To help our clients stay on the cutting edge in this developing legal landscape, we are pleased to present our 2020 Year in Review: Consumer Finance. Here, we use our detailed industry and regulatory knowledge to offer predictions on what the industry might expect in 2021 in the mortgage, fintech, TCPA, credit card, debt collection, payday lending, credit reporting, student lending, auto lending and appellate areas.
2020 was a year of uncertainty unlike any other in recent memory for the consumer finance industry and beyond. The COVID-19 pandemic had a profound effect on every segment of the industry — from credit reporting to mortgage lending — and every industry stakeholder — from financial services companies to consumers to regulators. Although pandemic relief took center stage, enforcement activity in the U.S. remained steady at both the state and federal level. 2020 even saw a significant uptick in enforcement activity by the CFPB, reversing a years’-long decline of publicly-announced enforcement actions.
Analyzing the key developments from last year will allow financial services companies looking forward to 2021 to anticipate and prepare for changes in the law, new regulatory interpretations, and shifting legislative and enforcement priorities.