On August 21, 2017, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued Bulletin 2017-28, providing risk management guidance to lenders offering residential mortgage loans with loan-to-value (LTV) ratios that exceed 100 percent at origination (“high-LTV loans”) in connection with community redevelopment programs. Since the onset of the financial crisis,…
Last week, the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the Northern District of Georgia’s dismissal of a putative Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) case against Equifax and Transunion. In Pedro v. Equifax, Inc., plaintiff sought to represent a putative class of authorized users of delinquent credit cards who did not have payment obligations…
On August 10, in Schweitzer v. Comenity Bank, No. 16-10498 (Aug. 10, 2017), a panel of the Eleventh Circuit expanded liability for companies under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, 47 U.S.C. § 227 et seq. (TCPA). Building on the holding in Osorio v. State Farm Bank, F.S.B., 746 F.3d 1242, 1255 (11th…
On July 25, 2017, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to block the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) Arbitration Rule from becoming effective with a vote of 231 to 190. The vote was mostly down party lines and paves the way for the Senate to act to impose its own…
Yesterday, the Ninth Circuit issued its opinion in Robins v. Spokeo, finding that plaintiff Thomas Robins has standing to continue his Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) suit against Spokeo, Inc. In its opinion, a unanimous panel of the Ninth Circuit articulated a two-part concreteness test to determine standing. The court…
On August 4, 2017, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) published four prototypes of model overdraft disclosure forms the Bureau is testing as part of its broader “Know Before You Owe” efforts. The prototypes are an important indicator that the CFPB is still actively paying attention to issues concerning overdraft…
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is using consumer complaints in its effort to quell alleged illegal robocalls. On September 1, 2009, the FTC issued rules prohibiting robocalls made without a consumer’s prior written authorization. Yet, the FTC’s research shows that robocalls persist. According to the FTC’s Do Not Call Reported Calls…
Last week, the Seventh Circuit affirmed the dismissal of two Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) class actions on Spokeo grounds. The cases, which were consolidated for appeal, were filed by the same plaintiff against two corporate defendants alleged to have provided credit-report disclosures that did not comply with the FCRA. …
On July 17, 2017, a New Jersey federal district court heard oral arguments in a motion to dismiss a putative class action lawsuit alleging violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”), 15 U.S.C. § 1681a et seq. The FCRA claim in the case, In re: Horizon Healthcare Services Inc. Data Breach Litigation,…
As LenderLaw Watch previously reported, on July 10, 2017 the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released its Arbitration Rule, which blocks the use of mandatory arbitration clauses in consumer financial products and services contracts that prohibit class action lawsuits. On July 19, 2017, the CFPB published this Rule in the Federal Register,…
On June 27, 2017, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) published a state-by-state breakdown of consumer complaints that have been filed with the CFPB. The snapshot—which is contained in the June 2017 edition of the CFPB’s Monthly Complaint Report—compiled data from the CFPB’s Consumer Complaint Database about the number of…
On July 10, 2017, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced the release of its anticipated Arbitration Rule, opening the door for more consumer class actions against financial institutions concerning financial products and services. Many consumer contracts, such as credit card and bank agreements, contain mandatory arbitration clauses. These clauses…
Last week, the District of New Jersey issued a noteworthy opinion in a putative TCPA class action against TD Bank and Target. In Martinez v. TD Bank USA, N.A. et al., 2017 WL 2829601 (D.N.J. June 30, 2017), the court held the defendants were entitled to summary judgment because the…
One month after the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee passed the Financial CHOICE Act, H.R. 10, with a 34 to 26 vote down party lines, the full House passed the bill on June 8, 2017 with a 233-186 vote. Once again, the partisan nature of the vote was clear,…
On June 12, 2017, the U.S. Department of the Treasury issued a 150-page report called for by President Trump’s Executive Order 13772 on Core Principles for Regulating the United States Financial System. The Report, entitled “A Financial System that Creates Economic Opportunities: Banks and Credit Unions,” is the first in a…
On June 7, 2017, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a Consent Order against mortgage servicer Fay Servicing, LLC (Fay), requiring Fay Servicing to pay $1.15 million to borrowers and to cease activities that the CFPB contended violated the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), its implementing regulation, Regulation X,…
On May 31, 2017, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued its Monthly Complaint Report, this month’s complaints by consumers aged 62 and older. The CFPB drew its analysis of more than 103,100 complaints from its Complaint Database, which can be found here. The complaint report is an illuminating view…
Even a year after it issued its opinion in Spokeo v. Robins, the Supreme Court’s decision on Article III standing continues to be hotly contested. On June 6, 2017, the District of New Jersey cited Spokeo in dismissing an amended Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) case. The decision…
On May 15, 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Midland Funding, LLC, v. Johnson, No. 16–348, in favor of the debt collectors involved in the case. Specifically, Justice Breyer, writing for the Court, held that the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 U. S. C. §1692 et seq., (FDCPA), which…
On May 10, 2017, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) began gathering information regarding small business financing needs in an effort to encourage small businesses—especially ones owned by minorities and women. The Bureau began this process by issuing a Request for Information (RFI) seeking information from the public on a variety…