The CFPB has filed a lawsuit in a Georgia federal district court against USASF Servicing (USASF) in which the CFPB alleges that USASF engaged in various unfair acts or practices in violation of the Consumer Financial Protection Act.  USASF services retail installment sales contracts (RICs) originated by its affiliate, U.S. Auto Sales, Inc.,… Continue Reading

Last year, Kentucky enacted the Student Education Loan Servicing, Licensing, and Protection Act of 2022 (the “Act”), which requires student loan services to be licensed in Kentucky.  The Act took effect on July 13, 2023 (the “Effective Date”). 

On the Effective Date, the Kentucky Department of Financial Institutions (“DFI”) released its new application checklist and made a license application available through the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System & Registry (“NMLS”). … Continue Reading

On April 12, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum signed into law House Bill 1068, which creates a new statutory licensing scheme in North Dakota covering residential mortgage loan servicing activities.  This follows on the heels of the enactment last month of North Dakota Senate Bill 2090, which overhauled North Dakota’s licensing requirements related to residential mortgage lending. … Continue Reading

The New York state legislature is currently considering a pair of companion bills which would impose detailed notice and records requirements upon student loan servicers.  New York Senate bill S5136B, which was passed by the New York Senate earlier this year, and New York House bill A6226B, which is currently under consideration with the New York Legislature’s Consumer Affairs and Protection Committee, would require “creditors and debt collectors” to provide certain written disclosures to borrowers or cosigners of private education loans at the time of the first collection communication (or within five days after the first communication). … Continue Reading

Last week, the CFPB issued a “Student Loan Servicing Special Edition” of Supervisory Highlights.  In this blog post, we highlight a stealth expansion of supervisory jurisdiction and focus on the CFPB’s findings in two key areas:

  • Transcript withholding policies at institutional lenders (e.g. for-profit colleges that make private loans directly to student); and
  • Administration by servicers of Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF), Income-Driven Repayment (IDR), and Teacher Loan Forgiveness (TLF).
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On September 9, 2022, the California Department of Financial Protection & Innovation (the “DFPI”) released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking Action that proposes to adopt regulations implementing the Student Loan Servicing Act (section 28100, et seq.) and the Student Loans: Borrower Rights Law (Civil Code section 1788.100, et seq.). … Continue Reading

In the latest demonstration that there’s a “new CFPB” as well as other new regulatory sheriffs in town, the CFPB, the federal banking agencies (OCC, FDIC, Federal Reserve Board, and NCUA), and state financial regulators issued a joint statement yesterday to announce that they will no longer provide “supervisory and enforcement flexibility” to mortgage servicers in meeting compliance requirements. … Continue Reading

The CFPB Education Loan Ombudsman has issued his annual report covering the period  from September 1, 2020 through August 31, 2021.

The report includes an analysis of the approximately 5,300 complaints related to private or federal student loans that the Bureau received during that period.  While complaints overall during this period trended lower, the decrease was most pronounced for federal student loan complaints which decreased approximately 32% compared to the prior year.… Continue Reading

On November 13, 2020, from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. ET, we will present a webinar on the CFPB’s final collection rule.  Click here for more information and to register.

The CFPB’s debt collection final rule will significantly impact the operations of mortgage servicers.  Not surprisingly, the CFPB declined to generally exempt mortgage servicers from the definition of a “debt collector” under the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”). … Continue Reading

Mortgage origination and servicing continue to be a CFPB supervisory focus.  We review the CFPB’s findings involving the following areas and discuss the findings’ compliance implications: redlining based on nonbank lenders’ advertising practices, improper consideration of applicants’ public assistance income in determining eligibility for mortgage modifications, and violations of servicing requirements relating to providing periodic statements to certain consumers in bankruptcy, force-placed insurance, escrow accounts, and servicing transfers.… Continue Reading