On November 20, 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that, in conjunction with 11 states, it entered into a stipulated final judgment with a Delaware-based vocational education company that advertises itself as a “workplace accelerator” and its affiliates for alleged violations of the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA), the Truth…
On December 20, 2023, the CFPB announced that, along with the DOJ, it had filed suit against a Texas-based developer and lender for operating an allegedly illegal land sales scheme that targeted Hispanic borrowers. The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, alleges that the lender sells…
On December 19, 2023, the CFPB announced it had entered into a consent order with a national bank regarding its handling of consumers’ unemployment benefits accounts. The bank had contracted with at least 19 states to deliver unemployment benefits to consumers. The CFPB accused the bank of violating the Consumer Financial Protection…
On December 15, 2023, the CFPB announced that it entered into a consent order with a medical debt collector resolving allegations that the debt collector tried to collect unverified medical debts after consumers disputed the validity of those debts. The CFPB alleges that the company failed to conduct reasonable investigations of disputed debts and failed to inform consumer reporting companies…
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…
On November 20, 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it entered into a consent order with the auto-financing arm of a major automaker in the amount of $60 million, resolving allegations that the corporation violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). Under the order, the corporation will pay $48 million in damages to…
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…
On 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…
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…
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments on October 3, 2023 in Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v. Community Financial Services Association of America, Ltd. The issue before the Court is whether the CFPB’s funding mechanism violaties the U.S. Constitution’s Appropriations Clause (U.S. Const. art. I, § 9, cl. 7). Solicitor General,…
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…
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…
On October 12, 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a consent order and a stipulation against a parent credit reporting agency and two of its subsidiaries for for alleged violations of the Fair Credit Report Act (FCRA) and the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA). The CFPB alleged that as early as…
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…
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….
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…
On March 30, 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued the small business lending rule (Final Rule) which implements the small business lending data collection requirements set for in Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act (Section 1071). Section 1071 amended the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) to require financial…
On August 28, the CFPB announced it reached a proposed settlement agreement with a credit repair conglomerate for $2.7 billion. The parties await approval of the proposed settlement by the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah. In its amended complaint filed last August, the CFPB alleged that the defendant companies collected advance…
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…
On August 17, 2023, the CFPB announced that it had taken enforcement action against a Florida-based mortgage lending and servicing corporation, as well as a New York-based real estate brokerage firm, issuing consent orders against the businesses for “exchanging things of value return for mortgage loan referrals”, in violation of Section 8(a)…