On July 26, 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a new Supervisory Highlights report (Report) that sheds light on the CFPB’s observations and findings of unfair, deceptive, and abusive practices in auto loan servicing, among other consumer financial products. The Report – which covers CFPB supervisory examinations from…
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,…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
On July 7, 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DOH), and U.S. Department of Treasury (DOT) initiated a public inquiry into certain financial products, such as medical credit cards and installment loans that the CFPB characterized as “high-cos specialty products.” The CFPB,…
On June 21, 2023, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Treasury, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), and Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) (collectively, the “Agencies”) published a proposed…
On June 27, 2023, the CFPB announced that it had entered into a consent order with a company that offers payment processing services across a wide range of industries including utilities, student loan servicing, healthcare, education, insurance, telecommunications, and mortgage servicing. The order resolves allegations that the company improperly initiated approximately $2.3 billion in unlawful mortgage payment…
On June 12, 2023, an Eleventh Circuit panel issued an opinion affirming a sanctions order against the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) premised on the CFPB’s “derail[ment]” of multiple depositions in contravention of the district court’s instructions. See Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v. Brown, Case 21-14468 (11th Cir. June 12,…
On June 6, 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a Spotlight on financial institutions’ growing use of “chatbots” as a means to provide cost-effective customer service. The use of chatbots in customer service has been gaining popularity among financial institutions in recent years. The ten largest commercial banks…
On June 8, the CFPB announced it had entered into a consent order with a third-party debt collector over allegations of illegal medical debt collecting practices and unfair credit reporting. The CFPB asserted that the company attempted to collect on unsubstantiated debt in over a thousand cases. According to the CFPB, its…
On May 31, 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it had entered into a consent order with an Indiana-based non-bank installment lender. The consent order alleges that the lender engaged in unfair, deceptive, and abusive acts or practices concerning the “marketing, sales, and financing of optional ancillary products” that it offered. Specifically, the…
On Tuesday May 23, the CFPB announced it had reached a settlement with a large bank to resolve allegations that the bank had violated consumer protection laws in connection with credit card transactions. The CFPB alleged that the bank “failed to properly manage and respond to customers’ credit card disputes and…
On Monday May 10, 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or the Bureau) released a circular regarding the Bureau’s newest guidance that if a “financial institution unilaterally reopens [deposit] accounts to process debits or deposits, it can constitute an unfair practice under the [Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2012]…
On May 4, 2023, the CFPB issued a report titled Medical Credit Cards and Financing Plans (the “Report”) that summarized the new developments in medical financing and the associated risks with these products. The Report complements the CFPB’s April 26, 2023 report that analyzed a sample of final medical collection…
On May 5, 2023, the CFPB announced it would be sending $22.3 million in refund checks to consumers who lost money in credit card relief schemes. The CFPB sent 6,523 refund checks to damaged consumers. The relief is part of a settlement the CFPB reached with a Maryland-based debt-relief and credit-repair…
On May 1, 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a report and a proposed rule to clarify and strengthen its regulation of so-called Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing. PACE. PACE financing is home improvement financing secured by a tax lien, rather than a mortgage. See 15 U.S.C. 1639C(b)(3)(C)(i)….
Last fall, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit found that the CFPB’s independent funding through the Federal Reserve was in violation of the Appropriations Clause and the underlying separation of powers principles. Community Financial Services Ass’n of America, Ltd. v. CFPB, 51 F.4th 616 (5th Circ….