In a surprising quick turn of events, on remand from SCOTUS, the 9th Circuit, on August 23, 2024, issued its unanimous unpublished panel opinion in Kivett v. Flagstar Bank, FSB (Kivett II) in which it essentially re-affirmed its earlier panel opinion holding that there is no preemption of a California state law which requires the payment of 2% interest on residential mortgage escrow accounts.… Continue Reading

On July 17, Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael Hsu delivered prepared remarks before the Exchequer Club entitled “Size, Complexity, and Polarization in Banking.”

These were his first public remarks about the Supreme Court’s recent opinion in Cantero v. Bank of America. In that case, the Court reversed a Second Circuit opinion which had held that because of preemption a national bank need not comply with a New York law which requires the payment of 2% interest on residential mortgage escrow accounts.… Continue Reading

On June 10, 2024, the Supreme Court granted the petition for a writ of certiorari and issued a summary disposition in Flagstar Bank, N.A. v. Kivett. The Supreme Court vacated the judgment and remanded the case to the Ninth Circuit for further consideration in light of the court’s recent decision in Cantero v.Continue Reading

On May 30, 2024, in a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court reversed Cantero v. Bank of America, N.A., and remanded it back to the Second Circuit and instructed the appellate court to analyze whether New York’s law requiring interest to be paid on mortgage escrow accounts is preempted under the Dodd-Frank Act by applying the Barnett Bank standard.… 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

The U.S. Supreme Court recently granted certiorari to hear the Second Circuit case of Cantero et al. v. Bank of America, N.A., involving National Bank Act (NBA) preemption of New York’s law requiring that interest be paid to consumers on mortgage escrow account funds. The decision would address a split between the Second and Ninth Circuits on the topic of NBA preemption of state “interest-on-escrow” laws.… Continue Reading

A divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit has ruled in Walker v. BOKF, National Association that the extended overdraft fees charged by BOKF were not “interest” under the National Bank Act (NBA).  The Tenth Circuit’s ruling on what it called “an issue of first impression in this circuit” follows similar rulings by the First and Fifth Circuits.… Continue Reading

Ballard Spahr LLP has submitted a comment letter to the OCC in support of its proposed rule, “National Banks and Federal Savings Associations as Lenders” (the “Proposed Rule”). As detailed in our letter, we applaud the Proposed Rule, which would establish a clear and logical bright line confirming and clarifying that a bank (or savings association) is properly regarded as the “true lender” when, as of the date of origination, the bank is named as the lender in a loan agreement or funds the loan.… Continue Reading