Student Loan Ombudsman

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Last week, the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance (DOBI) announced that it was designating Raghu Kakumanu as the state’s Student Loan Ombudsman. The DOBI opted to fill the role internally, as Kakumanu currently leads the Office of Consumer Finance—the same unit through which student loan inquiries and complaints will be processed.… Continue Reading

Noting, among other things, “retrenchment” on the federal level, the Maryland Financial Consumer Protection Act of 2018 (HB 1634) was signed into law on May 15, 2018.

The Act’s provisions take effect October 1, 2018 and include the following:

  • Maryland Consumer Protection Act (MCPA):  Adds “abusive” practices to the existing proscription against “unfair and deceptive trade practices” and adds violations of the federal Military Lending Act and the federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to the list of statutes that are considered to be per se violations of the UDAAP proscription. 
… Continue Reading

CFPB Acting Director Mick Mulvaney recently responded to former CFPB Student Loan Ombudsman Seth Frotman’s vocal departure from the Bureau.  As previously reported, Frotman tendered his resignation in a letter—also delivered to members of Congress—which accused Mulvaney of being derelict in his oversight of the “student loan market.”  Among other things,  Frotman accused Mulvaney of undercutting enforcement, undermining the Bureau’s independence, and shielding “bad actors” from scrutiny—collectively, “us[ing] the Bureau to serve the wishes of the most powerful financial companies in America.”… Continue Reading

The District of Columbia Department of Insurance, Securities, and Banking (DISB) published its final rules under the Student Loan Ombudsman Establishment and Servicing Regulation Amendment Act of 2016.  The final rules became effective when published in the D.C. Register on August 10, 2018.

The rules are unchanged from the latest revisions. … Continue Reading

Earlier this week New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman sent a letter to select state legislators adding his backing to the creation of a licensing regime in New York for student loan servicing, similar to what has been emerging in state legislatures across the country over the past two years.

The letter provides express support for Governor Cuomo’s 2019 Executive Budget Proposal, which calls for, among other things, establishment of a Student Loan Ombudsman at the Department of Financial Services.… Continue Reading