On August 7, 2024, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a report spotlighting four marketing and financing practices relating to solar financing that it claims pose significant consumer risks (the Report). The CFPB noted that solar-powered electricity is a growing industry—suggesting that these risks may become an enforcement priority. …
On August 14, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a final rule banning fake reviews and testimonials. The rule follows a notice and comment process that began in November 2022, and covers a wide range of consumer reviews and testimonials including “consumer ratings regardless of whether they include any…
On August 21, 2024, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it entered into a consent order with a Florida-based mortgage servicer, resolving allegations related to the mortgage servicer’s foreclosure practices. The consent order resolves allegations that the mortgage servicer’s foreclosure practices violated the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 (CFPA), 12 U.S.C. §§ 5531, 5536; the…
On June 30, 2024, the Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia filed an action against an online ticket exchange and resale website alleging violations of the District of Columbia’s Consumer Protection Procedures Act (D.C. Code §28-3904(e)). The complaint alleges that the company used deceptive and unfair…
In response to the rise of the use of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in telecommunications, on July 17, 2024, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (Notice), CG Docket No. 23-362, outlining certain proposed restrictions on AI-generated calls and text messages. The Telephone Consumer Protection Act…
On July 26, 2024, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it filed a complaint against a point-of-sale financing company and its former chief executive officer in the United States District Court for the District of Utah. The complaint alleges that defendants’ “virtual rent-to-own” product uses misleading marketing and abusive enrollment practices that target consumers with…
On July 22, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission announced that the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida had granted its motion for a temporary restraining order against a debt relief company that allegedly targeted Spanish-speaking consumers in Puerto Rico, among others. The FTC has alleged that the company “pretended to…
On July 19, 2024, the Federal Reserve Board announced it had fined a Utah-based company that offers prepaid debit cards $44 million for alleged unfair and deceptive practices as well as an alleged deficient consumer compliance risk management program. In its Order to Cease and Desist and Order of Assessment of…
On July 11, the Seventh Circuit held that the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1691 et seq. (ECOA) authorizes the imposition of liability for the discouragement of prospective applicants. See CFPB v. Townstone Financial, Inc., ___ F.4th ___ (7th Cir. 2024), 2024 WL 3370023. As anticipated in Goodwin’s…
On July 10, 2024, the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) issued an order revoking the California Financing Law license of a company that had offered both individual and business loans in the state, following that company’s alleged failure to provide information during the DFPI’s attempt to conduct a regulatory examination….
On July 9, 2024, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it filed a proposed stipulated final judgment and order in its suit against a national bank accused of allegedly opening unauthorized accounts on behalf of consumers. The proposed judgment would resolve allegations that the bank opened unauthorized accounts in the names of its customers. As…
On July 9, 2024, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it entered into a consent order with a national bank, resolving allegations related to the bank’s auto lending practices. The consent order related to auto lending practices resolves allegations that the bank’s practices related to force-placed insurance policies violated the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 (CFPA), 12…
On June 24, 2024, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it had approved a new rule about the use of algorithms and artificial intelligence (AI) for home appraisals and valuations. The new rule was promulgated by the CFPB, the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the National…
At the close of an extended term, on July 1, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court expanded the time period for bringing a facial challenge to a federal agency rule. Before the decision in Corner Post, Inc. v. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the law in at least…
Earlier this month, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a proposed rule to amend Regulation V, which implements the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), as to medical information and debt. This proposed rule follows Director Chopra’s remarks in March 2022, concerning a report on medical billing and collection practices…
On June 28, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed its first federal case under the newly implemented Impersonation Rule, effective as of April 1, 2024. The case alleged that various student loan debt relief companies and their owners operated as a common enterprise and, after falsely claiming affiliation with…
On June 18, 2024, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it has filed a proposed order that would require a Florida-based nonbank mortgage loan originator to pay a $3.95 million penalty for allegedly submitting incorrect loan data to federal regulators. In an October 2023 complaint, the CFPB accused the mortgage originator of…
On June 18, 2024, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) announced that it has entered into consent orders with two companies totaling $16.5 million in civil penalties and consumer redress, resolving allegations that those companies failed to properly service reverse mortgages. The CFPB alleged both companies violated the Consumer Financial Protection Act…
On April 2, 2024, a putative class action was brought against a wholesale mortgage lender alleging, among other claims, violations of Section 8(a) of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA). Unlike conventional mortgage providers that analyze the borrower’s creditworthiness and then provide the mortgage, wholesale mortgage lenders receive mortgage…
On May 31, 2024, the CFPB announced that it had filed suit against a Pennsylvania-based student loan servicer for engaging in allegedly unfair, deceptive and abusive acts or practices in violation of the CFPA, 12 U.S.C. §§ 5531, 5536(a)(1)(B), and for failing to establish reasonable credit reporting procedures in violation of Regulation V, 12…