr partners Mike Kilgarriff and Joseph Schuster break down the seismic shifts in consumer financial regulation following the dramatic changes at the CFPB. With the Bureau’s enforcement and supervisory activities on hold, state attorneys general are stepping in to fill the regulatory void.… Continue Reading

Minnesota becomes the latest state to move to pass legislation regulating the processing and controlling of personal data (HF 4757 / SF 4782). If signed into law by Governor Tim Walz, the Minnesota Consumer Data Privacy Act, or MCDPA, would go into effect on July 31, 2025 and provide various consumer data privacy rights and impose obligations on entities that control or process Minnesota residents’ personal data.… Continue Reading

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently announced a proposed order settling a Complaint against California-based lead generator Response Tree LLC and its president, Derek Doherty, banning them from making or assisting anyone in making robocalls or calls to phone numbers on the FTC’s Do Not Call (DNC) Registry. The proposed order helps settle pending FTC charges that Response Tree and its president operated more than fifty (50) websites designed to trick consumers into providing personal information for supposed mortgage refinancing and other services.… Continue Reading

On October 29, 2020, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will host a virtual workshop entitled, “Green Lights & Red Flags: FTC Rules of the Road for Business.”  The workshop will cover a broad array of topics within the FTC’s jurisdiction, including truth-in-advertising law, social media marketing, data security, business-to-business fraud, and other business basics.… Continue Reading

Linda Lacewell, the recently confirmed Superintendent of the New York Department of Financial Services, detailed in a recent interview that she will prioritize fintech and consumer protection. True to her word, NYDFS announced the creation of a new Research and Innovation Division led by Matthew Homer, who was most recently Head of Policy and Research at Quovo.… Continue Reading

Equifax has agreed to pay $575 million to settle consumer as well as state and federal regulatory claims for its 2017 data breach. This is the largest data breach settlement to date.

2017 Data Breach

At the federal level, the FTC and CFPB both filed complaints against Equifax. The FTC complaint alleges Equifax was aware of a security vulnerability in a database containing consumer inquiries about their personal credit data.… Continue Reading

Pennsylvania’s Attorney General, Josh Shapiro, announced last Friday that his office is creating a Consumer Financial Protection Unit “to better protect Pennsylvania consumers from financial scams.”

The announcement indicated that the new Unit “will focus on lenders that prey on seniors, families with students, and military service members, including for-profit colleges and mortgage and student loan servicers.” … Continue Reading