Goodwin’s Consumer Finance Insights (CFI) monitors, reports, and analyzes the latest legal news, activity, and developments impacting the consumer finance industry. Consumer financial services companies—whether banks, fintechs, nonbank and alternative lenders, payment providers, or industry vendors or service providers, like digital advertisers and lead generators—face a constantly shifting and maturing regulatory and legal landscape. Growing from the Financial Crisis, today more than any time in history the consumer finance industry must confront a robust and growing body of industry legislation and regulation, all while under the microscope of sophisticated enforcers, like the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and state regulators and attorneys general. It is critical for in-house and outside corporate counsel, compliance departments, and business executives to stay informed and aware of these developments to navigate institutional, reputational, and legal risks. Goodwin’s CFI is a singular source of the most recent industry news and latest enforcement activity for you to leverage. Here, you will find links to original enforcement documents, enforcement activity statistics, and reports, analysis, and commentary from Goodwin’s leading Consumer Financial Services Litigation and Enforcement practitioners.

The Justice Department and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Issue Joint Statement Focused on Antidiscrimination in Lending Practices

Last month, the Justice Department (DOJ) and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a joint statement that reminded financial institutions that all credit applicants are protected from discrimination on the basis of their national origin, race and other characteristics covered by the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA), regardless of…

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“Open Banking” Promoted in New CFPB Rule

In October 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) proposed a new rule intended to encourage “open banking”.  “Open banking” is a practice of sharing, with consent, consumers’ banking and financial data (account balances, transaction history, payment due dates, routing numbers, and the like) with third-party vendors who in turn…

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Pursuant to Consent Order with CFPB, National Bank to Pay $25.9 Million for Alleged Discrimination Against Armenian Americans

O​n November 8, 2023, the CFPB and a national bank entered into a consent order​ to resolve allegations that the bank engaged in intentional discrimination against Armenian Americans who had applied for credit cards with said bank. Specifically, the CFPB alleges that between 2016 and 2021, the bank singled out…

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CFPB Updates Exam Manual in Light of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas’s Ruling in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Litigation

As previously reported, on September 8, 2023, the United States District Court of the Eastern District of Texas granted plaintiff U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s (the “Chamber”) motion for summary judgment, which invalidated the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau’s (“CFPB”) Exam Manual changes from March 2022 that stated that discriminatory conduct may…

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FTC and CFPB Announce $15 Million Settlement Against Credit Reporting Agency For Alleged Inaccuracies In Tenant Screening Reports

​On October 12, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that they filed a joint complaint​ and obtained a $15 million settlement​ against a parent credit reporting agency and one of its subsidiaries for alleged violations of the Fair Credit Report Act (FCRA) with respect to tenant…

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CFPB Files Complaint Against Mortgage Originator For Allegedly Inaccurate HMDA Reporting

On October 10, 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it filed a complaint​ against a residential mortgage loan originator and servicer alleging that the company violated the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA), its implementing Regulation C, the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA), and a recent 2019 consent order​. The company allegedly reported HMDA…

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The CFPB Proposal to Remove Medical Debt from Credit Report

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is moving forward with a rulemaking proposal to change the process of reporting medical debt on consumer credit reports.  Specifically, the rulemaking proposal the Bureau is considering had two main parts.   First, it prohibits credit reporting companies from including medical debts and collection information on…

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U.S. Chamber of Commerce Wins Summary Judgment in Challenge to CFPB’s Update to Its Examination Manual

On September 8, 2023, the United States District Court of the Eastern District of Texas granted plaintiff U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s (the “Chamber”) motion for summary judgment invalidating the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau’s (“CFPB”) Exam Manual changes from March 2022 that stated that discriminatory conduct may be a UDAAP violation….

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CFPB Analyzes Mobile Device Tap-To-Pay Market as Possible Precursor to New Regulation

On September 7, 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) published its analysis of how smartphone companies are affecting consumers’ use of so-called “tap-to-pay” technology – the wireless transfer of data over very short distances, used in financial transactions conducted at the point of sale.  Concluding that “tech companies are…

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CFPB Enters into Consent Orders with Mortgage Loan Originator and Real Estate Brokerage Firm for Illegal Kickbacks

On August 17, 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it had taken action against a residential mortgage loan originator that provided illegal incentives to real estate brokers and agents in exchange for mortgage loan referrals.  The CFPB also penalized a real estate brokerage firm that accepted kickbacks…

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CFPB Files Complaint Against Auto Loan Servicer

On August 2, 2023, the CFPB announced that it had filed a complaint against a Georgia-based auto-loan servicer alleging “unfair acts and practices in violation of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 (CFPA), 12 U.S.C. §§ 5531(a), 5536(a)(1).” The complaint, filed in United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia,…

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CFPB and Justice and Consumer Protection of the European Commission Announce Plans for an "Informal Dialogue"

On July 17, 2023, Didier Reynders, Commissioner for Justice and Consumer Protection of the European Commission and Rohit Chopra, Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, announced the start of an “informal dialogue” between their two agencies. Reynders and Chopra indicated that the dialogue would cover a variety of important…

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CFPB Issues New Supervisory Highlights Report

On July 26, 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released a Supervisory Highlights report covering findings from its examinations completed between July 2022 and March 2023 (the Report), which found, among other violations, several instances of unfair, deceptive, and abusive acts or practices related to auto lending, and illegal…

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Bureau Sues Lease-to-Own Company for its Financing Options to Asset Limited Consumers

On July 19, 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) sued Snap Finance LLC, Snap R TO LLC, Snap Second Look LLC, Snap U.S. Holdings LLC, and Snap Finance Holdings LLC (collectively, the Snap Defendants or Snap).  The complaint alleged that the Snap Defendants violated the: Consumer Financial Protection Act…

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CFPB and States Launch Enforcement Action Related to Student Loans

On July 13, 2023, the CFPB and various state attorneys general, along with California’s Department of Financial Protection and Innovation, filed an adversary proceeding against a sales training company for deceptive marketing and debt collection practices relating to the company’s allegedly illegal student loan program. The eight-count complaint, filed in the United States Bankruptcy Court…

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CFPB Files Opening Brief in its Appeal of District Court Ruling that ECOA Applies Only to Applicants

On June 14, 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) filed its opening brief in its appeal of a U.S. district court’s decision in the CFPB’s enforcement action against Townstone Mortgage (Townstone).  The CFPB’s brief argues that the Seventh Circuit should reverse the district court’s holding that the Equal Credit…

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